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.

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.

Bioretention or rain garden is a preferable low impact development (LID) approach due to its characteristics which reflect natural water cycle processes. However, this system is still little understood and quite complicated in terms of design and implementation due to many technical considerations. Hence, this paper gives a review of the challenges and developments for the use of bioretention facilities to enhance its capabilities in attenuating peak flow and treating stormwater runoff particularly in urban areas. This paper reviews the main aspects of bioretention which are stormwater hydrologic, hydraulic and treatment performance. Some of the limitations during the implementation of this natural approach are highlighted in design configuration and the public perception towards this new approach. It is concluded that the bioretention approach is one of the sustainable solutions for stormwater management that can be applied either for individual systems or regional systems.

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.

This study was carried out to 1. determine spatial variations of heavy metal deposition in agricultural soils of two rural communities (OuledBouAicha and Tazakourte) of about 5790 ha in a mining area near Marrakech city in Morocco; 2. to assess the extent of metallic pollution generated by the mining activity and; 3. to identify the key mechanism responsible for this contamination and its relation to mining activity. Soil pollution assessment was carried out on one hand by measurement of the total metal concentration and on the other hand by studying four heavy metals speciation of the studied soils. The chemical forms of four heavy metals in soils around DraaLasfar mine were studied by determining soil Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn species using standard solvent extraction and Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometric techniques. The chemical pools of the metals indicated that the metals were distributed into six fractions with most of them residing in the non-residual fractions thus suggesting how readily the metals are released into the environment. Considering that the metals occur in the most available forms, we suggested that it is most likely that the metals must have been derived from anthropogenic sources especially from the mining activity in the studied region.

The activity concentration of gross alpha and gross beta particles in four samples of borehole drinking water consumed in Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU), Lapai, Niger State-Nigeria was measured, using a portable single channel gas free proportional counter (MPC2000B-DP) detector. This study focused on cancer related problems and the bio-data of the environment was discussed as well as the radiological effect of the water on consumers. Higher concentration of alpha and beta were observed in Hostel block A (DD) with values of 0.085 0.024 and 11.229 0.901 BqL-1, respectively. However, lower concentration of alpha and beta particles were observed in the Faculty of Management Science (AA) with values of 0.006 0.005 and 0.001 0.276 BqL-1, respectively. Out of the four sampling sites studied, only the Faculty of Management Science fall below the guideline levels of gross alpha (0.5 BqL-1) and gross beta (1.0 BqL-1) in drinking water, established by the World Health Organization. These results show that, consumption of groundwater from the other three major borehole sources, may pose significant radiological health hazards to the population.

Exposure to radiation from different types of television sets was measured to ascertain the levels of hazards posed to the human biological system. Measurement of the annual radiation dose hazards was performed using a halogen-quenched GM tube with thin mica end window having a density of 1.5 mg/cm2, effective window diameter of 0.360 inch and side wall of 0.012 inch thick. The GM tube was placed for 180 minutes and the sensor faced the screens of the various TV sets, one meter apart. The annual radiation dose ranged from 0.012 ± 0.006 mSv/yr for plasma-SONY to 0.13 ± 0.012 mSv/yr for SHARP and SAMSUNG 24 inch TV sets, containing cathode ray tubes. The annual doses from the 15 and 24 inch-LG TVs (manufactured with cathode ray tubes) were relatively low, with values of 0.031 ± 0.017 and 0.035 ± 0.005 mSv/yr, respectively. The 21 inch THERMOCOOL and PROTECH (with cathode ray tubes), produced annual doses of 0.110 ± 0.052 Sv/yr and 0.063 ± 0.002 mSv/yr, respectively. This provides an insight into the amount of radiation generated by different TV sets in households, on an annual basis. After some years of exposure to TV radiation, health complications such as carcinogenesis or other adverse cellular events may occur, due to cumulated (but does not always) doses which may result in DNA damage, to the human biological system.

The development of a surface water evaluation index is a critical factor in the assessment, restoration and protection of stream water quality. Quantifying water pollution in specific grade using dominant parameters is important, as this can explain the current state of water pollution with accuracy. As a result, an integrated multi-parameter water quality index has been developed. It is based on the 10 most prevailing parameters (pH, conductivity, nitrate ions, phosphate ions, Escherichia coli number, cadmium, chromium, lead, copper and manganese) with a scale of 1 to 4, wherein the grades are classified into 1: good; 1.1-1.5: slightly polluted; 1.6-2.0: moderately polluted; 2.1-2.9: heavily polluted and 3.0-4.0: gravely polluted. The measuring stick used was according to the 2011 background values of the World Health Organization (WHO) in which a value of 0.1 was attributed for each, so that the final grade can be calculated. Water quality data were successfully fitted in an integrated multi-parameter water quality index to measure the river water level of pollution, and effectively represented every water bodies. This innovative index is able to quantify pollution with respect to seasons, geography and geomorphology of the respective rivers. Although operative, this index still lacks scientific integrity and as such, more synoptic experiments in the rivers of developing countries are recommended to attain a pragmatic feature.

An adsorbent was developed from matured leaves of the Aloe barbadensis miller plant for removing Pb(II) from aqueous solutions. Adsorption was carried out in a batch process with several different concentrations of Pb(II) by varying amount of adsorbent, pH, agitation time and temperature. The uptake of the metal was initially very fast, but gradually slowed down indicating penetration into the interior of the adsorbent particles. The experimental data closely followed both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. A small amount of the adsorbent (1 g/50ml) could remove as much as 86% of Pb(II) in 35 min from a solution of concentration 0.3 mg/50ml at 25°C. The adsorption continuously increased in the pH range of 2.0–5.0, beyond which the adsorption could decrease up to pH 7.0 when the adsorption could not be carried out due to precipitation of the metal. The adsorption was exothermic at ambient temperature and computation of the parameters, ΔH, ΔS and ΔG, which indicated the interactions to be thermodynamically favorable.

Collection of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) accounts for a significant proportion of most municipal budgets, and has drawn some degree of researchers‟ interest. This study was conducted in Ota, Southwest Nigeria, to explore the use of Visual basic program as an innovative tool to select the most economic haulage system among three systems found in literature (conventional-, modified- and Stationary- hauled system) for collection and transfer of MSW to disposal sites. Factors that affect the costs of collection and transportation of waste such as: vehicle cost, total time spent on waste collection, and gross travel cost, were considered in the analysis. The result of the study shows that the stationary hauled method of waste collection is the optimal and economical method of collection. This method recorded a 56% and 43% reduction in total cost of daily travel per waste collection, as compared to the conventional and the modified systems, respectively. The application of visual basic program proffers implementable solutions to reduce the cost of MSW transportation to disposal sites. This would reduce travel time and costs of vehicle fueling, and increase the prompt collection of waste which would in turn facilitate the development of an aesthetically balanced and environmentally friendly municipality that would perhaps boost economic development.