The present study evaluates health risk assessment for inhabitants who are exposed to chromium in fishes and vegetables of the Gulshan Lake. In the fish, chromium concentration has amounted to 2.2 to 149.7 mg/kg, while in vegetables leaf and vegetables stem it has been 5.6 mg/kg and 12.0 mg/kg, respectively. What is more, in sediment it has been 179.5 to 308 mg/kg and in water, 4.0 to 16.9 mg/l. Higher accumulation of chromium (149.7 mg/kg) has been found in a fish species, relatively most affordable for poor people, called Pangas (Pangasius pangasius). Therefore, due to consumption of this fish the resultant non-cancer health hazard indices to people, living nearby Gulshan Lake has been almost 10 times greater than those induced by safe average daily dosages of the respective chemical. Vegetable pathway is still safe in terms of non-carcinogenic health hazard but may be very likely to act as an additive. It is therefore important to immediately take some remedial measures to not only reclaim Gulshan Lake but prevent any further pollution also.

The present study aims at phytoremediation of Lemna gibba L. in aqueous solutions with different concentrations of TC and Degradation Products (DPs). It also tries to determine whether there are differences in TC, ETC, EATC, and ATC levels, accumulated by Lemna gibba L. Exposure concentrations of 50, 100, and 300 ppb have been selected for TC and DPs, showing that the highest TC50, TC100, and TC300 concentrations in the plant have been 23.5+1.1, 80.1+3.9, and 274+13 ppb, respectively, while the highest ETC50, ETC100, and ETC300 have proven to be 39.5+1.9, 47.8+2.4, and 168+8.4 ppb, respectively. The highest EATC50, EATC100, and EATC300 concentrations in the plant have been 45.3+2.3; 65+3.0 and 173+9.0 ppb, respectively, whereas the highest ATC50, ATC100, and ATC300 concentrations in Lemna gibba L. have been 34.7+1.7, 39.6+0.2, and 114+5.6 ppb, respectively. TC, ETC, EATC, and ATC concentrations in Lemna gibba L. have increased with the increase of initial TC, ETC, EATC, and ATC concentration.

Surface waters become more and more polluted, depending on human activities around them. The current study has been conducted to evaluate the impact of Syrian civil war on water quality of the Turkish part of Orontes River. For so doing, it has obtained monitoring data between 2006 and 2014 from state of Hydraulic Works of Turkey, analyzing them via Water Quality Index (WQI) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). WQI reveals that water quality in Orontes River has dropped sharply after 2011 and slightly improved by 2013. This time interval overlaps with Syrian civil war when conflicts between regime forces and dissidents occurred densely. Therefore, it can be concluded that Syrian civil war has impacted the water quality of Turkish water’s with potential causes of water quality degradation identified as polluters from conflicts and immigration activities. In addition, this research has conducted PCA to investigate indicator parameters, representing the water quality variation as a result of war. Results showed that NO2- and NO3- concentration in the surface water can be used as main indicators of Syrian civil war's impact on water quality. Finally, it may said that anthropogenic activities happening in the Turkish part of the watershed also contribute to the pollution level of river, especially domestic and industrial discharges.

A greenhouse experiment has been planned for this study to delineate the benefits of two types of rice husk biochars (namely B300 and B600 which are prepared at 300°C and 600°C, respectvely) and coal fly ash (CFA), as soil amendments, for decreasing the amount of some heavy metals (like Pb, Cd, Ni, Cr, and Cu) as well as mobility and phytoavailability in an artificially-calcareous multi-element-contaminated soil. The effect of soil amendment on heavy metals’ availability has been evaluated via sequential extraction experiment and phytoavailability of the plant. According to the results, among the studied amendments, B600 has had the highest positive effect on both dry matter yield in corn and heavy metals’ availability reduction in post-harvest soil samples (with the exception of Cr), compared to CFA and B300, due to the increasing specific surface area, CEC, and pH that promote heavy metals’ sorption in the soil through surface complexation and ion exchange mechanisms. Evaluation of heavy metals’ chemical forms in post-harvest soil samples indicates that addition of amendments has significantly decreased mobility factor of heavy metals (with the exception of Cr in CFA-amended soils). In general, application of three soil amendments to this polluted soil has considerable effect on the reduction of heavy metals’ availability and phytoavailability. However, among the studied amendments, B600 and CFA have had the maximum and minimum effect on heavy metals’ availability reduction, respectively.

