The objective of this study is to assess the occurrence, spatial, and temporal distribution of forty-eight multiclass pesticides in surface and groundwater samples of the Abou Ali River, located in the North of Lebanon. A 3-year monitoring program (six batches from August 2015 to March 2017) was implemented, and thirty sampling points were selected along the river for analysis. The analysis was executed using a previously developed and optimized solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME) gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method. Statistical analysis, using Kolmogorov–Smirnov, Kruskal–Wallis, and Dunnet T3 multiple comparison tests, was applied to compare mean concentrations of pesticides between the different sampling sites and the batches taken. The pesticides that had the highest frequency of detection in the surface and groundwater samples were alachlor, α-endosulfan, and methomyl. For surface water samples, high mean concentrations were perceived for two stations in the upper stream (S5 and S7), two stations (S11 and S14) in the middle stream, and one station (S16) in the lower stream of the river. The highest mean concentrations were observed in October 2015 and August 2016, the time of the year which correlates with the period of pesticide application. Considering groundwater samples, high mean concentrations of pesticides were detected in sites G4, G9, G10, and G12 and during October 2015 and March 2016, following the rainy season. Ecotoxicological risk assessment using the risk quotient (RQ) methodology revealed high risk for five pesticides under average conditions and fourteen under extreme conditions. This study presents, for the first time, a statistical analysis showing the quantification of pesticides in the water resources of the Abou Ali River. In conclusion, it reveals the need to apply a complete pesticide monitoring program, not only for the Abou Ali River but for all the water resources in Lebanon.

BACKGROUND: Unlike developing countries, in Egypt, gasoline is dispensed at dedicated stations by gasoline filling workers. This leads to high levels of exposure to the aromatic compounds in gasoline [principally benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and xylene (BTEX)] with the consequences of adverse health effects including oxidative stress. OBJECTIVE(S): To assess oxidative stress and trace metal levels among Egyptian gas filling workers. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 50 gasoline filling station workers (exposed group) and a matched group of 50 clerical workers (non-exposed group). Trace metal levels (Cu, Zn, Fe, and Mn) and the activities of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were measured in sera of all enrolled participants using atomic absorption spectroscopy. BTEX levels were assessed in the environment of the studied gas filling stations using the MIRAN IR system. RESULTS: All the measured trace metal levels and antioxidant enzyme activities were significantly lower among the exposed workers than among the non-exposed workers. All trace metals decreased significantly in relation to SOD activity among the exposed workers, whereas only Zn and Cu decreased in relation to SOD and GPx activity among the non-exposed workers. The exposed workers did not comply with the use of the required personal protective equipment (PPE) to avoid the dangerous effects of BTEX exposure. Among BTEX components, benzene exceeded the allowable Egyptian TLV in the studied gasoline stations (110.4 mg/m3 versus 1.6 mg/m3, respectively). The hygienic effect (HE) of the BTEX pollutant mixture exceeded the allowed borderline HE in Egypt although it did not show a significant correlation with different oxidative stress biomarkers and trace metals. CONCLUSION: Exposure to BTEX at gasoline filling stations lowers the levels of antioxidant enzyme activities and trace metals due to the strong hygienic effect of BTEX. Individual protection using the proper PPE should therefore be enforced. Research assessing the need of providing refueling workers with supplements of necessary trace metals and antioxidants is warranted.

The cement industry generates a substantial amount of gaseous pollutants that cannot be treated efficiently and economically using standard techniques. Microalgae, a promising bioremediation and biodegradation agent used as feedstock for biofuel production, can be used for the biotreatment of cement flue gas. In specific, components of cement flue gas such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and sulfur oxides are shown to serve as nutrients for microalgae. Microalgae also have the capacity to sequestrate heavy metals present in cement kiln dust, adding further benefits. This work provides an extensive overview of multiple approaches taken in the inclusion of microalgae biofuel production in the cement sector. In addition, factors influencing the production of microalgal biomass are also described in such an integrated plant. In addition, process limitations such as the adverse impact of flue gas on medium pH, exhaust gas toxicity, and efficient delivery of carbon dioxide to media are also discussed. Finally, the article concludes by proposing the future potential for incorporating the microalgae biofuel plant into the cement sector.

