Cadmium (Cd) is an important toxic chemical due to its increasing levels in the environment and its resulting accumulation in humans and animals. The present study was performed to evaluate the long-term effects of low doses of Cd administered in offspring by oral route to rats during pregnancy and lactation. There were no adverse effects on the physical and sexual development in the pups, except to delay the development of offspring. The relative weights of livers and kidneys in the adult female offspring were significantly decreased after exposure to 10 ppm Cd. These results indicated that there were adverse effects on growth and development from exposure to 5 or 10 ppm Cd in utero and during lactation. The results also showed differential gender sensitivity effects on the organ weights.

Microbial community compositions in pesticide-contaminated aquifers have not been studied, although such information is important for remediation and maintaining freshwater sources clean under changing climate. Therefore, phospholipid (PLFAs), glycolipid (GLFAs), and neutral lipid (NLFAs) fatty acids were determined from sand and clay sediments at depths of 0.3–24.8 m, all contaminated with triazines and dichlobenil/2,6-dichlorobenzamide. The portion of fungi and Gram-negative bacteria at 0.3 m was greater than at 0.8 m, where the percentage of Gram-positive bacteria, actinobacteria, and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) increased. In deeper sediments, microbial biomass, activity, and diversity decreased. Clay sediments seemed to serve as a reservoir for slow pesticide elution to groundwater, and their biomarker portion for all bacteria except actinobacteria was greater than in sand sediments. The slow pesticide dissipation seemed to occur in the main groundwater flow zone, resulting in nitrogen release simultaneously with organic matter elution from gardening and bank filtration. As a result, microbial biomass, activity, and diversity were increased. This shift in conditions towards that in surface soil may be appropriate for enhanced natural attenuation of pesticides in groundwater sources.

A low crystalline Fe-oxyhydroxy sulfate (FeOS) was used to immobilize arsenic (As) in soils in this study. The effects of FeOS amount, treatment time and soil moisture on As immobilization were investigated. The results showed that water-soluble and NaHCO₃-extractable As were immobilized by 53.4–99.8 and 13.8–73.3 % respectively, with 1–10 % of FeOS addition. The highest immobilization of water-soluble (98.5 %) and NaHCO₃-extractable arsenic (47.2 %) was achieved under condition of 4 % of FeOS and 80 % of soil moisture. Further, more amounts of FeOS addition resulted in less time requirement for As immobilization. Sequential chemical extraction experiment revealed that easily mobile arsenic phase was transferred to less mobile phase. The FeOS-bonded As may play a significant role in arsenic immobilization. Under leaching with simulated acid rain at 60 times pore volumes, accumulation amount of As release from untreated soil and soil amended with FeOS were 98.4 and 1.2 mg, respectively, which correspond to 7.69 and 0.09 % of total As amounts in soil. The result showed that the low crystalline FeOS can be used as a suitable additive for arsenic immobilization in soils.

Di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), a xenobiotic, is widely used in industries as a softener for polyvinyl chloride resins. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether DBP induces oxidative stress in testes of Wistar rats. DBP at doses of 500, 1,000 and 1,500 mg/kg b.wt. (doses below LD₅₀) was given orally for 7 days. After 24 hrs from the last dose, the animals were killed under ether anesthesia. Nonsignificant increase in testicular weight was observed. Histological studies indicated a dose-related degeneration of germinal, Leydig and Sertoli cells along with loss of spermatozoa in the lumen. The concentrations of malondialdehyde (TBARS), lipid hydroperoxides, water-soluble antioxidant capacity, glutathione-S-transferase, catalase and trace elements—zinc and copper increased while concentrations of total protein, lipid soluble antioxidant capacity, ascorbic acid, glutathione, total superoxide dismutase (SOD), Cu–ZnSOD, MnSOD, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and metallothionein decreased at all the dose levels. The data suggests that the cellular functions were adversely affected due to impairment of spermatogenesis indicative of oxidative stress as evident by altered antioxidative defense system which appears to mediate through hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis. The spectrum of changes in testes reflects its susceptibility to phthalate even at low dose with the potential to interfere with critical reproductive function.

