The introduction to the market of wet wipes, advertised and labelled as “flushable”, has been the subject of controversy due to their perceived potential to block sewer systems as observed with other non-woven cloths such as traditional non-flushable wipes. Non-woven cloths that enter wastewater systems can find their way into the aquatic environment via wastewater effluents and it has been suggested that the breakdown of these fabrics can release materials such as microplastics into the environment. Worldwide research has revealed the alarming number of aquatic organisms affected by the presence of plastic debris in the aquatic environment harbouring a potential risk to humans through the introduction of microplastics into the food chains. However, the actual material composition of flushable wipes, their fate and impacts in the aquatic environment have not yet been scientifically studied. This paper investigates the fibre composition of flushable and non-flushable wipes, specifically with regard to synthetic polymer material, using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and microRaman spectroscopy along with fluorescence microscopy. The study demonstrated the presence of polyester (polyethylene terephthalate, (PET)), high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polyethylene/vinyl acetate (PEVA/EVA) in some flushable wipes and PET in all non-flushable. Other polymers such us polypropylene (PP), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), expanded polystyrene (EPS) and polyurethane (PU) were also identified as potential components in the flushable material. Hence, commercially available wet wipes labelled as flushable could also be considered as a possible source of microplastic fibres in the wastewater streams and, if not retained, in the environment.

As a plasticizer, di-(2-ethylhexyl)-phthalate (DEHP) is widely added in various commercial products. Some researchers had suggested that DEHP has adverse effects on the glucose metabolism, but the mechanisms remain unclear. Adolescent Wistar rats were divided into four groups and administered DEHP by gavage at 0, 5, 50, and 500 mg kg⁻¹ d⁻¹ for 28 days. ELISA was used to quantify the serum insulin and leptin levels; RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry, and Western blot were used to detect the mRNA and protein expressions of Janus-activated kinase 2 (JAK2), signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3), leptin receptor (Ob-R), and insulin receptor (IR) in liver and pancreas In comparison to the control group, the DEHP-treated rats showed the following: (1) higher organ coefficient of liver; (2) higher fasting blood glucose levels, higher fasting serum insulin and leptin levels, higher insulin resistance index homeostasis model assessment; (3) lower protein levels of Ob-R and IR in the liver and pancreas; (4) higher protein levels of JAK2 and STAT3 in the liver; and (5) higher protein and mRNA levels of SOCS3 in the liver and pancreas. Exposure to DEHP induced glucose metabolic disorder in the adolescent rats, and the mechanism is that DEHP may interfere with the JAK2/STAT3/SOCS3 pathway, regulated the sensitivity of the insulin receptor and leptin receptor.

This paper aims to investigate carbon footprints of faculty members of University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) associated with income and education in pursuance of a low-carbon society. For the study, 140 UAF faculty members (professors, associate professors, assistant professors, and lecturers) were selected using stratified random sampling technique, and a representative questionnaire was used to record primary data. Moreover, the ordinary least square (OLS) method was used to explain the statistical relationship between income, education, and carbon footprints. It was found that carbon footprints of UAF faculty members were 10.06 metric tons (mt) per year per person on an average. Our results further indicated that carbon footprints of assistant professors, associate professors, and professors were 10.83, 11.95, and 10.96 mt per person per annum, respectively. OLS estimates showed that an increase in one Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) faculty member increases the carbon footprint by 1.15 mt per annum. Male faculty members emit more carbon footprints than females. Faculty members of Tenure Track System (TTS) had a higher income than those of Basic Pay Scale (BPS). Therefore, emissions of TTS faculty members were higher. Hence, in order to reduce carbon footprints and corroborate UAF campus environment-friendly, the attitude towards this aspect should be changed and awareness should be created. Furthermore, reduced car usage can be another bottom-up policy suggestion. As witnessed in green campuses of international universities, UAF should also be a motor-free campus (cycling and pedestrian only).

