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A Review of Local Factors Affecting Solid Waste Collection in Nigeria
2016
Olukanni, David | Adeleke, Joshua | Aremu, Damilola
The knowledge of local and regional factors that affect effective solidwaste collection plays an important role in choosing appropriate technology. Wastecollection has grown to become a major challenge demanding daily response from wastemanagers and it becomes inevitable to provide stakeholders with necessary information toaid key decision-making. This paper provides a comprehensive and detailed review oflocal-based factors that affect waste collection in Nigeria. Literature study and on-siteobservation were used for getting theoretical and useful information on the collection ofwaste in the study area. The study considered various standard collection technologiesand their supporting factors in order to assess the effectiveness of existing methods. Thecurrent collection techniques existing in different parts of the country together withunique local factors for these various areas are reported. The findings in many casesreveal that the method of waste collection adopted and equipment used are faced withmany challenges. This paper revealed that there is no investment presently made on theexisting development plan to initiate a modern waste collection system. The studyrecommends a new approach that could be used by institutions and government agenciesfor efficient municipal solid waste collection to achieve sustainable and effectivesanitation which will consequently facilitate the development of an aesthetically balancedand friendly environment.
Show more [+] Less [-]Comparing the Effect of Kerosene Pollution on Forest and Industrial Soil Microbial Community
2016
Ziadabadi, Zahra | Hassanshahian, Mehdi
Kerosene is the colorless liquid and slightly heavier than gasoline thatspecific odor removes after evaporation. Soil and underground water source arecontaminated with different pollutants such as petroleum hydrocarbons. These pollutantshave various negative environmental effects on soil and surrounding environment. Theaim of this research is to understand the effect of kerosene pollution on two differentsoils. The two different collected soils include Industrial and Forest soil. Six microcosmswere designed. Indeed, each soil has three microcosms: unpolluted microcosm, pollutedmicrocosm, and polluted microcosm with nutrient (Nitrogen and Phosphor). Some factorswere assayed in each microcosm during 120 day of experiment. These factors includetotal heterotrophic bacteria, total kerosene degrading bacteria, dehydrogenase enzyme,and kerosene biodegradation. The results of this study show that the highest quantity ofheterotrophic bacteria is related to forest soil (6×109). The quantities of kerosenedegrading bacteria significantly were lower than heterotrophic bacteria in all soilmicrocosms. The quantity of kerosene degrading bacteria have decrement pattern until60th day of experiment, but, after this day, these bacteria have increment pattern. The bestdehydrogenase activity between different microcosms is related to polluted microcosmwith kerosene except for farmland soil. The highest biodegradation of kerosene in allstudied soil belongs to industrial microcosm (95%). Statistical analysis of the resultsshows that there is a significant correlation between MPN quantity of heterotrophicbacteria and other assayed factrs. Also, forest soil has significant difference with othersoils. It may be possible to propose appropriate strategies for bioremediation of differentstudied soil types using the results obtained in this research.
Show more [+] Less [-]Seasonal variability in water chemistry and sediment characteristics of intertidal zone at Karnafully estuary, Bangladesh
2016
Mallick, Debbrota | Islam, Md. | Talukder, Avijit | Mondal, Shamindra | Al-Imran, Md. | Biswas, Satchidananda
The Karnafully is one of the most important rivers due to its profound influence on water chemistry and sediment characteristics. The present study intended to assess the quality of water and sediment from intertidal zone of this river in respect to the pollution index. Seasonal water and sediment samples were collected during four seasons (Monsoon, post-monsoon, winter, and pre-monsoon) of 2014. The result indicates that these investigated parameters ranged as water temperature (21.7-36 °C), pH (8.0-8.7), salinity (2.4-8.8‰), total suspended solid (0.08-0.8 g/L), dissolve oxygen (0.00-4.52 mg/L), soil temperature (21.3-33 °C), pH (5.0-6.8), sand (4.13-44.10%), silt (39.93-75.89%), clay (11.98-21.19%), soil organic matter (4.33-6.21%), organic carbon (2.5-3.6%), nitrite-nitrogen (0.69-3.97 µg/L), and phosphate-phosphorus (0.23-3.44 µg/L). Multivariate statistical analyses like post-hoc LSD test, Cluster Analysis (CA), and Principal Component analysis (PCA) brought out the spatial and temporal changing pattern of water chemistry and sediment characteristics with the effect of uprising pollution. CA ascertained the compatibility among different parameters and categorized the monitoring sites into highly and moderately polluted areas. Moreover, PCA brought out five primary components and highlighted the three dormant factors, enormously regulating the river water chemistry such as municipal waste, carbon based nitrogenous compound, and local geomorphological weathering process. This investigation provided an outline on deterioration of water and sediment quality by high anthropogenic impact and suggests national policy maker to take some initiatives for retaining the quality water and sediment properties.
