Comparative efficacy of mitigation techniques for the detoxification of Prunus persica (L.) from selected pesticide residues

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Fruits are the valuable and important components of human diet. Among them, Prunus persica is a rich source of different minerals and dietary fibers....     

Environment polluting conventional chemical control compared to an environmentally friendly IPM approach for control of diamondback moth, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Plutella xylostella</Emphasis> (L.), in China: a review

The diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, is recognized as a widely distributed destructive insect pest of Brassica worldwide. The management of this pest is a serious issue, and an estimated annual cost of its management has reached approximately US$4 billion. Despite the fact that chemicals are a serious threat to the environment, lots of chemicals are applied for controlling various insect pests especially P. xylostella. An overreliance on chemical control has not only led to the evolution of resistance to insecticides and to a reduction of natural enemies but also has polluted various components of water, air, and soil ecosystem. In the present scenario, there is a need to implement an environmentally friendly integrated pest management (IPM) approach with new management tactics (microbial control, biological control, cultural control, mating disruption, insecticide rotation strategies, and plant resistance) for an alternative to chemical control. The IPM approach is not only economically beneficial but also reduces the environmental and health risks. The present review synthesizes published information on the insecticide resistance against P. xylostella and emphasizes on adopting an alternative environmentally friendly IPM approach for controlling P. xylostella in China.     

Fungal degradation of an acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitor pyrazosulfuron-ethyl in soil

Owing to reported phytotoxicity of some sulfonylurea class of herbicides in number of sensitive crops and higher persistence in soil, present study was conducted to isolate and identify pyrazosulfuron-ethyl degrading fungi from soil of rice field. Penicillium chrysogenum and Aspergillus niger, were isolated and identified from rhizospere soil of rice field, as potent pyrazosulfuron-ethyl degrading fungi. Degradation of pyrazosulfuron-ethyl by P. chrysogenum and A. niger, yielded transformation products/metabolites which were identified and characterized by LC/MS/MS. The rate of dissipation of pyrazosulfuron-ethyl was found higher in soil of rice field and soil inoculated with P. chrysogenum. This showed important route of degradation of pyrazosulfuron-ethyl by microbes apart from chemical degradation.     

Monitoring of cotton dust and health risk assessment in small-scale weaving industry

The present study describes the estimation of particulate matter (cotton dust) with different sizes, i.e., PM(1.0), PM(2.5), PM(4.0), and PM(10.0 μm) in small-scale weaving industry (power looms) situated in district Hafizabad, Punjab, Pakistan, and the assessment of health problems of workers associated with these pollutants. A significant difference was found in PM(1.0), PM(2.5), PM(4.0), and PM(10.0) with reference to nine different sampling stations with p values <0.05. Multiple comparisons of particulate matter with respect to size, i.e. PM(1.0), PM(2.5), PM(4.0), and PM(10.0), depict that PM(1.0) differs significantly from PM(2.5), PM(4.0), and PM(10.0), with p values <0.05 and that PM(2.5) differs significantly from PM(1.0) and PM(10.0), with p values <0.05, whereas PM(2.5) differs non-significantly from PM(4.0), with a p value >0.05 in defined sampling stations on an average basis. Majority of the workers were facing several diseases due to interaction with particulate matter (cotton dust) during working hours. Flue, cough, eye, and skin infections were the most common diseases among workers caused by particulate matter (cotton dust).     

Bivariate cointegration between poverty and environment: a case study of Pakistan (1980–2009)

The objective of this paper is to empirically investigate a two-way statistical relationship between the agriculture environment and rural poverty. To recognise the relationship between the two variables, a time series, co-integration and Granger causality tests have been employed. Secondary data pertaining to Pakistan from 1980–2009 on rural poverty and environmental factors (such as commercial energy consumption, water availability and total cropped area) have been used for the analysis. The empirical results only moderately support the conventional view that rural poverty has a significant long-term casual effect on environmental proxies in Pakistan. The present study finds evidence of uni-directional causality between poverty and the environment in the context of the agriculture sector in Pakistan.     