The extensive use of pesticides leads to accumulation of a huge amount of residues in the environment. As such, the present study investigates the potentiality of Pleurotus pulmonarius to bioremediate dichlorvos pesticides (2,2-dichlorovinyldimethylphosphate) in contaminated soil. DDVP-polluted soils have been contaminated in five concentrations (5% v/w, 10% v/w, 15% v/w, 20% v/w, and 25% v/w), and the soil samples have been inoculated and incubated with pure culture of growing spawns of P. pulmonarius, obtained from commercial mushroom laboratory of Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi, Lagos. The control, however, has not been inoculated. Each treatment has been in triplicates with the soils, analyzed for total amount of DDVP at day 0 and day 60, using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Also, pH, moisture content, and total organic matter of the soil have been determined. Results show that the rate of DDVP degradation in the soils with Pleurotus pulmonarius has been higher than the soil samples without mushroom after 60 days. However, for the control without mushroom (loss due to natural attenuation) and those inoculated with P. pulmonarius (bioremediation) the loss percentage of DDVP ascended with the percentage of pesticide from 5% to 25%. The DDVP loss across all different concentrations of mushroom inoculation have been significant (p<0.05); however, for natural attenuation, it has not been significant (p>0.05), except for the lowest pesticide level (5%). Activities of mycelia have decreased soil pH, moisture content, and total organic matter. There has been a very minimal pesticide bioaccumulation in mushroom tissue, which has not been significant (p>0.05), but considerable at p<0.001, indicating that P. pulmonarius has the potential to degrade DDVP pesticides in soil.

Middle and southern Iraq suffers from polluted soils due to crude oil, spilled on land, leakage from transmitting pipe networks, or petroleum products from refineries. Many researchers have studied pollution impacts on the soil in details, but there is a clear lack of investigation on the influence of crude oil on soil erodibility. Recent researches have investigated the influence of pollution on erodibility parameters, which include critical shear stress (τc) and detachment factor (dc). The variability of dc and τc due to different in-situ scaling has not been thoroughly established for polluted and unpolluted soils. Thus this research aims at investigating the influence of different in-situ scaling ratios (1:1, 1:30, and 1:50) on variability of dc and τc for polluted and unpolluted soils under controlled laboratory conditions, using Jet Erosion Test (JET), and tries to compare the three solution techniques (namely, Blaisdell’s approach, depth scour approach, and iterative approach) to solve dc and τc from JETs for polluted and unpolluted soils. The polluted soil samples have been prepared by submerging the soil surface with crude oil for 24 hours prior to testing. Results show that there have been statistical differences in dc and τc between polluted and unpolluted soil samples on the dry side of water contents with no statistically significant difference of measured dc and τc being observed across different in-situ scale ratios for polluted and unpolluted soils. All told, the study shows less variability of measured dc and τc across different solution techniques, compared to previous study findings.

Nitrate is a major contributor to water contamination, which can affect humans' and animals' health. Due to increased sewage production, growth of agricultural activities, and development of urbanization, recent years have seen an increase of Nitrate in water resources. Drinking water resources in both rural and urban areas of Jiroft City are supplied by water wells, scattered throughout the region. Thus the present research analyses the Nitrate pollution of 31 drinking water wells in summer and winter of 2016, in the urban area of ​​Jiroft City and by means of GIS as well as statistical analysis, presents the results as zoning and survey maps. It also studies and evaluates the effect of rainfall and soil type on the amount of Nitrate. Results from statistical analyses show that the amount of water pollution to Nitrate is independent from the type of land use as well as the soil type. Furthermore, statistical results show that the amount of Nitrate in the wells under test is affected by precipitation, being higher in the winter. Therefore, considering the agricultural density in this area and the untapped use of nitrogen fertilizers, it is necessary to take into account the use of chemical fertilizers for proper management, scientific and practical control, and maintenance of the wells' health safety.

