Environmental Science Archives

Arsenic has mutagenic, teratogenic and epigenetic effects Puri et al., 2024 Heavy metals can be described as those naturally occurring metals or metalloids which have considerably high atomic weight. Generally, Arsenic (As), Lead (Pb), Mercury (Hg), Cadmium (Cd) and Chromium (Cr) are regarded as heavy metals in matters concerning public health due to their significant ill effects on the environment. Heavy metals including arsenic result in biomagnification involving a significant increase in their concentration as we move from lower to higher trophic levels across the food chain up to humans. The toxic effects depend upon many factors like the chemical nature, route, duration and dose of exposure along with the age, gender, genetic makeup and nutritional status of the exposed animals. Arsenic exists both in organic and inorganic forms and is considered to be one of the systemic toxicants known to cause damage to multiple organs even at minuscule levels of exposure. Arsenic is a necessa...

A Study on Microbial Carriage on Door Handles Odo JI et al., 2024 As people come in contact with surfaces like keyboards, office furniture, toilet doors, buses and keke door handles, there is a probability of picking up microbes deposited on them. This study is aimed at evaluating the antibiogram and microbial carriage of campus buses and keke napep door handles. Thirty swab samples were obtained from buses and keke napep door handles. The samples were taken to the laboratory where they were serially diluted and inoculated. Identification, characterization and biochemical analysis were done using standard microbiological methods. Fungal colonies were macroscopically and microscopically examined for morphology and appearance. Bacterial isolated were identified to be Staphylococcus spp., Proteus spp., Escherichia coli and Shigella spp. Fungi isolated were identified to be Aspergillus niger, Mucor spp., Aspergillus fumigates, Rhizopus spp. and Yeast spp. This study has shown that for both...

  Determination of Permethrin Samples using Leuco Crystal Violet Reagent A new sensitive spectrophotometric method for the determination of permethrin insecticide in environmental and agricultural samples has been developed. The reaction mechanism is based on complexation followed by coupling of permethrin with leuco crystal violet (LCV). This method is based on the measurement of red shift of absorbance band of LCV in the UV-Visible region of 200-800 nm. The resulting complex absorption spectra was observed at λmax = 580 nm. The color of permethrin was changed from colorless to violet by the addition of LCV. The effects of various pesticides and metal ions on the selective determination of permethrin were also studied. The analytical parameters were improved and effectively employed for permethrin assessment in a variety of environmental samples including water, soil and vegetables. The purpose of the present research was to design a method for the color complexation determination...

  Microplastic Pollution and Human Health Tayal P et al. (2023) Besides visible plastic pollution, there is also a microplastic threat. Microplastics are ultrasmall plastic items, smaller than 5 mm in size. The presence of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems is increasing at an exponential rate posing a direct or indirect threat to all biodiversity on the planet This paper highlights the Indian scenario of microplastic pollution in comparison with developed regions of the globe while primarily focusing on impacts on human health. Microplastic particles are not metabolised by living organisms and thus they keep bioaccumulating. These tiny plastics also sorb a wide plethora of chemical substances that may have severe effects on life forms. Pathogenic bacteria may also adhere to microplastics affecting health. Exposure to microplastics has become impossible to avoid as these tiny plastics can enter through food, cosmetics and even via air. Besides bioaccumulating microplastics have be...

  Biochar: A Beneficial Soil Amendment Singh and Puri, 2023 Biochar is a promising and viable fertilizer carrier for microbial fertilizers due to its porosity (Wang et al., 2023). Biochar is a type of charcoal produced in the slow pyrolysis of organic materials, such as agricultural waste (Aziz et al., 2023). Pyrolysis, the method used to create biochar, is the conversion of organic materials into a stable form of carbon that can survive in soil for a very long time (hundreds to thousands of years). Recently, a co-pyrolysis technique for improving sewage sludge biochar's performance and immobilizing heavy metals was presented (Fan et al., 2023; He et al., 2023). When organic matter is heated in the absence of oxygen, it can break down into its constituent components without catching fire, resulting in the development of biochar. In order to create biochar, which may be used as a soil amendment to enhance soil health and fertility, a variety of organic waste products, including agri...