This study assesses heavy metal levels in water, soil, and vegetables (swiss chard, lettuce, cabbage, collard green, tomato, green pepper and carrot) irrigated with waste water in Gamo, Ethiopia. The samples of soils, water, and vegetables were randomly collected, processed, and analyzed for heavy metals using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The results obtained show that the irrigational water is profoundly contaminated with heavy metals Cd, Cr and Ni and Pb, Zn and Cu had the lowest concentration in irrigation water. The levels of Cd in Kulfo river area and Chamo Lake area and Ni in most of the farm soils were also found to be higher than the guideline values. The study also revealed that the mean levels of Cd in most vegetables and Cr and Pb in some vegetables were higher than the maximum recommended limits set by WHO/FAO. In general the results show that the highest concentration of the heavy metals was obtained from Kulfo river area compared to the Arbaminch textile share company area, Abaya Lake area, and Chamo Lake area. Cabbage was maximally contaminated with potential toxic elements followed by Swiss-chard, carrot, tomato, collard green, green pepper and lettuce. Hence, from kulfo river area frequent consumption of cabbage and Swiss chard may cause serious health risks to consumers. The levels of many elements were found to vary with location, suggesting localized inputs of the various contaminants related to industrial and other activities that generate wastewater. This study recommends regular monitoring of heavy metals in soils, waters, and foodstuffs to prevent excessive accrual in food chain.

In this study, the estimated amounts of discarded face masks due to COVID 19 were investigated. In this context, the amount of waste face masks was determined separately according to the mask types used (nonwoven, meltblown, and 3-ply, pleated) and the importance of waste face masks was revealed. According to obtained data, the estimated total daily face mask use in Turkey is 72,351,638. The highest amounts of nonwoven, meltblown, and 3-ply face mask waste were determined as 26.88, 36.29, and 43.68 tonnes/day for İstanbul city, respectively. Total amounts of nonwoven, meltblown and 3-ply face mask waste in Turkey were calculated as 144.7, 195.35, and 235.14 tonnes/day, respectively. The top 5 provinces with the highest amount of waste masks are listed as follows; İstanbul (nonwoven=26.88, meltblown=36.29, 3ply=43.68 tonnes/day), Ankara (nonwoven=9.91, meltblown=13.38, 3ply=16.11 tonnes/day), İzmir (nonwoven=7.76, meltblown=10.47, 3ply=12.61 tonnes/day), Bursa (nonwoven=5.40, meltblown=7.29, 3ply=8.78 tonnes/day), and Antalya (nonwoven=4.45, meltblown=6.01, 3ply=7.23 tonnes/day), respectively. In Turkey, 91.3% of medical waste collected in health institutions in 2019 (90,920 tonnes) was sterilized and disposed of in storage areas (83,010 tonnes). 8.7% of medical waste was sent to incineration facilities and disposed (7,910 tonnes). Considering these values, 132, 178.35, and 214.7 tonnes/day of nonwoven, meltblown, and 3-ply face mask wastes can be disposed by sterilization and the remaining 12.7, 17, and 20.44 tonnes/day by incineration, respectively.

In Mirzapur (U.P.), a power-starved district, the UASB (Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket) technique was adopted. Almost all of the available technologies do not treat heavy metals, so, is the case with the UASB also. The present study is to assess how much heavy metal can get accumulated in plant tissues in different species. The result of the present study was that the concentration of Pb(1106.31)>Zn(221.45)>Cd(49.26)>Hg(23.37) mg/Kg in the sludge while the concentration of Zn(93.35)>Pb(52.00)>Hg(16.93)>Cd(1.53) mg/Kg in the soil. When the sludge was mixed with the soil the trend got changed and the trend was Pb(596.36)>Zn(219.86)>Cd(24.70)>Hg(22.63) mg/Kg. Three different species that were chosen for the study were Basella Alba (Spinach), Solanum Lycopersicum (Tomato) & Brassica Juncea (Mustard). The trend of accumulation of studied heavy metals in the Brassica Juncea (Mustard) was Zn(85.33)>Pb(25.88)>Hg(11.23)>Cd(0.99) mg/Kg. In Solanum lycopersicum (Tomato) the trend was Pb(231.11)>Zn(108.72)>Hg(12.43)>Cd(9.41) mg/Kg  and in Basella alba (Spinach) was Zn(103.81)>Pb(83.90)>Hg(10.78)>Cd(4.18) mg/Kg. Overall the study reveals that the accumulation of heavy metals takes place in plants grown in soil mixed with sewage sludge. The reduction in the concentration of Pb, Cd, Hg and Zn in sludge mixed with soil after the harvesting of plant in case of Solanum lycopersicum were 39.38%, 47.93%, 6.18% and 49.89% respectively; while in case of Basella alba these were 25.23%, 57.53%, 71.58% and 49.16% respectively; and in case of Brassica Juncea these reduction were 25.86%, 60.80%, 70.96% and 49.04% respectively.