Fetal methylmercury exposure as measured by cord blood mercury concentrations in a mother-infant cohort in Hong Kong

This study was designed to examine newborn infants in Hong Kong prenatally exposed to levels of methylmercury considered to increase risk of neurotoxic effects and to examine subject characteristics that modify the degree of prenatal mercury exposure. Mercury concentrations in 1057 sets of maternal and cord blood samples and 96 randomly selected maternal hair samples were measured. Subject characteristics were measured or collected by questionnaire. Of the 1057 cord blood samples collected only 21.6% had mercury concentrations less than 29 nmol/L (5.8 micro g/L). Median maternal hair mercury concentration was 1.7 ppm. The geometric mean cord to maternal blood mercury ratio was 1.79 to 1. Increasing maternal fish consumption and maternal age were found to be associated with increased cord blood mercury concentrations. Marine fish consumption increased cord blood mercury concentrations more than freshwater fish (5.09%/kg vs 2.86%/kg). Female babies, maternal alcohol consumption and increasing maternal height were associated with decreased cord blood mercury concentrations. Pregnant women in Hong Kong consume large amounts of fish and as a result, most of their offspring have been prenatally exposed to moderately high levels of mercury. In this population, pregnant women should choose freshwater over marine fish and limit fish consumption.     

Building disaster‐resilient micro enterprises in the developing world

Family‐owned micro enterprises operating within the informal sector of most developing countries provide millions of citizens with a livelihood and are the economic backbone of many communities. Yet, the turbulence that emanates up or down respective supply chains following a disaster can cause these entities to fail. This study develops a model that recognises the relative weakness of micro enterprises to such disaster‐related shocks. The model proposes that micro enterprises can moderate the effect of such shocks by creating resilience through cognitive preparation, continuous learning, and the generation of various forms of social capital (cognitive, relational, and structural). The propositions for the model are established through an extensive literature review, coupled with examples drawn from the documents of humanitarian agencies performing disaster relief work in India. This model also serves as a preliminary basis with which to derive metrics to set benchmarks or to assess the viability of a micro enterprise's ability to survive disaster‐related shocks.     

How application of agricultural waste can enhance soil health in soils acidified by tea cultivation: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Tea is one of the world’s most consumed beverages and an important crop of many developing countries. Intensive tea cultivation has negative impacts on soil...     

Lab-on-a-chip technologies for food safety,processing, and packaging applications: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The advent of microfluidic systems has led to significant developments in lab-on-a-chip devices integrating several functions onto a single platform. Over the...     

Methods for chemical conversion of plastic wastes into fuels and chemicals. A review

Plastics are utilized in various materials that are useful in everyday life. As the usage of plastics increases, the disposal of plastic materials has become a major issue, calling for recycling methods. Here, we review the different methods to recycle plastics, with focus on catalytic cracking. We present catalysts, cracking mechanisms, and we compare the various treatment methodologies. Several attempts were made by researchers to increase the efficiency of the cracking process using different catalysts and reactors. Many studies reveal high quality products are obtained by catalytic cracking, which consumes low energy and produces lesser residues when compared to other treatment technologies.

     

Chemical,physical and biological methods to convert lignocellulosic waste into value-added products. A review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Actual agricultural practices produce about 998 million tonnes of agricultural waste per year. Therefore, converting lignocellulosic wastes into energy, chemicals,...     

Modeling ice cover effect on river channel bank stability

Environmental Fluid Mechanics - This paper presents a numerical model study on the ice cover effect on bank stability in non-cohesive alluvial channels. The model consists of a coupled...     

Production of hydrogen and value-added carbon materials by catalytic methane decomposition: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Dihydrogen (H2), commonly named “hydrogen”, is attracting research interest due to potential applications in fuel cells, vehicles, pharmaceuticals and...     

Analysis of factors influencing waste separation behavior of Hanoi citizens with consideration to societal elements

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - In this empirical study, a questionnaire survey targeting Hanoi City was conducted, gathering 778 samples from the whole metropolitan area. Using...     

Developments in forward osmosis and membrane distillation for desalination of waters

Membrane technology has become a common separation technology over the past decennia. Membranes are used more and more for the production of drinkable water from groundwater, surface water and wastewater. Membranes are now competitive versus conventional techniques. Desalination is predominantly used to eradicate the problem of water scarcity. The sustainability of all desalination processes depends mainly on the reduction of energy costs (production cost) and the increase in water recovery. Forward osmosis and membrane distillation are emerging technologies for sustainable desalination. Here we review membrane processes of forward osmosis and membrane distillation and the advancements in membrane material and modules. We also discuss the capability of membrane distillation in treating highly concentrated aqueous solutions derived from other desalination processes. Furthermore, the advancements in fabrication of high-performance membrane is reviewed and the performance of different membranes and optimization of membrane distillation process are summarized.