Trace elements (TEs) play an indispensable role in enhancing the stability of anaerobic digestion (AD) of food waste (FW). Significant research on AD of FW with TE supplementation has been conducted with low Fe content inoculum. However, the use of Fe-rich inoculum is inevitable due to chemical phosphorous removal from wastewater in North America. We conducted comprehensive mesophilic batch tests to investigate the effect of TEs (Fe, Ni, Co, Se, and Mo) on FW digestion inoculated with Fe-rich sludge (≥ 1000 mg Fe L⁻¹). This paper presents the impact of supplementing various concentrations of TEs on specific methanogenic activity (SMA), maximum specific methane production rate (SMPRₘₐₓ), and apparent hydrolysis rate constant (Kₕ). The addition of TEs adversely impacted methanogenic activity by 20 to 58% in the SMA tests. The effects of individual and mixed supplementation of TEs on the SMPRₘₐₓ and Kₕ during FW digestion were negligible; exceptions include Fe, Mo, and Co. Final soluble TE concentrations were 10–29% of the initial soluble TEs. The high Fe concentration in the inoculum reduces the bioavailable fraction of added TEs via coprecipitation. Contrary with many literature reports indicating the need to supplement TE to improve FW digestion efficiency, with Fe-rich sludges, FW digestion does not require TE supplementation.

Although ambient air pollution has been linked to reduced lung function in healthy students, longitudinal studies that compare the response of asthmatic and healthy adolescents are lacking. To evaluate lung function responses to short-term ambient air particulate matter (PM₁₀, PM₂.₅, and PM₁) levels, we conducted a study on high school students aged 15–18 years. The aim of this study was to assess effects of acute exposure to ambient air particulate matter (PM) on lung function in healthy and asthmatic late adolescents. We examined associations of lung function indices and ambient PM levels in 23 asthmatic and 23 healthy students. Paired-samples T test was used to evaluate the association of exposure to airborne PM concentrations with lung function test results (FVC, FEV₁, FEV₁/FVC, and FEF₂₅–₇₅). We observed negative impact of exposure to an increased concentration of ambient air PM₁₀, PM₂.₅, and PM₁ on lung function parameters of asthmatic and healthy late adolescents. These findings are consistent with other similar short-term studies which have confirmed the adverse effect of PM air pollution. These associations were stronger in asthmatic subjects compared with those in healthy ones. There are significant adverse effects of ambient air PM on pulmonary function of adolescents, especially asthmatics.

In this study, the effect of blending pentanol to biodiesel derived from mahua oil on emissions and performance pattern of a diesel engine under exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) mode was examined and compared with diesel. The purpose of this study is to improve the feasibility of employing biofuels as a potential alternative in an unmodified diesel engine. Two pentanol-biodiesel blends denoted as MOBD90P10 and MOBD80P20 which matches to 10 and 20 vol% of pentanol in biodiesel, respectively, were used as fuel in research engine at 10 and 20% EGR rates. Pentanol is chosen as a higher alcohol owing to its improved in-built properties than the other first-generation alcohols such as ethanol or methanol. Experimental results show that the pentanol and biodiesel blends (MOBD90P10 and MOBD80P20) have slightly higher brake thermal efficiency (0.2–0.4%) and lower brake-specific fuel consumption (0.6 to 1.1%) than that of neat biodiesel (MOBD100) at all engine loads. Nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission and smoke emission are reduced by 3.3–3.9 and 5.1–6.4% for pentanol and biodiesel blends compared to neat biodiesel. Introduction of pentanol to biodiesel reduces the unburned hydrocarbon (2.1–3.6%) and carbon monoxide emissions (3.1–4.2%) considerably. In addition, at 20% EGR rate, smoke, NOX emissions, and BTE drop by 7.8, 5.1, and 4.4% respectively. However, CO, HC emissions, and BSFC increased by 2.1, 2.8, and 3.8%, respectively, when compared to 0% EGR rate.

