The present study was done on the hypothesis that excess sodium chloride (NaCl) in the soil decreases the growth and yield of Cichorium intybus L. To investigate this hypothesis, a pot experiment was conducted in which chicory seeds were sown in garden soil-filled earthen pots and treated with three different doses of sodium chloride (45, 75, and 105 mM kg-1 soil) except the control, and each treatment was replicated three times. The results revealed that all the saline treatments significantly (p≤0.05) reduced the vegetative (including root and shoot length, dry weight, number of leaves, leaf area, number of branches, and photosynthetic pigments) and reproductive (mean fruit number/plant, mean seed number/fruit, and total seed yield/plant) growth parameters of Cichorium intybus. On increasing NaCl concentration in the soil, chlorophyll content significantly (p≤0.05) decreased while proline content in the fresh leaves increased significantly (p≤0.05). From the results, it is concluded that Cichorium intybus L. can tolerate a moderate level of sodium chloride stress (45-75 mM NaCl kg-1 soil) but is sensitive to high doses of sodium chloride stress (105 mM NaCl kg-1 soil).

The increasing volume and complexity of waste associated with the modern economy pose a serious risk to ecosystems and human health. Due to the intensive increase in computation, Machine learning is popular. Intelligent solid waste management motivates the Swachh Bharat mission to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of astrapita Mahatma Gandhi. In the context of smart city development, an innovative means of implementing smart solid waste collection is to improve daily solid waste collection at the household level. An intelligent solid waste collection system will be implemented in the Smart City to improve solid waste collection. It is required to educate households about solid waste handling. Municipal Corporation can implement an innovative PPP model as part of an independent India campaign to motivate startup ntrepreneurs, which will generate jobs in India. The city of Pune is in a phase of intelligent urban mobility development to improve citizens’ living standards. Ensure safe traffic management, adequate water supply, smart amenities, and services such as the intelligent collection, transport, and processing of solid waste. RFID and IoT base IT solutions have the potential to develop sustainable, innovative technology to achieve 100% household collections and transportation and treatment of waste so that to minimize waste to send landfill side.

Medical facilities, such as hospitals, clinics, and locations where diagnosis and treatment are administered, create dangerous waste that predisposes individuals to deadly infections. Medical waste management aims to improve health and prevent public health and environmental threats. Questionnaires, interviews, site visitations, and observations were utilized to determine the management strategies implemented in the three hospitals and evaluate the efficacy of waste management. The hospitals under review are Afe Babalola University Multi-system Hospital (AMSH), Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH), and Federal Teaching Hospital Ido-Ekiti (FETHI). Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was utilized for the statistical analysis of the questionnaires, and the mean assessment was utilized to compute the waste per bed each day. The results revealed that the three hospitals’ sharp, infectious, and pharmaceutical waste is the most sorted. All hospitals burn their medical waste in incinerators but dispose of the ashes in dumpsites. The mean evaluation of all hospitals’ medical waste was weighed to establish the overall amount generated. The total amount of medical waste created at AMSH, EKSUTH, and FETHI is 31.5 kg, 53.6 kg, and 135.1 kg, respectively. The medical waste generated per bed per day in AMSH, EKSUTH, and FETHI is 0.61 kg, 0.74 kg, and 0.73 kg, respectively. It was determined that the proper management and disposal of waste is a critical obligation of healthcare facilities. There should be a provision for educating personnel about the consequences of inappropriately disposing of medical waste.

Air pollution is a significant issue that affects almost all the countries in the world while predominating in South Asian Regional countries due to poverty, less attention, and less awareness towards the implementation and obeying of air quality guidelines in public. As a developing country, Sri Lanka stands at an optimum state of national air quality compared to other SARC because it is an island with a minor population compared to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc. Maldives and Bhutan lie straightforwardly in owing mild air quality in SARC. However, SARC is far behind the world in maintaining optimistic air quality nationwide. Ambient air pollution-attributable deaths have become interim in past decades, a severe burden to the sustainable existence of SARC. A well-established systematic epidemiological, empirical studies and revisions regarding air pollution, strategic planning for mitigating air pollution, and frequent Spatio-temporal pollution monitoring nodes are necessary for Sri Lanka to achieve the sustainable goal. Other South Asian countries: India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, and Maldives, also should pay attention to minimizing outdoor air pollution nationwide for the betterment of future existence.

