Plants of the order Brassicaceae have evolved a chemical defence against herbivory: the glucosinolate-myrosinase system. Mechanical damage to plant tissues, such as grazing, initiates the production of phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), a compound toxic to invertebrates. Mechanical damage caused during biofumigation and the harvesting and washing of watercress presents routes for PEITC release into waterbodies, such as the chalk stream spawning sites of brown trout (Salmo trutta). This laboratory study exposed developing S. trutta embryos to PEITC at concentrations of 0.01, 0.1 and 1 μg/L. S. trutta exposed to 1 μg/L PEITC during embryonic development resulted in 100% mortality after four dose days. Exposure to 0.1 μg/L PEITC resulted in an approximate fourfold increase in mortality relative to the controls, while exposure to 0.01 μg/L PEITC had a negligible effect on embryo mortality. Embryos exposed to 0.1 μg/L PEITC showed a significant delay in hatching and produced alevins with significantly shorter total lengths, lighter body weights and an approximate threefold increase in spinal deformities relative to those exposed to the controls and 0.01 μg/L PEITC. The results of a motor activity assay demonstrate that alevins exposed to PEITC showed a significant decrease in swimming activity compared with control animals during periods of illumination. The increased mortality, teratogenic effects and impaired behaviour in S. trutta following embryonic exposure to relatively low concentrations of PEITC highlight a need to accurately quantify and monitor environmental levels of PEITC.

Engineered nanoparticles (NP) like Ag and TiO₂ offer unique properties for various applications. Thus, the entry of the NP in soil environments is expected to increase in the future due to their growing industrial use. To avoid potential hazards due to these anthropogenic products, NP behavior in the environment should be well understood. In natural soil solutions, we investigated NOM adsorption onto Ag and TiO₂ NP and its influence on NP colloidal stability. Therefore, we extracted soil solutions from a floodplain soil (Fluvisol) and a farmland soil (Cambisol) differing in NOM quality and inorganic ion concentration. We measured the amount of adsorbed organic carbon as well as changes in aromaticity and molecular weight of NOM upon adsorption onto NP. Additionally, the size and zeta potential of NP in both soil solutions were investigated. We observed that the highly hydrophilic NOM of floodplain soil solution rich in inorganic ions strongly adsorbed to Ag but not to TiO₂ NP. Instead, sorption to TiO₂ NP was observed for the more hydrophobic NOM of the farmland soil with low ionic strength which did not sorb to Ag NP. These differences had a strong effect on NP stability, leading to Ag NP destabilization in case of floodplain soil solution and TiO₂ NP stabilization in the presence of farmland soil solution. Our results point out the necessity of studies in more complex systems and suppose that oxic and metallic NP might show very different fate depending on the environment they are exposed to.

Pyrethroids are used in agricultural to control pests on a variety of crops. Bifenthrin, a synthetic pyrethroid, is a broad spectrum insecticide. It acts mainly on the nervous system of vertebrates as well as invertebrates. It is susceptible to the biodegradation by some soil bacteria. The present paper deals with the toxicological studies of bifenthrin and its metabolites benzene 1,1(methylthio) ethylidine, resorcinol and monochloro trifluromethane that were produced by a newly isolated strain of Paracoccus siganidrum APGM1 on earthworms, which play an important role in the improvement of the soil fertility. The toxicity was assessed by 48 hrs filter paper contact test, 14 days soil test and histopathological methods. The results of filter paper contact test revealed that the earthworms were more susceptible to bifenthrin than their metabolites. The LC50 value of bifenthrin and its metabolites was 6 ppm and 20 ppm respectively. The soil test showed that at 6 ppm concentration of bifenthrin, half the number of earthworms died after 14 days and with the increase in the concentration, mortality increased. At 10 ppm concentration, all the earthworms died. However, half the number of earthworms died after 14 days at the metabolite concentration of 20 ppm. The adverse effects of bifenthrin and very little effect of their metabolites on the morphological properties and structural integrity of the tissues were observed in histopathological studies. Thus, the metabolites of bifenthrin were less toxic to earthworms than the bifenthrin.