Six lignocellulosic waste-derived biosorbents [cantaloupe peel (CAN), pine cone (PC), litchi fruit peel (LP), annona squamosal (AS), bamboo shoot (BS), and sugarcane bagasse (SB)] were selected as low-cost and renewable materials to prepare chemically modified biosorbent. The modified biosorbent was prepared through a newer carboxyl groups-grafting process onto the biosorbent’s surface using acrylic acid. The results showed that the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of biosorbents increased by approximately 66.3–104% after modified. The modified biosorbent exhibited significantly higher adsorption capacity of Pb²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Cd²⁺ ions than the pristine biosorbent. The maximum Langmuir adsorption capacity (Qᵒₘₐₓ) of both pristine and modified biosorbents toward three metal ions (Pb²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Cd²⁺) followed the decreasing order: CAN > PC > LP > AS > BS > SB. The preference ranking of three metal ions on the pristine and modified biosorbents (mmol/kg) was generally in the order: Pb²⁺ > Cu²⁺ > Cd²⁺. Among these biosorbents, cantaloupe peel exhibited an excellent adsorption affinity to metal cations compared to the five others. The Qᵒₘₐₓ values of modified and pristine cantaloupe peels were ordered as follows: 143.2 and 81.1 mg/g for Pb²⁺ adsorption, > 45.4 and 30.4 mg/g for Cd²⁺ adsorption, > 33.1 and 23.5 mg/g for Cu²⁺ adsorption. After five adsorption–desorption cycles, the removal efficiency of Pb²⁺ by modified CAN was maintained at around 70%. The ion exchange played a determining role in adsorption mechanism. It can be concluded that modified cantaloupe peel can serve as a newer and promising biosorbent with a high adsorption capacity to various potentially toxic metals.

Graphene has been used in several fields covering from electronics to biomedicine, especially exhibiting a widespread variety of promising biological and biomedical applications. In the past decade, the biomedical applications of graphene have attracted much interest. However, the effect of pristine graphene (pG) toxicity in aquatic vertebrates has not been fully studied. Thus, in this study, the toxicity of pG was experimentally evaluated using developing zebrafish embryos as in vivo model system. To determine this, 4-hpf embryos were exposed to different concentrations of pG (1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50 μg/L) and different early life-stage parameters were observed at 24, 48, 72, and 96 hpf. Through embryogenesis, pG was observed to induce significant embryonic mortality, delayed hatching, heartbeat, several morphological defects, pericardial toxicity, and bradycardia. Yolk sac edema and pericardial edema were induced by pG in developing embryos. These outcomes would provide new insights into the adverse effects of pG on the developing embryonic cardiac defects in vertebrates and highlight the probable natural environment and health hazards of pG flakes.

This work presents purification of cyclohexane using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membranes in pervaporation (PV) process. The PDMS is a rubbery polymer and appropriate as membrane material for purification of cyclohexane. PV which is a low-energy separation process was chosen for purification of cyclohexane due to its superior advantages compared to other processes. Effect of feed concentration on separation factor was investigated in order to optimize the process. It was indicated that dehydration of 80 wt% cyclohexane mixture at a temperature of 300 K and a vacuum pressure of 10 mmHg could be effectively achieved and high separation factor of 2500 was obtained. Furthermore, a two-dimensional mechanistic model was proposed for predicting mass transfer of cyclohexane in the process. The mechanistic model accounts for mass transfer of cyclohexane across the membrane, and concentration distribution of cyclohexane was determined. It was revealed that the most mass transfer flux of cyclohexane occur at the region near the inlet of feed channel, while the flux at the upper side of the module reaches zero value due to the effect of velocity distribution on the convective mass transfer of cyclohexane.

The surge of carbon dioxide emission plays a dominant role in global warming and climate change, posing an enormous threat to the development of human being and a profound impact on the global ecosystem. Thus, it is essential to analyze the carbon dioxide emission change trend through an accurate prediction to inform reasonable energy-saving emission reduction measures and effectively control the carbon dioxide emission from the source. This paper proposed a hybrid model by combining the random forest and extreme learning machine together for the carbon dioxide emission forecasting in this paper; the random forest is applied for influential factors analysis and the extreme learning machine for the prediction. To improve the performance of the prediction model, moth-flame optimization is adopted to optimize initial weight and bias in extreme learning machine. A case study whose data is derived from Hebei Province, China, during the period 1995–2015 is conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model. Results show that the novel model outperforms the compared parallel models in carbon dioxide emission prediction and has the potential to improve the accuracy of CO₂ emission forecasting.