Heavy-metal-contaminated soil is one of the major environmental pollution issues all over the world. In this study, two low-cost amendments, inorganic eggshell and organic banana stem, were applied to slightly alkaline soil for the purpose of in situ immobilization of Pb, Cd, and Zn. The artificially metal-contaminated soil was treated with 5 % eggshell or 10 % banana stem. To simulate the rainfall conditions, a metal leaching experiment for a period of 12 weeks was designed, and the total concentrations of the metals in the leachates were determined every 2 weeks. The results from the metal leaching analysis revealed that eggshell amendment generally reduced the concentrations of Pb, Cd, and Zn in the leachates, whereas banana stem amendment was effective only on the reduction of Cd concentration in the leachates. A sequential extraction analysis was carried out at the end of the experiment to find out the speciation of the heavy metals in the amended soils. Eggshell amendment notably decreased mobility of Pb, Cd, and Zn in the soil by transforming their readily available forms to less accessible fractions. Banana stem amendment also reduced exchangeable form of Cd and increased its residual form in the soil.

Health effects from air pollution are severe concern of today’s world. The study was undertaken to assess the effects of air pollution on hematological profiles of trained and untrained males of West Bengal. The sample consisted of 60 sprinters, 60 footballers, and 120 untrained males, subdivided into two groups from two zones, namely, Tollygunge and Sonarpur. Suspended particulate matter (SPM), respirable particulate matter (RPM), oxides of sulfur (SOₓ), and oxides of nitrogen (NOₓ) of ambient air were monitored for both zones. Height and weight of all the subjects were measured. Venous blood sample was drawn from the cubital vein, and the red blood cell count (TC), packed cell volume (PCV), hemoglobin (Hb) concentration, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were determined by standard methods. Results revealed that SPM, RPM, SOₓ, and NOₓ concentrations were significantly higher in the Tollygunge area than Sonarpur. TC, PCV, and Hb concentration of untrained males were significantly higher than footballers in both regions but no significant difference were observed when compared with sprinters, except the Hb concentration in the Tollygunge zone. On the other hand, all hematological parameters of both trained and untrained males were significantly higher in the Sonarpur area than Tollygunge. It was concluded that environmental air pollutants might influence hematological profile adversely both in trained and sedentary males. However, further investigation in this area is needed.

From screening 23 plant species, it was found that Pterocarpus indicus (C₃) and Sansevieria trifasciata (crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM)) were the most effective in polar gaseous trimethylamine (TMA) uptake, reaching up to 90 % uptake of initial TMA (100 ppm) within 8 h, and could remove TMA at cycles 1–4 without affecting photosystem II (PSII) photochemistry. Up to 55 and 45 % of TMA was taken up by S. trifasciata stomata and leaf epicuticular wax, respectively. During cycles 1–4, interestingly, S. trifasciata changed its stomata apertures, which was directly induced by gaseous TMA and light treatments. In contrast, for P. indicus the leaf epicuticular wax and stem were the major pathways of TMA removal, followed by stomata; these pathways accounted for 46, 46, and 8 %, respectively, of TMA removal percentages. Fatty acids, particularly tetradecanoic (C₁₄) acid and octadecanoic (C₁₈) acid, were found to be the main cuticular wax components in both plants, and were associated with TMA removal ability. Moreover, the plants could degrade TMA via multiple metabolic pathways associated with carbon/nitrogen interactions. In CAM plants, one of the crucial pathways enabled 78 % of TMA to be transformed directly to dimethylamine (DMA) and methylamine (MA), which differed from C₃ plant pathways. Various metabolites were also produced for further detoxification and mineralization so that TMA was completely degraded by plants.

