Effects of distillery waste on the performance of Cicer arietinum L

The impact of distillery effluent in various concentrations (1, 2.5, 5, 10, 25, 50, 75 and 100%) on the seed germination, Speed of Germination Index, growth behaviour, leaf area, biomass, net primary productivity, pigment content, reproductive capacity, seed output, seed weight, seed density and the seed protein content of Cicer arietinum L. plants was investigated. The percentage and speed of germination of seeds were increasingly retarded with increase in effluent concentration and at 100% concentration there was no germination. The seedlings exhibited maximum shoot length at 5% concentration and maximum root length at 2.5% concentration. The values of root and shoot lengths, leaf area, biomass, net primary productivity, pigment content, reproductive capacity, seed output, seed weight, seed density and seed protein content in pot plants exhibited a gradual increase from the control up to 5% concentration and decreases at higher concentrations. The very high BOD load and the presence of excessive concentrations of soluble salts could be responsible for the toxicity of the effluent. The effluent at up to 5% concentration was, however, beneficial for the overall growth parameters studied and can thus be used as a liquid fertilizer.     

Subsurface nutrient modelling using finite element model under Boro rice cropping system

Boro rice, an emerging low-risk crop variety of rice, cultivated using residual or stored water after Kharif season. To enhance the quality and production of rice, potassium (K) and phosphorus (P) are the common constituents of agricultural fertilizers. However, excess application of fertilizers causes leaching of nutrients and contaminates the groundwater system. Therefore, assessment and optimization of fertilizer dose are needed for better management of fertilizers. Towards this, the present study determines the path, persistence, and mobility of K and P under the Boro rice cropping system. The experimental site consisted of four plots having Boro rice with four different fertilizer doses of nitrogen (N), P, K viz. 100%, 75%, 50%, and 25% of the recommended dose. Disturbed soil samples were analysed for K and P from pre-sown land to tillering stage at 0–5, 5–10, 10–15, 15–30, 30–45, and 45–60 cm depths. Simultaneously, K and available P were also simulated in the subsurface soil layers through the HYDRUS-1D model. The statistical comparisons were made with RMSER, E, and PBIAS between the modelled values and laboratory-measured values. Although, the results showed that all the treatments considered had agreeable simulations for both K and P, the K simulations were found to be better as compared to P simulations except for 25% where P simulations outperformed K. The simulated concentration at all doses was found most appropriate when measured for the subsurface layers (up to 45 cm), while showed an underestimation in the bottom layers (45–60 cm) of soil.

     

Insecticidal activity of the plant Phyllanthus amarus against Tribolium castaneum

The plant Phyllanthus amarus is used as folk medicine since the year 1800 and has been established for its important medicinal properties particularly for liver ailments. The present communication explores the insecticidal activity of ethanolic extract of aerial and root parts of this plant against stored grain pest Tribolium castaneum. LC 50 values of ethanolic aerial part were 895.77, 473.91, 279.89 and 260.85 microg/cm2, while 512.62, 376.96, 248.88 and 209.79 microg/cm2 for ethanolic root part at the exposure of 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 days respectively. Ethanolic root extract possessed significant insecticidal activity against T. castaneum.     

Design parameters for fixed bed reactors of activated carbon developed from fertilizer waste for the removal of some heavy metal ions

Activated carbon, developed from fertilizer waste, has been used for the removal of Hg²⁺, Cr⁶⁺, Pb²⁺, and Cu²⁺. Mass transfer kinetic approach has been successfully applied for the determination of various parameters necessary for designing a fixed-bed absorber. Parameters selected are the length of the (PAZ) primary adsorption zone (δ), total time involved for the establishment of primary adsorption zone (t_x), mass rate of flow to the absorber (F_m), time for primary adsorption zone to move down its length (t_δ), amount of adsorbate adsorbed in PAZ from breakpoint to exhaustion (M_s), fractional capacity (f), time of initial formation of PAZ (t_f) and per cent saturation of column at break point. Chemical regeneration has been achieved with 1 M HNO₃.     

Selective separation of cobalt versus nickel by split-phosphinate complexation using a phosphonium-based ionic liquid

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The rising demand of metals for batteries is calling for advanced methods to separate metallic mixtures in mineral ores and electronic waste. In particular, the...     

Kinetic Study of Biopolymer (PHB) Synthesis in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Alcaligenes</Emphasis> sp. in Submerged Fermentation Process Using TEM

Poly-β-hydroxybuyrate (PHB) is a carbon—energy storage material which is accumulated as intracellular granule in variety of microorganism under nutrient starved conditions. Solid PHB is a biodegradable thermoplastic polymer and is utilizable in various ways similar to many conventional plastics. Ralstonia eutropha (Alcaligenes sp.), a gram negative bacteria accumulates PHB as insoluble granules inside the cells when nutrients other than carbon are limited. In this report effort has been made to analyze PHB granule synthesis inside Alcaligenes sp. NCIM 5085 by transmission electron microscopy and qualitative estimation of PHB was carried out by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy which provide better precision compared to other conventional techniques previously applied for PHB determination. Maximum PHB concentration of 2.20 ± 0.40 g/L and cell biomass of 3.42 ± 0.20 g/L was obtained after 48.0 h of fermentation. Leudking-Piret equation deduced mixed growth associated product formation which varies from earlier reports.     

