This study assesses heavy metal levels in water, soil, and vegetables (swiss chard, lettuce, cabbage, collard green, tomato, green pepper and carrot) irrigated with waste water in Gamo, Ethiopia. The samples of soils, water, and vegetables were randomly collected, processed, and analyzed for heavy metals using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The results obtained show that the irrigational water is profoundly contaminated with heavy metals Cd, Cr and Ni and Pb, Zn and Cu had the lowest concentration in irrigation water. The levels of Cd in Kulfo river area and Chamo Lake area and Ni in most of the farm soils were also found to be higher than the guideline values. The study also revealed that the mean levels of Cd in most vegetables and Cr and Pb in some vegetables were higher than the maximum recommended limits set by WHO/FAO. In general the results show that the highest concentration of the heavy metals was obtained from Kulfo river area compared to the Arbaminch textile share company area, Abaya Lake area, and Chamo Lake area. Cabbage was maximally contaminated with potential toxic elements followed by Swiss-chard, carrot, tomato, collard green, green pepper and lettuce. Hence, from kulfo river area frequent consumption of cabbage and Swiss chard may cause serious health risks to consumers. The levels of many elements were found to vary with location, suggesting localized inputs of the various contaminants related to industrial and other activities that generate wastewater. This study recommends regular monitoring of heavy metals in soils, waters, and foodstuffs to prevent excessive accrual in food chain.

The emission and dispersion of pollutants from the tanks of coking and tar refining industries in the environment is always probable. This study aimed to evaluate the hazard radius of benzene release from the tank of one of the coking and tar refining industries. Areal Location of Hazardouse Atmosphere (ALOHA) model Version 5.4.7 was used to predict the hazard radius of leakage and dispersion of benzene from a tank in different seasons. The maps of the toxic and flammable vapor cloud of benzene, evaporation rate from puddle and the concentration of toxic and flammable vapor cloud inside and outside of the office building were prepared. The results indicated that the maximum average benzene released from the tank was 282 Kg/min and the total amount of benzene leakage was 11997 kg in 60 min in summer. The maximum diameter of the created evaporating puddle was 71 m in autumn. The maximum toxic and flammable concentrations of benzene inside an office building were 772 and 936 ppm, respectively whilethey were 3720 and 3540 ppm outside a building in autumn. Based on the Acute Exposure Guideline Levels (AEGL) and Lower Explosive Limit (LEL) criterias, the maximum hazard radius was 1200 and 200 m in autumn. The toxic vapor cloud of benzene covered some parts of the adjacent coking plant. However, the boundaries of the flammable vapor cloud failed to reach the adjacent industries. The scenario of this study is safe for the adjacent residents and unsafe for the personnel. Thus, presenting a strategy to deal with this process incident is essential.

The present study deals with groundwater pollution in multilayer aquifer. The model is based on decomposition of finite layers in semi-infinite groundwater reservoir. A constant pollutant source is injected at the input boundary of the uppermost layer (UML) of the landfill. At the intermediate inlet boundary, some average value for the longitudinal exchange of the input source concentration in each sub-layer is considered from the previous layer. Initially, the aquifer is not solute free in each sub layer that means some constant background contaminant concentration exists. In each sub layer, concentration gradient is assumed to be zero at the extreme boundary. The linear sorption and first orders decay terms are considered to model the groundwater pollution in multilayer aquifer. The Laplace transform technique is adopted to solve one-dimensional (1D) advection-dispersion equation (ADE). This approach is helpful to understand the solute migration in finite sub layers. The results are elucidated for the different time periods to examine the peak of pollutant concentration level in geological formations.

With growing global warming issues, the association between technological innovation and environmental pollution has created significant debate in recent years. This paper examines the long-run and causal impact of technological innovation, economic growth, and renewable energy on consumption-based carbon emissions in Japan. The study utilized quarterly data spanning between 1990 and 2015. The study utilized recent econometrics techniques such as Maki co-integration, ARDL bunds test, FMOLS, DOLS, and frequency domain causality techniques. To the author's understanding, no prior studies have been conducted in Japan using consumption-based carbon emissions as a proxy of environmental degradation. Thus, this empirical analysis contributes to the literature. The findings from the ARDL bounds and Maki co-integration tests revealed evidence of co-integration among the series. The results of FMOLS and DOLS reveal that both renewable energy and technological innovation improve the environmental quality, while economic growth harms the quality of the environment. The results of the frequency-domain causality technique reveal that technological innovation, renewable energy, and economic growth can significantly predict consumption-based carbon emissions in Japan. Based on these outcomes, we suggested that Japan's government should be careful when formulating policies that trigger growth, which will have a detrimental impact on the environmental quality. Our empirical outcome also revealed that any policy that encourages renewable energy should be encouraged since it enhances environmental quality.

The present study attempts to investigate some blood parameters of Otolithes ruber during different seasons in terms of both temperature and pollution. For so doing it uses 10 specimens, for each station and season, collected from 5 polluted stations, including Petrochemical, Ghanam, Zangi, Douragh, Patil, and Sajafi as the control group, away from pollution in Musa Creek. The fish are anesthetized with 1ml of clove extract per liter. Their blood samples are taken immediately from the caudal vein, using a heparinized syringe. Afterwards, the serum is separated in a centrifuge with a speed of 6000 rpm for 2 minutes. The desired factors are measured by the Mindray BS200 auto-analyzer and the total protein level, by Bradford's usual laboratory methods. Results show that AST, ALT, ALP, Glucose, and Triglycerides have increased in more polluted stations (P≤0.05). In sheer contrast, total protein and Albumin have decreased as pollution grows (P≥0.05). According to this study, environmental water pollution of the fish has a large impact on the concentration of measured blood parameters, whereas the influence of seasonal changes on most of them is low.