The aim of this study was to investigate seasonal heavy metal accumulation and translocation characteristics of the narrow-leaved cattail (Typha angustifolia L.). Sediment and plant samples were taken seasonally from six different locations identified for this purpose, and Pb, Cr, Cu, Ni, Zn, and Cd concentrations as well as accumulation factor (AF) and translocation factor (TF) values were determined. It was noted that the metal concentrations in the plant roots, rhizomes, and leaves differed seasonally. The metals mainly accumulated in the plant roots, and Zn was the element that accumulated the most in the plant roots, rhizomes, and leaves. The highest Zn concentration was observed to be 56.47 μg g⁻¹ in the rhizome sample from the summer. In all the seasons, the AF value of Cd was observed to be above 1. In addition, the TF value was below 1 for all elements in every season. While the element having lowest uptake and translocation ratio was Cr, and the highest uptake and translocation ratio was found for Cd. The AF and TF values suggest that the plant would be most appropriate for use in phytostabilization.

The objective of this study was to explore the relationships between the distribution of some meroplanktonic species and water temperature. Meroplankton larvae abundance of bivalves, and barnacles and water temperature fluctuations were studied from February 2011 to January 2012 at five stations in Ghar El Melh lagoon (GML) Mediterranean Sea, northern Tunisia). According to redundancy analysis (RDA), a significant difference was found in the distribution of larvae among the seasons (F = 10.28, p < 0.001); summer and autumn appear to be the period of bivalve larvae development, whereas the arrival of barnacle larvae coincided with winter and spring. The generalized additive models (GAMs) show strong correlation of bivalve larvae with high temperature (F = 23.2; p < 0.001) and the affinity of barnacle larvae to low temperature values (F = 8.41; p = 0.004). This environmental parameter accounted for 26 % of the deviance in variability in larvae abundance. The development process of many generations of larvae may therefore have been predetermined by temperature.

The preparation, characterization, and performance evaluation of an innovative mesoporous activated carbon (C-XHIT) were conducted in this study. Comparative evaluation with commercial carbons (C-PS and C-ZJ15) and long-term performance evaluation of C-XHIT were conducted in small-scale system-A (S-A) and pilot-scale system-B (S-B-1 and S-B-2 in series), respectively, for treating water from Songhua River. The cumulative uptake of micropollutants varied with KBV (water volume fed to columns divided by the mass of carbons, m³ H₂O/kg carbon) was employed in the performance evaluation. The results identified that mesoporous and microporous volumes were simultaneously well-developed in C-XHIT. Higher mesoporosity (63.94 %) and average pore width (37.91 Å) of C-XHIT ensured a higher adsorption capacity for humic acid compared to C-PS and C-ZJ15. When the KBV of S-A reached 12.58 m³ H₂O/kg carbon, cumulative uptake of organic pollutants achieved by C-XHIT increased by 32.82 and 156.29 % for DOC (QC) and 22.53 and 112.48 % for UV₂₅₄ (QUV) compared to C-PS and C-ZJ15, respectively; in contrast, the adsorption capacity of NH₄ ⁺-N did not improve significantly. C-XHIT achieved high average removal efficiencies for DOC (77.43 ± 16.54 %) and UV₂₅₄ (83.18 ± 13.88 %) in S-B over 253 days of operation (KBV = 62 m³ H₂O/kg carbon). Adsorption dominated the removal of DOC and UV₂₅₄ in the initial phases of KBV (0–15 m³ H₂O/kg carbon), and simultaneous biodegradation and adsorption were identified as the mechanisms for organic pollutant uptake at KBV above 25 m³ H₂O/kg carbon. The average rates contributed by S-B-1 and S-B-2 for QC and QUV were approximately 0.75 and 0.25, respectively. Good linear and exponential correlations were observed between S-A and S-B in terms of QC and QUV obtained by C-XHIT, respectively, for the same KBV ranges, indicating a rapid and cost-saving evaluation method. The linear correlation between mesoporosity and QC (QUV) was also identified by the evolution of the property indices of C-XHIT.