Accumulation of plastic litter in aquatic environments negatively impacts ecosystems and human livelihood. Urban areas are assumed to be the main source of plastic pollution in these environments because of high anthropogenic activity. Yet, the drivers of plastic emissions, abundance, and retention within these systems and subsequent transport to river systems are poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrate that urban water systems function as major contributors to river plastic pollution, and explore the potential driving factors contributing to the transport dynamics. Monthly visual counting of floating litter at six outlets of the Amsterdam water system results in an estimated 2.7 million items entering the closely connected IJ river annually, ranking it among the most polluting systems measured in the Netherlands and Europe. Subsequent analyses of environmental drivers (including rainfall, sunlight, wind speed, and tidal regimes) and litter flux showed very weak and insignificant correlations (r = - 0.19–0.16), implying additional investigation of potential drivers is required. High-frequency observations at various locations within the urban water system and advanced monitoring using novel technologies could be explored to harmonize and automate monitoring. Once litter type and abundance are well-defined with a clear origin, communication of the results with local communities and stakeholders could help co-develop solutions and stimulate behavioral change geared to reduce plastic pollution in urban environments.

Microplastics (MPs) are increasingly being studied because they have become ubiquitous in aquatic and terrestrial environments. However, little is known about the negative effects of co-contamination by polypropylene microplastic (PP MPs) and heavy metal mixtures on terrestrial environment and biota. This study assessed the adverse effects of co-exposure to PP MPs and heavy metal mixture (Cu2+, Cr6+, and Zn2+) on soil quality and the earthworm Eisenia fetida. Soil samples were collected in the Dong Cao catchment, near Hanoi, Vietnam, and analyzed for changes in extracellular enzyme activity and carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus availability in the soil. We determined the survival rate of earthworms Eisenia fetida that had ingested MPs and two doses of heavy metals (the environmental level — 1 × — and its double — 2 ×). Earthworm ingestion rates were not significantly impacted by the exposure conditions, but the mortality rate for the 2 × exposure conditions was 100%. Metal-associated PP MPs stimulated the activities of β-glucosidase, β-N-acetyl glucosaminidase, and phosphatase enzymes in soil. Principle component analysis showed that these enzymes were positively correlated with Cu2+ and Cr6+ concentrations, but negatively correlated with microbial activity. Zn2+ showed no correlation with soil extracellular enzyme activity or soil microbial activity. Our results showed that co-exposure of earthworms to MPs and heavy metals had no impact on soil nitrogen and phosphorus but caused a decrease in total soil carbon content, with a possible associated risk of increased CO2 emissions.

High concentration of surface ozone (O3) will cause health risks to people. In order to analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics of O3 and assess O3 exposure and health risks for different age groups in China, we applied multiple methods including standard deviation ellipse, spatial autocorrelation, and exposure–response functions. Results show that O3 concentrations increased in 64.5% of areas in China from 2013 to 2018. The central plain urban agglomeration (CPU), Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), and Yangtze River Delta (YRD) witnessed the greatest incremental rates of O3 by 16.7%, 14.3%, and 13.1%. Spatially, the trend of O3 shows a significant positive autocorrelation, and high trend values primarily in central and east China. The proportion of the total population exposed to high O3 (above 160 μg/m3) increased annually. Compared to 2013, the proportion of the young, adult, and old populations exposed to high O3 increased to different extents in 2018 by 26.8%, 29.6%, and 27.2%, respectively. The extent of population exposure risk areas in China expanded in size, particularly in north and east China. The total premature respiratory mortalities attributable to long-term O3 exposure in six urban agglomerations were about 177,000 in 2018 which has increased by 16.4% compared to that in 2013. Among different age groups, old people are more vulnerable to O3 pollution, so we need to strengthen their relevant health protection of them.