As much as energy supply remains a major challenge in most of the African countries, the compounding environmental effect of energy consumption has continued to be a serious concern to policymakers and environmental stakeholders. On this note, this study seeks to investigate the coal-led growth hypothesis for South Africa by incorporating employment as a control variable for the first time. The incorporation of the employment in investigating the coal-led growth hypothesis especially for the case of South Africa is novel given that the World Coal Association (2016) reported that the country is the sixth largest exporter and seventh largest producer of coal globally. The study implemented an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bound testing to cointegration for the data spanning from 1970 to 2017. As such, the empirical result revealed that coal usage is the highest emitter of carbon, suggesting that a 1% increase in coal consumption account for about 68% emission in the short run, and 56% in the long run, respectively. On the other hand, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow discourages carbon emission in the short-run and long run so that a 1% increase in FDI inflow causes a reduction in CO2 by about 0.003% and 001%. The novelty of this study is proven in the estimation of the interaction between employment and coal consumption. However, employment induced by economic growth and coal consumption both have significant tendencies of inflicting adverse environmental impacts in the short-run and long run. Thus, this study put forward relevant policy and for onward recommendation for the government to woo new foreign investors and to switch to renewable energy as an alternative sources as a possible approach of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability with a view to achieving sustainable development goals.

Chlordecone is an organochlorine pesticide that was extensively used to control the banana root borer population in the French West Indies until 1993. Its persistence in soil has led to widespread pollution of the environment, and human beings, including pregnant women, are still exposed to this chemical. High levels of exposure to chlordecone during gestation have been shown to cause congenital anomalies, including undescended testes in rodents. We assessed the associations between chlordecone concentrations in maternal and cord plasma and the risk of congenital anomalies in the Timoun Mother-Child Cohort Study (2004–2007) that included 1068 pregnant women in Guadeloupe. Odds ratios were estimated using unconditional logistic regression analysis, controlling for confounding factors. The median plasma concentrations in maternal and cord plasma were 0.39 μg/L and 0.20 μg/L, respectively. Thirty-six children were diagnosed with malformations according to the European Registration of Congenital Anomalies guidelines and 25 with undescended testes. There was no association between maternal or cord plasma concentration of chlordecone and the risk of overall malformations nor undescended testes. These results suggest that prenatal exposure to the currently observed environmental levels of chlordecone in French West Indies does not increase the risk of birth defects.

A comprehensive study of the chemical composition of rainwater was carried out from October 2016 to September 2017 in the equatorial tropical rainforest region of northwestern Borneo. Monthly cumulative rainwater samples were collected from different locations in the Limbang River Basin (LRB) and were later categorized into seasonal samples representing northeast monsoon (NEM), southwest monsoon (SWM), and inter-monsoon (IM) periods. Physical parameters (pH, EC, TDS, DO, and turbidity), major ions (HCO₃⁻, Cl⁻, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, and K⁺) and trace metals (Co, Ni, Cd, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn, and Cu) were analyzed from collected rainwater samples. Rainwater is slightly alkaline with mean pH higher than 5.8. Chloride and bicarbonate are the most abundant ions, and the concentration of major ions in seasonal rainwater has shown slight variation which follows a descending order of HCO₃⁻> Cl⁻> Na⁺ > Ca²⁺ > Mg²⁺ > K⁺ in NEM and Cl⁻ > HCO₃⁻ > Na⁺ > Ca²⁺ > K⁺ > Mg²⁺ in SWM and Cl⁻ > HCO₃⁻ > Na⁺ > Ca²⁺ > Mg²⁺ > K⁺ in IM period. Trace metals such as Fe and Ni have shown dominance in seasonal rainwater samples, and all the metals have shown variation in concentration in different seasons. Variation in chemical characteristic of seasonal rainwater samples identified through piper diagram indicates dominance of Ca²⁺-Mg²⁺-HCO₃⁻ and mixed Ca²⁺-Mg²⁺-Cl⁻ facies during NEM, SWM, and IM periods. Statistical analysis of the results through two-way ANOVA and Pearson’s correlation also indicates significant variation in physico-chemical characteristics. This suggests a variation in contributing sources during the monsoon seasons. Factor analysis confirmed the source variation by explaining the total variance of 79.80%, 90.72%, and 90.52% with three factor components in NEM, SWM, and IM rainwater samples with different loading of parameters. Enrichment factor analysis revealed a combined contribution of marine and crustal sources except K⁺ which was solely from crustal sources. Sample analysis of backward air mass trajectory supports all these findings by explaining seasonal variation in the source of pollutants reaching the study area. Overall, the results show that the chemical composition of seasonal rainwater samples in LRB was significantly influenced by natural as well as anthropogenic processes. These include (long-range and local) industrial activities, fossil fuel combustion, forest burning, transportation activities including road transport and shipping activities, and land-derived soil dust along with chemical constituents carried by seasonal wind.