Ecological determinism increases with organism size

After much debate, there is an emerging consensus that the composition of many ecological communities is determined both by species traits, as proposed by niche theory, as well as by chance events. A critical question for ecology is, therefore, which attributes of species predict the dominance of deterministic or stochastic processes. We outline two hypotheses by which organism size could determine which processes structure ecological communities, and we test these hypotheses by comparing the community structure in bromeliad phytotelmata of three groups of organisms (bacteria, zooplankton, and macroinvertebrates) that encompass a 10 000-fold gradient in body size, but live in the same habitat. Bacteria had no habitat associations, as would be expected from trait-neutral stochastic processes, but still showed exclusion among species pairs, as would be expected from niche-based processes. Macroinvertebrates had strong habitat and species associations, indicating niche-based processes. Zooplankton, with body size between bacteria and macroinvertebrates, showed intermediate habitat associations. We concluded that a key niche process, habitat filtering, strengthened with organism size, possibly because larger organisms are both less plastic in their fundamental niches and more able to be selective in dispersal. These results suggest that the relative importance of deterministic and stochastic processes may be predictable from organism size.     

Environmental impact of coal washery and Damodar River water on the morphometry and biochemical changes of maize (Zea mays L.) and soil health

Enormous quantity of water is used for coal beneficiation and accordingly huge amount of effluents are being generated. In this study an attempt was made to evaluate the potential of this effluent water for irrigation. Water samples were collected from three different points (a) feeding point, (b) thickening point, and (c) outlet point of coal washery, and from Damodar River for monitoring the water quality. The samples were analyzed for various parameters and compared with prescribed standard, which revealed that the total suspended solids of thickening point and Damodar River were higher. A pot experiment with maize was conducted to study the suitability of this coal washery water for irrigation. Pots were irrigated with water from the three points of washery and Damodar River in two concentrations (100% and 50% dilution with distilled water); pure distilled water was used for control. There was 100% germination in all the treatments. The plant growth, chlorophyll content and soil quality parameters were significantly better in washery and Damodar River water treated pots. The Damodar River water and washery water from feeding and outlet point could be successfully used for irrigation. In general mixing with good quality water has shown better results.     

Emissions of VOCs at Urban Petrol Retail Distribution Centres in India (Delhi and Mumbai)

Air pollution has assumed gigantic proportion killing almost half a million Asians every year. Urban pollution mainly comprises of emissions from buses, trucks, motorcycle other forms of motorized transport and its supporting activities. As Asia's cities continue to expand the number of vehicles have risen resulting in greater pollution. Fugitive emissions from retail distribution center in urban area constitute a major source. Petrol vapours escape during refueling adding pollutants like benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene to ambient air. This paper discusses a study on fugitive emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) at some refueling station in two metropolitan cities of India, i.e., Mumbai and Delhi. Concentration of VOCs in ambient air at petrol retail distribution center is estimated by using TO-17 method. Concentration of benzene in ambient air in Delhi clearly shows the effect of intervention in use of petroleum and diesel fuel and shift to CNG. Chemical Mass Balance (CMB) model is used to estimate source contributions. At Delhi besides diesel combustion engines, refueling emissions are also major sources. At Mumbai evaporative emissions are found to contribute maximum to Total VOC (TVOC) concentration in ambient air.     

Volatile organic compound emissions from municipal solid waste disposal sites: A case study of Mumbai,India

Improper solid waste management leads to aesthetic and environmental problems. Emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is one of the problems from uncontrolled dumpsite. VOCs are well known to be hazardous to human health and many of them are known or potential carcinogens. They also contribute to ozone formation at ground level and climate change as well. The qualitative and quantitative analysis of VOCs emitting from two municipal waste (MSW) disposal sites in Mumbai, India, namely Deonar and Malad, are presented in this paper. Air at dumpsites was sampled and analyzed on gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in accordance with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) TO-17 compendium method for analysis of toxic compounds. As many as 64 VOCs were qualitatively identified, among which 13 are listed under Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs). Study of environmental distribution of a few major VOCs indicates that although air is the principal compartment of residence, they also get considerably partitioned in soil and vegetation. The CO₂ equivalent of target VOCs from the landfills in Malad and Deonar shows that the total yearly emissions are 7.89E+03 and 8.08E+02 kg, respectively. The total per hour ozone production from major VOCs was found to be 5.34E-01 ppb in Deonar and 9.55E-02 ppb in Malad. The total carcinogenic risk for the workers in the dumpsite considering all target HAPs are calculated to be 275 persons in 1 million in Deonar and 139 persons in 1 million in Malad.

Implications: This paper describes the hazards of VOC emission from open dumpsites, a common practice, in an Indian metro city. The subsequent partitioning of the emitted VOCs in other environmental compartment from air is presented. The global warming potential and the health hazards to the dumpsite workers from the emitted VOCs have also been estimated.