Amelioration of toxicopathological effects of cadmium with silymarin and milk thistle in male Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Cadmium is an important widely distributed heavy metal in the environment due to its several industrial uses, while milk thistle is an important herb...     

Investigation of activated carbon/ethanol for low temperature adsorption cooling

Commercially available adsorption cooling systems use water/silica gel, water/zeolite and ammonia/ chloride salts working pairs. The water-based pairs are limited to work above 0°C due to the water high freezing temperature, while ammonia has the disadvantage of being toxic. Ethanol is a promising refrigerant due to its low freezing point (161 K), nontoxicity, zero ozone depletion, and low global warming potential. Activated carbon (AC) is a porous material with high degree of porosity (500–3000 m²/g) that has been used in wide range of applications. Using Dynamic Vapour Sorption (DVS) test facility, this work characterizes the ethanol adsorption of eleven commercially available activated carbon materials for cooling at low temperature of ?15°C. DVS adsorption results show that Maxsorb has the best performance in terms of ethanol uptake and adsorption kinetics compared to the other tested materials. The Maxsorb/ethanol adsorption process has been numerically modeled using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and simulation results are validated using the DVS experimental measurements. The validated CFD simulation of the adsorption process is used to predict the effects of adsorbent layer thickness and packing density on cycle uptake for evaporating temperature of ?15°C. Simulation results show that as the thickness of the Maxsorb adsorbent layer increases, its uptake decreases. As for the packing density, the amount of ethanol adsorbed per plate increases with the packing density reaching maximum at 750 kg/m³. This work shows the potential of using Maxsorb/ethanol in producing low temperature cooling down to ?15°C with specific cooling energy reaching 400 kJ/kg.     

Estimation of bacteriological levels in surface water samples to evaluate their contamination profile

The present work deals with the assessment of bacteriological contamination along with some physico-chemical parameters of water samples from Lahore canal. ANOVA showed that the observed p values of log-transformed viable plate counts, total suspended solids, turbidity, and biological oxygen demand are 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, and 0.000, respectively, which are <0.05, while the p value of total coliforms, total fecal coliforms, and Escherichia coli are 0.728, 0.827, and 0.081, respectively which are >0.05. Significant correlation was observed between log-transformed viable plate counts (CFU), biological oxygen demand, total suspended solids, and turbidity. Further regression analysis revealed that simple line regression model is fit for log-transformed viable plate counts and total suspended solids, log-transformed viable plate counts and turbidity, turbidity and total suspended solids, biological oxygen demand and total suspended solids, biological oxygen demand and log-transformed viable plate counts, and biological oxygen demand and turbidity.     

Environmental factors and its influence on human health in BRICS: implications for human development

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - BRICS economies are facing severe environmental issues that exert a detrimental impact on human health. The analysis intends to examine the impact of...     

Evaluation of pollution load of Lahore Canal by quantification of various pollutants through physicochemical characterisation

The work describes the physicochemical analysis of the water samples collected from Lahore Canal to evaluate pollution load at different points of the canal. Different physical and chemical pollutants such as temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved and suspended solids, turbidity, chlorides, sulphates, nitrates, oils and grease, dissolved oxygen, chemical oxygen demand and biological oxygen demand (BOD) were analysed. The data was analysed through analysis of variance, which showed that the p values for dissolved oxygen (DO), chemical oxygen demand (COD), BOD, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solid (TDS), total suspended solid (TSS), turbidity, oil and grease, sulphates, and nitrates are <0.05, while p value of temperature, pH, and chlorides are 1.000, 0.984, and 0.070, respectively, which are >0.05. Further regression analysis revealed that the simple line regression modal is fit for turbidity and TSS, electrical conductivity and TDS, COD and DO, BOD and DO, and BOD and COD. The studies reveal that Lahore Canal is receiving a considerable amount of physical and chemical pollutants at different points.