Contamination of paddy soils with arsenic (As) can cause phytotoxicity in rice and increase the accumulation of arsenic in grains. The uptake and accumulation of As in rice depends on the different As species present in the soil. Plants detoxify As by conjugating and sequestering xenobiotic compounds into vacuoles using various enzymes. However, the severity of damage induced by arsenite (As(III)) and arsenate (As(V)), as well as the roles of glutathione S-transferase in detoxifying these As species in rice, are not fully understood. In this study, we developed plant materials overexpressing a glutathione S-transferase gene OsGSTU40 under the control of the maize UBIL promoter. Through systematic investigations of both wild-type Nipponbare (Oryza sativa L., ssp. japonica) and OsGSTU40 overexpression lines under chronic or acute stress of As, we aimed to understand the toxic effects of both As(III) and As(V) on rice plants at the vegetative growth stage. We hypothesized that (i) As(III) and As(V) have different toxic effects on rice plants and (ii) OsGSTU40 played positive roles in As toxicity tolerance. Our results showed that As(III) was more detrimental to plant growth than As(V) in terms of plant growth, biomass, and lipid peroxidation in both chronic and acute exposure. Furthermore, overexpression of OsGSTU40 led to better plant growth even though uptake of As(V), but not As(III), into shoots was enhanced in transgenic plants. In acute As(III) stress, transgenic plants exhibited a lower level of lipid peroxidation than wild-type plants. The element composition of plants was dominated by the different As stress treatments rather than by the genotype, while the As concentration was negatively correlated with phosphorus and silicon. Overall, our findings suggest that As(III) is more toxic to plants than As(V) and that glutathione S-transferase OsGSTU40 differentially affects plant reactions and tolerance to different species of arsenic.

Surface water is the primary resource for raw water in drinking water treatment processes. Therefore, the presence of microorganisms, bacteria, and viruses should be the main focus in drinking water treatment, in addition to natural organic matter, which is composed of organic carbon groups derived from aquatic biota as well as organic material, organic matter from industrial and domestic waste. This study applied coagulation-flocculation followed by adsorption as the advanced treatment with activated carbon for removing organic matter and bacteria simultaneously to know each process’s performance. The results indicated that all treatment processes have a good performance for removing dissolved organic matter in water with efficient removal of 28.35%-70.75% of TOC concentration and 26.75%-55.95% of UV254 concentration. Further, the selected processes demonstrated a high percentage of removal of E. coli, about 65.35%-96.43%. However, the effect of chlorination impacted the increasing THMs concentration up to 36.32%, while the other processes could remove THMs concentration 17.25%-51.08%. Overall, this study conjectures that all treatment processes simultaneously perform well for removing dissolved organic matter, THMs, and E. coli. However, chlorination should be managed to control the formation of THMs due to the remaining organic matter in water.

The pellets of waste produced by Society Electric [Listrik Kerakyatan (LK) 2] at the STT-PLN have not been efficiently utilized in terms of energy. The STT-PLN canteen consists of 14 stalls with an installed electricity capacity of 1300 VA, each with 12h of use/day. This study aimed to convert LK 2 waste pellets into electrical energy to supply electricity to the STT-PLN canteen. This research method uses quantitative methods, i.e., by calculating the amount of energy produced adjusted to the needs of the canteen. Gasification technology was chosen due to its high efficiency and lower emission impacts in the waste combustion technique. Based on the analysis, the gasifier engine that complies with this requirement was TG30-1 with a maximum capacity of 25 kVA and requires a flow rate of 10 kg.h-1 of waste pellets. The amount of waste pellets used for this plan was 120 kg.day-1. The assessment results of this plan indicated a net present value of IDR 302,218,609.33, an internal rate of return of 25.7983%, and a PBP of 5.66 years. Based on the economic analysis, the establishment of plants for the conversion of waste to power was declared feasible to operate.