The correct presentation of Table 2 is shown in this paper.

Copper and nonylphenol are two commonly found chemicals in the aquatic environment, particularly in the distribution area of the amphibian Rhinella arenarum. The current work evaluated the lethal toxicity of equitoxic and non-equitoxic binary mixtures of copper and nonylphenol on embryos and larvae of the South America toad by means of the standardized test, AMPHITOX. Joint toxicity of mixtures was assessed in several proportions of these compounds at different exposure times and was analyzed at different level of mortality effect (LC10, LC50 and LC90). Considering the LC50, the equitoxic mixture was always antagonistic independently of the exposure time and the developmental stage. Joint toxicity showed mainly an antagonistic pattern; nonetheless, some time-dependent additive interactions were observed. Regarding the LC10, synergistic interactions were found in embryos and larvae exposed to two different mixture proportions at several exposure times. This highlights the possible synergism of these chemicals at environmentally relevant concentrations. These results point out the relevance of assessing joint toxicity of environmental pollutants for environmental risk assessment.

In the study, 305 patients of both genders were enrolled and divided into three groups: obese (BMI > 30 kg/m²), patients who were diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and control, normal weight healthy volunteers. At least one of ten different phthalate metabolites was determined in the urine samples of 49.84% all enrolled participants. In the obese subgroup, the sum of all urinary phthalate metabolites was positively associated with TG levels (p = 0.031) together with derived TC/HDL and TG/HDL ratios (p = 0.023 and 0.015), respectively. Urinary MEP concentration was positively correlated with the HOMA-IR in T2DM subgroup (p = 0.016) while in the control subgroup, log₁₀MEP levels were negatively correlated with total cholesterol (p = 0.0051), and LDL serum levels (p = 0.0015), respectively. Also, in the control subgroup, positive linear correlations between urinary log₁₀MEP levels and TyG and TYG-BMI values (p = 0.028 and p = 0.027), respectively, were determined. Urinary MEHP levels were associated with glucose serum levels (p = 0.02) in T2DM subgroup, while in the control HDL values were negatively associated with log₁₀MEHP (p = 0.0035). Healthy volunteers exposed to phthalates had elevated AST levels in comparison to non-exposed ones (p = 0.023). In control subgroup, ALT and AST values were increased (p = 0.02 and p = 0.01, respectively) in MEP exposed while GGT levels were enhanced (p = 0.017) in MEHP exposed in comparison with non-exposed. Combined phthalates influence on glucose and lipid metabolism may increase the possibility for NAFLD and insulin resistance development among exposed individuals.

Nowadays, the sunscreen creams are composed of mostly synthetic chemicals and other organic compounds which were found to enter into the blood stream on topical application raising concerns in the scientific community. The scientific community has now shifted their attention to herbal formulations due to toxicity of these synthetic molecules. Aloe vera is a xerophitic plant having excellent anti-oxidant properties. The permeation effect and drug stability of the drug candidate can be significantly enhanced by formulating it into solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN). The main objectives of the study were to formulate and evaluate Aloe vera-loaded SLN sunscreen cream and to determine its photoprotective potential. The Aloe vera-loaded SLNs were formulated by microemulsification technique. The developed SLNs were studied for its entrapment efficiency, poly dispersity index (PDI), zeta potential, particle size, and other characterization techniques. Finally, the optimized SLNs were incorporated into the sunscreen cream and evaluated for its spreadability, viscosity, extrudability, drug content, in vitro drug release, ex vivo permeation, determination of sun protection factor (SPF), skin irritation test, and accelerated stability studies. The in vitro SPF was found out to be 16.9 ± 2.44 and the in vivo SPF observed to be approximately 14.81 ± 3.81, respectively. Stability studies were performed under accelerated conditions and no appreciable changes in the parameters were noticed. The solid lipid nanoparticles of Aloe vera were incorporated into a cream and the SPF of the resultant sunscreen cream was found to be on par with the sunscreens that were currently available in the market.