This paper reports the study of photodegradation of Congo red dye which is a major pollutant in dyeing industry using copper(II) chloride dihydrate as a catalyst. The rate of degradation is improved by direct supply of air instead of using other strong oxidants. The effects of other parameters such as pH, catalyst dosage, initial dye concentration and irradiation time were studied. It was found that over 100% of the dye removal can be effectively achieved within 90 minutes of air oxidation at pH 11 and a catalyst dosage of 0.4g/L. The kinetics on the rate of degradation of the dye has also been examined by using UV-Visible spectroscopic technique. Air oxidation of Congo red dye using CuCl2.2H2O was found to obey pseudo-first-order kinetics with respect to the substrate concentration. The study suggests the use of homogeneous CuCl2.2H2O catalyst for the photodegradation of dyes of reactive azo dye category. Future studies on the use of catalytic activity of CuCl2.2H2O for industrial effluents containing azo dyes as a major pollutant can be affected.

Toxic and harmful gases, noise, industrial dust, loads, and job posture in architectural engineering construction are the different factors that influence health loss of construction workers. Among them, construction dust is a primary occupational health threat among construction workers. Accordingly, this study aims to analyze the dust pollution hazard in the architectural construction process and quantitatively estimate the health loss of construction workers. It uses a case study based on an earthwork stage in a construction site at Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, China. Environmental health risks were evaluated by using the exposure parameter method, while estimating the health losses of different objects caused by earthwork in this construction site. Results demonstrated that dust in the earthwork site was caused by the cement process and moving vehicles. Cementers and road cleaners suffered the most threats from dust with dust exposure dosages of 0.48 and 0.21 mg/kg·d, respectively. The health losses of cementers and road cleaners reached CNY 19,342.74 and CNY 14,532.36, respectively. A reduction on health costs caused by dust pollution in architectural engineering construction is possible through the following proposed measures: strengthening the monitoring of the construction workers’ level of exposure to dust pollution, establishing a health management system for construction workers, focusing on the effect of environmental supervision mechanism, and standardizing the emission standards of construction dust pollution. Results could provide some references in understanding the current status and distribution law of dust pollution in construction sites, promoting the implementation of health management and protection system for construction workers, enhancing the working environment of construction workers, and quantitatively estimating the total health influences of architectural engineering.

Renewable fuels are desirable as alternate fuels with ignition quality equivalent to diesel and its combustion parameters, but unsuitable for direct operation in diesel engines as fuel because of their higher viscosity. Hence, fuel and engine-based modifications are being developed to improve the performance, emission and combustion behaviour of the compression ignition engines. The higher viscosity of fuel oil does not let it vaporize even after it is being injected into the combustion chamber. Therefore, converting the higher viscosity of vegetable oil into biodiesel improves the atomization resulting in better combustion. Issues related to the use of biodiesel as working fuel are its oxidation stability and performance. In this study, safflower oil, neem oil and corn oil are used as fuel oils. The experimental results displayed a significant increase in the brake thermal efficiency of 28.25% for corn oil methyl ester (COME). HC and CO emissions are lower with corn oil methyl ester. At full load, the smoke emission reduces slightly with corn oil methyl ester about 58% opacity respectively, but it is still lower than diesel having 66.2% opacity.

Several methods of treatment have been suggested for the removal of chromium from raw water, which include chemical precipitation, reverse osmosis, ion exchange, foam formation, etc. The main disadvantages of the above processes are that they produce a large amount of sludge and there are no possibilities of metal recovery as they are very costly. The use of plants and other plant materials for the removal of the heavy metals has already been reported in the literature as the non-conventional adsorbents. In the present work, an attempt has been made to check the suitability of Terminalia chebula powder for removing chromium from raw water by adsorption and for suggesting an environmental friendly as well as economically feasible solution to overcome the problems due to the presence of toxic pollutants like chromium in drinking water. Batch experiments were conducted using aqueous solution of chromium to determine the chromium removal. Terminalia chebula powder (commonly known as karakkaya locally) has been collected locally and used as an adsorbent for all the batch experiments. Variation of chromium removal with dosage of adsorbent and initial pollution concentration is studied.

The assessment of forest site quality at early stages of stand development is very essential for scientific afforestation and forest management. In order to enhance the accuracy of the existing models, a new site quality assessment model based on Genetic Algorithm-Radial Basis Function (GA-RBF) was proposed to predict site index (stand dominant height). Data used in this study came from 980 permanent sample plots for Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) plantations in Fujian Province, China, which were randomly divided into the training dataset (786 plots) and the testing dataset (194 plots) with a ratio of 8:2. In this paper, the GA-RBF was compared with the radial basis function (RBF) and the traditional Quantitative Theory I (QT-I) method. The results indicated that the predicted accuracy was significantly increased by using the GA-RBF model. Furthermore, we used the existing site-specific site index table of Chinese fir to test the results of the GA-RBF and the agreement was 73.2%. Therefore, we recommend the GA-RBF for assessing site quality of afforestation land.