The present study synthesizes Zn-TiO2 photocatalyst via a simple and economic green rout, in which Green Tea is applied as a green reducing agent due to the presence of polyphenols Molecules. Polyphenol molecules in green tea act as a reductant, thus changing Zn2+ to metallic Zn. The by-produced nanocmposites are characterized by using XRD, FESEM, EDS, and DRS. Zn-TiO2 photocatalyst possesses great efficient charge separation properties. In order to investigate the presence of Zn, different weight ratio of Zn to TiO2 (viz. 5 wt%, 10 wt%, 15 wt%, 20 wt%, 25 wt%, 30 wt%, 35 wt%, 40 wt%, 45 wt%, and 50 wt%) have been synthesized and their performance in Acid Orange 7 (AO7) photodegradation, compared with pure TiO2. According to the results, the compound with 25 wt% Zn shows 97% degradation of AO7 as a model pollutant. Also, it has been shown that after three tests with EDTA, benzoic acid, and under Ar gas, photodegradation of AO7 with Zn-TiO2 photocatalyst mainly depends on photogenerated holes.

The present study has been conducted to determine the surface water quality of urban area in Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh by determining some water quality parameters (Transparency, Temperature, pH, EC, Eh, DO, TSS, TDS, TS, BOD5, COD, TOC, Cl-, Br-, SO4-2, NO3-, NO2-, PO4-3, TP, HCO3- and Total alkalinity) as well as the status of phytoplankton’s community in the water from two lakes (Tiger Lake and AERE Lake) and one canal (Karnapara Canal). It has been shown that, with exception of BOD and COD, all water quality parameters of AERE Lake in the present study are within the acceptable limits, recommended by local and international standards. Among water quality parameters of Tiger Lake and Karnapara Canal, the concentration of transparency, temperature, EC, DO, TSS, TDS, BOD, COD, TOC, NO2-, and TP exceed the acceptable limits. Organic Pollution Index (OPI) demonstrate that the water bodies are severely polluted by organic matters. R mode Cluster Analysis (CA) suggests that common sources of water quality parameters are industrial, agricultural, and natural. The Principle Component Analysis/Factor Analysis (PCA/FA) identifies two dominant factors, responsible for data structure, explaining 100% of total variance in the data set. The PCA agrees with CA, suggesting that multiple anthropogenic and natural sources are responsible for the water quality parameters. The present study reflects the actual scenario of surface water quality of Savar urban area, thus helping the policy planers and makers of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh to take proper management and abatement strategies for the management of sustainable water resource in Bangladesh.

Urban horticulture is of growing importance in developing and developed countries around the world; however, contamination of urban horticultural products can exceed the precautionary values, posing significant human health risks due to dietary exposure to high levels of the pollutants. In this study, samples of rhizosphere soil and corresponding vegetables have been collected from an urban garden in Ilorin, Nigeria, to assess the contamination level of trace metals as well as the health risk, associated with dietary intake of contaminated vegetables, in adult sub-population. The range of Cu, Pb, and Cd in garden topsoil was 14.0-52.50, 33.00-121.40, and 1.00-4.50 mg/kg, respectively. The metals sources were both anthropogenic and lithogenous, though the long-term accumulation of trace metals in the soil led to significant soil-plant transfer as evident in the levels of metals in some of the vegetables. The estimated daily intakes (EDI) of Cu and Pb through vegetable consumption were far below the recommended tolerable daily intakes (TDI) and the hazard quotient (HQ) values were within the safe zone for the adult population. In contrast, the EDI of Cd for the vegetables was several folds greater than the TDI, thus greatly contributing to a high hazard index (HI>1.0), observed in all vegetables. Therefore, risk assessment of trace metal ingestion through consumption of the vegetables in the adult sub-population depicts serious health hazards with Cd, mainly contributing to vegetable contamination in the studied area.