The production rate of industrial and agricultural waste is increasing due to population growth. Soil is the most important receiver of industrial and agricultural waste. Contaminants such as heavy metals in various waste after reception by the soil, immediately become part of the cycle that has different impacts on the environment. Geopolymer, as a chemical stabilizer has the potential to stabilize heavy metals in the soil. In this research, several geopolymers for the stabilization of heavy metals in soil were synthesized. Silicon dioxide (SiO2) and aluminosilicate (Al2SiO4) must be used to produce the geopolymers. Rice husk ash was used as the SiO2 source. Also, Iranian zeolite and sepiolite, and red clay soil were utilized as the source of Al2SiO4. The synthesized geopolymers were investigated for the adsorption of nickel and cadmium. Also, batch and column studies of using geopolymers for the chemical stabilization of heavy metals in soil were conducted. The results revealed a high adsorption capacity of the geopolymers. The zeolite, sepiolite, and red clay geopolymer-soil samples adsorbed 100% of the heavy metals (i.e., Ni and Cd) at a concentration of 100 ppm. The zeolite geopolymer adsorbent adsorbed 57% and 96% of Ni and Cd at a concentration of 1000 ppm, respectively. In general, it was concluded that the use of geopolymer compounds in soils with high heavy metal adsorption capacity could be an efficient approach to prevent groundwater resource pollution.

Transformation of food and beverage industrial sludge into vermicompost into value-added product simultaneously can control gaseous emission. Addition of biochar in the vermicomposting as a bulking agent increases fertilizer value. This research aimed to investigate the effect of biochar amendment on vermicomposting of the food and beverage industry sludge (FBIS) and cow dung (CD) in a different ratio using earthworm Eisenia fetida. We had further investigated the survival rate of E. fetida and the cocoon productions after 35 days of the vermicomposting. Besides, we have also evaluated the seed germination bioassay using Malabar spinach (Basella alba) to determine the toxicity and maturity of produced compost. The survival and cocoon production of E. fetida were higher in vermicompost amended with 10% biochar. Vermicomposting with biochar resulted in a slight pH shift. Reduction in organic carbon (OC) percentage not so significant in biochar added FBIS and CD. An increase in phosphorus and potassium content and a decrease in nitrogen percentage observed; vermicomposting with biochar resulted in higher seed germination, root elongation, and germination index than vermicomposting without biochar.

The agricultural sector uses fertilizers such as urea to add more nutrients to the soil needed for plant growth. Although it is cost-effective in crop production, indiscriminate use of nitrate-based fertilizer may result in behavioural, morphological, and physiological alterations on non-target organisms. This study determined the angiogenesis activity in the chorioallantoic membrane of urea-exposed duck embryos. It also investigated the weight, morphometries, and liver histopathology to gather more information on urea fertilizer's toxicity. It was observed that urea promoted angiogenesis in the CAM of duck embryos, especially at higher concentrations (P<0.05). Embryos treated with urea resulted in an alteration of the head-beak length (P<0.05). However, weight, crown-rump length, forelimb length, and hind limb length were not affected. The developing liver of urea-treated embryos showed distortion of the central vein shape and had larger sinusoidal spaces. The presence of Kupffer cells and lipid droplets were observed in the treated section. Congestion of blood cells, haemorrhage, and necrosis of hepatocytes were also observed in the tissue suggesting the extent of damage caused by the fertilizer. The findings of this study showed multiple developmental effects of urea on duck embryos. Further investigations are needed to shed more light on the toxicity of urea fertilizer on vertebrates.

In this study, water from three urban wetlands of Gurugram – Sultanpur (WS), Damdama (WD), and Basai (WB), was studied for various physicochemical parameters to assess their suitability for the healthy survival of fishes and the results were compared with the limits of these parameters for fish farming. The parameters studied were colour, temperature, pH, alkalinity, hardness, Ca2+- Mg2+ ratio, NO3-, Cl-, SO42-, PO43-, and heavy metals (Fe, Mn, Cr, Cu, Zn, Ni and Pb). The results of the study indicate the majority of studied parameters are beyond the desirable limits in WB; thus, water is most unsuitable for fishes in WB. WB is unsuitable for parameters: colour, alkalinity, hardness, Ca -Mg ratio, NO3-, Cl-, SO42-, PO43-, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn. WS needs consideration for temperature, NO3-, Cu, Ni and Zn, whereas WD needs improvement in temperature, TDS, NO3-, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn concentration for better fish growth. Most of the parameters are high in summer as compared to winter, which is due to the dilution after rainfall. Hence, we recommend timely action for effective measures to improve the water quality of wetlands and their regular monitoring for improved fish habitat.

This paper presents concentrations and sources of Aliphatic and Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the sediments from Babolsar coastal area and the inlet of Babolrood River in the southern side of the Caspian Sea. The concentration of hydrocarbons in 13 sediment samples from the study area were measured by gas chromatography (GC). Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) concentrations in sediment samples in the coastal area ranged from 115 to 201 μg/g. In the inlet samples, TPH concentrations were close to each other and ranged from 294 to 367 μg/g. The TPH results showed moderate level of oil pollution in the study area. Total Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (ΣPAHs) concentrations in sediment samples inside the inlet ranged from 498 to 702 ng/g, indicating moderate level of pollution. Concentrations of ΣPAHs in sediment samples in the coastal area ranged from 341 to 1703 ng/g, indicating moderate to less than significant level of pollution. Developed indices for pollutant origins showed that hydrocarbons in all sediment samples collected in the study area had petrogenic origin. The results also showed the Babolrood River as the main source of oil pollution in the sediments in the study area.