Catechol and hydroquinone are widely applied in industrial synthesis while they are typical toxic organic pollutants. Efficient adsorptive removal of catechol and hydroquinone is highly needed. In this research, activated carbon fibre (ACF) was used for the kinetic removal of the two pollutants. As catechol and hydroquinone have different pKa values, it was found that the highest uptake of catechol and hydroquinone was observed at pH 11.0 and 5.0, respectively. The adsorption kinetics for catechol and hydroquinone were compared. The removal of hydroquinone is higher than that of catechol at almost all the pH conditions. At pH 7.0, the uptake of catechol and hydroquinone on ACF were 125.8 and 200.4 mg/g, respectively. As both Elovich and pseudo-second-order kinetic models could better describe the adsorption process, the adsorption of catechol and hydroquinone onto ACF might be chemisorption. The rate determining step might be diffusive in nature for the uptake of catechol and hydroquinone. Linear pseudo-second-order kinetic model fitted the experimental data better than pseudo-first-order kinetic model. The presence of natural organic matter, humic acid, could inhibit the uptake of catechol and hydroquinone on ACF profoundly.

The concentration of chlorophyll-α in the Gorontalo Bay is necessary to be observed since it could describe the condition of water richness. The semi-enclosed Gorontalo Bay morphology causes the status of water fertility to be largely determined by the input of inorganic or organic materials originating from the mainland. This study aimed to figure out the concentration and horizontal distribution pattern of the chlorophyll-α then further to decide the relationship between the concentration of chlorophyll-α and the nutrients in the Gorontalo Bay. There were fifteen sub-sampling sites selected based on coastal and ecological characteristics. Results showed that the distribution pattern of chlorophyll-α in the Gorontalo Bay in June and July 2017 was dissimilar and its concentration ranged from 0.984 to 3.744 mg.m-3. In addition, there was a positive and substantial relationship between chlorophyll-α and phosphate (p<0.01). Nonetheless, there was no significant correlation between chlorophyll-α and nitrate (p>0.01) and ammonia (p>0.01).

Cotton is one of the most important fibres and cash crop of India, which plays a dominant role in the country’s industrial and agricultural economy. About 60% of all commercialized agrochemicals, are insanely applied on cotton fields so that cotton has become one of the most polluted and chemical-intensive agricultural crops in the world. The present study was undertaken to determine the concentration of different organophosphorus pesticides residue in cotton samples collected from agriculture fields of Tijara tehsil, Alwar. A total of 150 samples were randomly collected from the cotton farm. Concentrations of all pesticides in the cotton samples were determined by GC/MS and LC-MS. About 38% of the total analysed samples were contaminated with different residues, among which 10.66% were having the concentration of pesticide residue above the MRL. The study revealed that cotton is highly contaminated with Monocrotophos (22%) followed by Acephate (10%), Chlorpyrifos (7.33%) and Profenofos (5.33%). The possible reasons for high levels of pesticides in cotton are the massive use of pesticides and farmers were not having sufficient scientific knowledge about the chemical nature of pesticides that have been used or the effects of pesticides on the environment and the effects of pesticides exposure on public health, when using them indiscriminately. The presence of pesticides in cotton samples is a serious threat to humans because they further show pesticide residues in cotton products. Therefore, it is recommended to continuously monitor the use of this pesticide in the study areas.

The hospital environment requires indoor air quality conducive to the recovery of patients with poor health. Low indoor air quality is associated with an increased incidence of respiratory tract diseases and the development of cancer. This study investigated the mutagenicity of air particulate matter soluble in bulk, aqueous, and organic partitions collected from naturally and mechanically ventilated wards in the hospital environment through the Ames test and the mutagenicity testing with the D7 strain of Saccharomyces cerevisae. Bulk, aqueous, and organic fractions of air particulate matter at maximum (100% concentration), 10% concentration, and 1% were found to be mutagenic with both the Ames test (p < 0.05) and mutagenicity testing with D7 strain of S. cerevisae (p < 0.05). The Ames test suggested slight dominance of the aqueous phase-soluble mutagens in naturally ventilated wards (p < 0.05), and a more balanced mix of aqueous and organic phase mutagens in mechanically ventilated wards. Mutagenicity testing with the D7 strain of S. cerevisae showed no significant differences between the naturally and mechanically ventilated wards (p > 0.05), but showed the relative dominance of the organic phase-soluble mutagens over the other fractions (p < 0.05). Few other studies have compared naturally and mechanically ventilated wards through the lens of potential effect on the mutagenic activity of air particulate matter, but more understanding in this area is important in moving towards the development and implementation of policies to optimize ventilation systems for the health and safety of hospital staff and patients. Albeit coming from the study of concentrated air particulate matter samples, the mere presence of these mutagens in the air of the hospital highlights the importance of monitoring their quality and quantity such that they do not become concentrated enough to induce mutation-related etiologies of disease such as cancer.

Carrying out of indoor radon studies have been done in the 50 dwellings of Bathinda district (Punjab), India using LR-115 type II cellulose nitrate films in the bare mode. The films were exposed into four consecutive trimesters, i.e. from March 2010 to February 2011. The work has been undertaken for health risk assessment. The calibration constant of 1 track cm-2day-1 equal to 50 Bqm-3 (Becquerel/m3) was used. In the present study average radon values vary from 83.15 (BTD-7) to 124.35 (BTD-8) Bqm-3 in different villages, which are higher than the word average value of 40 Bqm-3. The inhabitants of the area of study receive average annual radiation dose varying from 1.41 (BTD-7) - 2.12 (BTD-8) mSv (millisievert). The effective dose is found to be less than lower limit of the recommended action level (3-10 mSv). The value of radon for the first floor portion of the same dwelling is lower in comparison to the ground floor. The values in the cemented floors are lower than in the dwellings with the un-cemented floors. The indoor radon values are more in very poorly ventilated dwellings in comparison to the very well-ventilated dwellings.