Show more [+] Less [-]Modeling for vehicular pollution in urban region; A review
2016
Kumar, Awkash
Air pollution is one of the major threats to environment in the present time. Increase in degree of urbanization is a major cause of this air pollution. Due to urbanization, vehicular activities are continuously increasing at a tremendous rate. Mobile or vehicular pollution is predominantly degrading the air quality worldwide. Thus, air quality management is necessary for dealing with this severe problem. The first step to deal with this air pollution problem is to find out the existing concentration of air pollutants in the atmosphere due to vehicular activities. It is not possible to establish ambient air monitoring stations everywhere, especially in developing countries as it is a costly process. Hence, vehicular air quality models are used to predict the concentration of different pollutants in the atmosphere. This review covers the simulation of vehicular emission by different types of models for estimating the pollutant concentration in ambient air from vehicular emissions. The models predict concentrations of pollutants in time and space and relate it to the dependent variables. These can also be used to predict the concentration of pollutants in the future. These models can be useful for imposing regulations by governments and to test techniques for controlling pollutant emissions. This review also discusses where and how the respective models can be used.
Show more [+] Less [-]Assessment of major ionic compositions and anthropogenic influences in the rainwater over a coal mining environment of Damodar River basin, India
2016
Mahato, Mukesh | Singh, Prasoon | Singh, Abhay | Tiwari, Ashwani
In the present study, 45 rainwater samples were collected from February to December 2012 on event basis in East Bokaro coal mining environment. Physico-chemical and major ionic compositions of rainwater samples as well as water soluble major ion composition were analyzed to employ principle component analysis for source identification. The average pH value was recorded 6.1 and varied from 5.1 to 6.9 in the collected rainwater samples, indicating slightly acidic to alkaline in nature. The rainwater chemistry of the region showed high contribution of HCO3- (32%) followed by SO42- (30%), Cl- (20%), NO3- (15%) and F- (3%) in anionic abundance. In case of major cations, Ca2+ (29%) was dominant followed by Mg2+ (27%), NH4+ (22%), Na+ (18%) and K+ (4%). The ratio of Cl-/Na+ in the rainwater samples was found to be almost equal to sea water. Higher enrichment of Na+ and Cl- concentration may be due to marine contribution. The EFs were found to be high for HCO3-, Ca2+, SO42- and K+ indicating sources other than sea; i.e., coal mining and other anthropogenic activities. The principle component analysis for ionic source identification was synthesized into four factors with eigen values cut off at greater than unity and explained about 71.8 % of the total variance. The rainwater quality area is mainly influenced due to mining activities, vehicular pollution and industrialization in the East Bokaro coalfield area.
Show more [+] Less [-]The influence of Atlantic-Eurasian teleconnection patterns on temperature regimes in South Caspian Sea coastal areas: a study of Golestan Province, North Iran
2015
Ghanghermeh, AbdolAzim | Roshan, Gholamreza | Al- Yahyai, Sultan
The main objective of this study was to reveal the impact of nine climate indices on temperature changes and climate oscillations in Golestan Province along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea. Climate indices data from across the Atlantic-Eurasian sector were collected from the NCEP/NCAR, the Climate Prediction Centre (CPC) and the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) over a period of 40 years (1971-2010). The climate indices are then compared and correlated with temperature observations from 47 weather stations collected from meteorological and energy organizations. The correlations are based on the 12-month moving average. The study results show a significant increasing temperature trend in most months over different regions of Golestan. For maximum temperature, a significant increasing trend was seen in 55.64, 41.8 and 40% of the land area in the province during August, June and July, respectively. In general, summer had the most significant maximum-temperature trends, with an average of 37.8% of the land area. On the other hand, increasing minimum-temperature trends were seen in 58% of the land area of the province compared to the other seasons. It was concluded that there is high correlation between climate indices and temperature components. The correlation coefficients obtained for various indices including North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), North Sea Caspian Pattern (NCP), Arctic Oscillation Index (AO), East Atlantic (EA), East Atlantic/West Russia (EATL/WRUS), Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO), North Tropical Atlantic (NTA), Polar/Eurasia (PE), and Scandinavia teleconnection index (SCAND) suggest an inverse relationship between these indices and temperature components. Therefore, the higher the values of these indices, the lower the temperature values, and vice versa.