In the past decade, the deterioration in atmospheric quality caused by emissions of ambient particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) has become an urgent problem in China. As this problem can be mainly attributed to the large amount of coal consumption, a strategy to promote electric power substitution was initiated, and in this case, cutting the price of electricity is considered useful. However, since it was announced that the price of electric power used in the service industry will be reduced by 10%, the proper target to cut the price of electric power used in the secondary industry was under debate. By using the computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, the policy to cut the price of electric power used in the secondary industry was simulated and the effects of the policy on the economy and the environment were explored. The results show that the policy to cut electric power prices will contribute to promoting the strategy of electricity substitution, and further contribute to environmental improvement. This policy can result in positive effects on the systems of the economy and the environment at the same time, and when the target to cut the price of electric power used in the secondary industry is –3%, the maximum positive effects will be obtained: gross domestic product (GDP) growth will be accelerated by 0.015‰, while PM2.5 emissions will be abated by 394.2 tons. Moreover, based on the unique cross-subsidy mechanism in China’s electric power industry, although residents’ consumption welfare can be fully compensated, less cross-subsidy will have a negative effect on the agriculture industry.

In this study an attempt was made to assess the mining associated urbanization impact on rural agricultural lands due to expansion of mining dump yards, pulverizing mills and beneficiation plants in and around Govindampalle village, YSR District, A.P by using Geospatial technologies. Various land use and land cover (LULC) classes, mainly, cropland, plantation, fallow land, mining/industrial, water body, settlements and scrub lands were recognized and their impact on the environment has been discussed. Google earth historical imagery during 2010 and 2017 are used to map and assess these land use and land cover changes in the ArcGIS flat form. LULC change detection analysis data showed that cropland, water bodies and scrublands were decreased by 10, 2, 14 and 20 percent, respectively from 2010 to 2017. On the other hand industrial areas and agricultural plantations showed an increasing trend with 14 and 20 percent growth rate respectively.

Use of the high-rate vermicomposting system and its relevant technology were successfully applied to accomplish direct vermicomposting of coral vine leaves - devoid of any pre-treatment/composting or amended with cow dung as earlier proclaimed protocols for the vermicomposting of various phytomass had necessitated. Three earthworm species tested were Eisenia fetida, Eudrilus eugeniae and Perionyx excavatus, and they had shown efficient vermicast recovery with few instances of mortality and good reproduction over the 150-day experiment. In this duration, all vermireactors were run in semi-continuous mode at the solid retention time of 15 days. This process enabled us to improve process efficacy of the reactor by the required pointers and systematic process monitoring. This paper substantiates the potential of the high-rate vermicomposting system in direct and potential vermicomposting of coral vine without any pre-treatment/composting or cow dung amendments. The observations have significance for enhancing process economics and therefore, process utility.

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.

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.

Chlorpyrifos is one of the toxic organophosphate insecticides that is often used by farmers in West Sumatra Province. This research was conducted with the aim to analyse the level of consumption, conversion ratio, and growth rate in fish cultivated in the twin lakes of West Sumatra. The concentration variations are 1/7 and 1/14 LC50-96h of chlorpyrifos. The study was conducted for 14 days. Research data analysis found the values of R = 0.75-1 for the relationship of oxygen level, conversion ratio, and growth of tilapia to the duration of exposure which means having a strong correlation. The results obtained were due to chlorpyrifos insecticide exposure on day 1 to day 14. At a concentration of 0.0054 mg/L, there was a decrease in the level of oxygen consumption of 0.0159 mgO2 /L, an increase in feed conversion ratio of 0.8253, and the deviation flow of 2.7048%. Whereas at a concentration of 0.0108 mg/L, there was a decrease in the oxygen level of 0.0213 mgO2 /L, increase in feed conversion ratio of 0.8201, and deviation growth by 2.7048%.

Population growth and improvement in the people’s economy have caused the need for space to grow and have changed land use in the Krueng Aceh watershed. This study on the effect of changes in land use on the Krueng Aceh watershed hydrological response as a step to anticipate water shortage in the future using the geographical information analysis and the river regime coefficient (RRC) method approach. The results of this study revealed that the functional shifts from primary forests to production forests and from brushland to ricefield and settlements increased the RRC value from 14.59 to 56.74 in the last 20 years. The hydrological response showed that 18% of the water had the potential to not infiltrate and become runoff. The effect is a reduction in groundwater supply, flooding in the rainy season, drought in the dry season, and clean water scarcity in the future. The management of the future must be based on one river, one planning, and one management system principle.