Show more [+] Less [-]Bedload transport predictions based on field measurement data by combination of artificial neural network and genetic programming
2015
Zangeneh Sirdari, Zahra | Ab. Ghani, Aminuddin | Zangeneh Sirdari, Nasim
Bedload transport is an essential component of river dynamics and estimation of its rate is important to many aspects of river management. In this study, measured bedload by Helley- Smith sampler was used to estimate the bedload transport of Kurau River in Malaysia. An artificial neural network, genetic programming and a combination of genetic programming and a neural network were used to estimate the bedload carried in Kurau River, based on bedload transport measurement data and hydraulic variables. A statistical analysis was carried out to validate methods by computing RMSE, MARE and inequality ratio (U). In general, the ability of the artificial neural network combined with genetic programming with R2 equal to 0.95, RMSE equal to 0.1 as a precipitation predictive tool for predicting the bedload transport rate was observed as being acceptable.
Show more [+] Less [-]Evaluating the geochemistry of Bam salt dome in Hormozgan Province, Iran
2015
Asadpour, Gholamabbas
Evaluation of the geochemistry and hydrochemical quality of Bam salt dome located in southern Iran, was conducted in this study. Two composite samples from salt units were collected and analysed by XRD and XRF to determine their mineral and elemental compositions. Water samples were also collected from the only spring in the area and analysed for major anions, cations and some toxic elements. The results indicated halite as the major mineral present, while quartz, anhydrite and dolomite were present at minor levels. The presence of anhydrite and dolomite together with quartz had negative effects on edible salt quality. The dominant water type in the area was sodium-chloride. Negligible sulphate and calcium contents may be attributed to anhydrites detected in the geological texture of the study area. According to a Schoeller diagram, the water is not suitable for drinking. Concentrations of toxic metals in the salt sample were significantly higher than those in water samples. Such a result can be viewed as an opportunity to produce edible salts from the evaporation of spring water.
Show more [+] Less [-]Evaluating the consequences of the new standards on noise conditions in ships
2015
Bouzón, Rebeca | Costa, Angel M | Roshan, Gholamreza | Orosa, J.A.
Noise is one of the main parameters to be considered to achieve a healthy indoor ambience in ferries. Therefore, the noise standards need to be more specialized and specifically based on real sampled data and case studies. In the present research, the noise levels in a ship, under different working conditions, were sampled and compared with those specified in the new and old standards. An initial study showed two main noise sources- clients and main engine- that influence other indoor environments, reducing the quality of life on board. The real-time data revealed that the maximum noise level limits set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in the older Resolution A.468 (XII) was mostly respected, except in areas where maintenance of the noise level was difficult, owing to the continuous influx of people, especially at the time of boarding and disembarking of the passengers and at the food self-service areas. In this sense, under the new Resolution MSC.337 (91), the maximum noise level allowed in the accommodation has been reduced by 5 dB (A), but this environment does not meet the standard. More results show that future standards must not only consider the noise level in a working place and add another variable, such as, the number of working hours, to obtain a representative equivalent energy, and they must also consider that a simple modification of this standard implies a redesign of most of the indoor ambiences onboard.
Show more [+] Less [-]Hematological responses of Goldfish (Carassiusauratus) to different acute concentrations of Silver Sulfate as a toxicant
2015
Abarghoei, Safoura | Hedayati, Seyed Aliakbar | Ghafari Farsani, Hamed | Gerami, Mohammad Hasan
This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of silver sulfate (AgSO4) as a toxicant in goldfish (Carassiusauratus). One hundred and forty-seven live specimens of C. auratus were obtained and exposed to 1, 10, 100, 500, 1000 and 2000 ppm of AgSO4for 96 hours. There was one control group (no AgSO4) and three replicates. The physicochemical properties of water and the following parameters were constant: pH: 7.56±0.45 (TS1); temperature: 19±1°C; hardness: 293±2.35 ppm and dissolved oxygen: 8.80 ±0.06 mg L-1 (DO-5510). LC1, LC10, LC30, LC50, LC70, LC90 and LC99 were calculated in 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours. For assessing the impact ofAgSO4 on physiological responses of goldfish hematological indices, blood glucose and cortisol levels were measured. Results showed that LC50 96-h of AgSO4 for goldfish was 687.81 ppm. In addition, the use of AgSO4induces a significant decrease in MCHE after 48 hours, MCV and MCH after 96 hours and lymphocyte after 96 hours in contrast to the control group (P<0.05). Furthermore, increased lymphocyte was significant after 24 hours exposure (P<0.05). In addition, glucose increased significantly at P<0.05 with time increase24 hours after experiment but this (). In conclusion, the study showed that acute toxicity of AgSO4induced hematological alterations in goldfish and offers a tool for the evaluation oftoxicity-derived alterations.
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