Phytoremediation as an effective tool to handle emerging contaminants

2022 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Prasanth Bhatt ◽  
Swamynathan Ganesan ◽  
Infant Santhose ◽  
Thirumurugan Durairaj

Abstract Phytoremediation is a process which effectively uses plants as a tool to remove, detoxify or immobilize contaminants. It has been an eco-friendly and cost-effective technique to clean contaminated environments. The contaminants from various sources have caused an irreversible damage to all the biotic factors in the biosphere. Bioremediation has become an indispensable strategy in reclaiming or rehabilitating the environment that was damaged by the contaminants. The process of bioremediation has been extensively used for the past few decades to neutralize toxic contaminants, but the results have not been satisfactory due to the lack of cost-effectiveness, production of byproducts that are toxic and requirement of large landscape. Phytoremediation helps in treating chemical pollutants on two broad categories namely, emerging organic pollutants (EOPs) and emerging inorganic pollutants (EIOPs) under in situ conditions. The EOPs are produced from pharmaceutical, chemical and synthetic polymer industries, which have potential to pollute water and soil environments. Similarly, EIOPs are generated during mining operations, transportations and industries involved in urban development. Among the EIOPs, it has been noticed that there is pollution due to heavy metals, radioactive waste production and electronic waste in urban centers. Moreover, in recent times phytoremediation has been recognized as a feasible method to treat biological contaminants. Since remediation of soil and water is very important to preserve natural habitats and ecosystems, it is necessary to devise new strategies in using plants as a tool for remediation. In this review, we focus on recent advancements in phytoremediation strategies that could be utilized to mitigate the adverse effects of emerging contaminants without affecting the environment.

2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-51
Author(s):  
Ryan Fair ◽  
Jean van Laar ◽  
Kristy Nell ◽  
Diaan Nell ◽  
Edward Mathews

The weather directly impacts ventilation systems, especially large industrial systems found in underground mines. Underground mine ventilation systems have high cost implications that add to the financial strains and uncertainties of future mining operations. In addition, the dynamic nature of underground ventilation systems makes the accurate prediction of underground conditions extremely difficult using traditional steady-state methods. Therefore, improved prediction methods of dynamic underground environmental conditions are needed to ensure cost-effective ventilation systems. This paper investigates simulating the sensitivity that underground ventilation systems have to fluctuating ambient conditions. Simulation software was applied to a case study on a gold mine in South Africa. The results showed that transient software can now be applied to entire mine ventilation systems, and can improve predicting the underground environment because of fluctuating ambient conditions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (8) ◽  
pp. 2455
Author(s):  
Shivakumar C. R. ◽  
Mohammad Fazelul Rahman Shoeb ◽  
Anil Reddy Pinate

Background: Surgical site infection is a one of the most common postoperative complication and causes significant postoperative morbidity and mortality. WHO described Hospital acquired infections as one of the major infectious diseases having huge economic impact. Perioperative antibiotics constitute the bulk of antimicrobial consumption in any hospital. We need to adapt the policies that decrease the incidence of postoperative wound infection.Methods: Patients undergoing elective surgeries for clean contaminated cases for various causes from 15th May 2014 to 15th June 2017 under Surgical 1st Unit of District hospital Gulbarga (Affiliated to Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences, Gulbarga) are included in our study. During this period, a total of 216 patients participated, of which 145 were males and 71 were females. Patients received two doses of perioperative antibiotics, first dose before surgery and second dose after surgery, 12 hours apart during this period.Results: In this study, surgical site infection rate is 2.3% in clean-contaminated surgeries.Conclusions: The findings indicate that a short course of perioperative antibiotics where in first dose is given 30 minutes to one hour before surgery and second dose is given 12 hours after surgery are sufficient and efficacious as infection rate is acceptable (1%-3%).Infection rate in our study was 2.3%. It is cost-effective as well for prevention of surgical site infections in clean-contaminated surgeries in Indian surgical setup.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 83 (5) ◽  
pp. 876-877
Author(s):  
Herman Harris

The Comprehensive Sickle Cell Centers were established in 1972 to test, educate, counsel, and research sickle cell anemia and related hemoglobinopathies. Standards and protocols for testing, education, and research were readily established because similar procedures and methods were already in operation at the institutions where the centers were located. The most difficult and still the most controversial program to provide is counseling. It became evident, early, that there is no universally accepted method for informing carriers of abnormal Hb S about their results. Centers located in large urban areas with a limited testing radius do not face the same problems as centers located in rural areas where the testing radius may cover an entire state or several states. Individual, or one-on-one, counseling of persons with trait results appears to be successful for urban centers where the individual may be called to the center and given information. But, in a rural setting, it is not feasible for the center to ask a person to travel 350 miles to be told he or she has nothing to worry about. And it is not cost-effective to send a caseworker 350 miles to say the same thing. It must, therefore, be concluded that each agency or center must adopt counseling methods that meet its specific needs. Each program must be flexible, imaginative, and creative and must successfully and accurately deliver information about being a carrier for the sickle gene or other hemoglobinopathy and its implication and significance for patients and their future offspring. To do this, we must first look at the problems facing us.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. T. Amin ◽  
A. A. Alazba ◽  
U. Manzoor

The rapidly increasing population, depleting water resources, and climate change resulting in prolonged droughts and floods have rendered drinking water a competitive resource in many parts of the world. The development of cost-effective and stable materials and methods for providing the fresh water in adequate amounts is the need of the water industry. Traditional water/wastewater treatment technologies remain ineffective for providing adequate safe water due to increasing demand of water coupled with stringent health guidelines and emerging contaminants. Nanotechnology-based multifunctional and highly efficient processes are providing affordable solutions to water/wastewater treatments that do not rely on large infrastructures or centralized systems. The aim of the present study is to review the possible applications of the nanoparticles/fibers for the removal of pollutants from water/wastewater. The paper will briefly overview the availability and practice of different nanomaterials (particles or fibers) for removal of viruses, inorganic solutes, heavy metals, metal ions, complex organic compounds, natural organic matter, nitrate, and other pollutants present in surface water, ground water, and/or industrial water. Finally, recommendations are made based on the current practices of nanotechnology applications in water industry for a stand-alone water purification unit for removing all types of contaminants from wastewater.


Author(s):  
Piyush Gupta ◽  
Garima Nagpal ◽  
Namrata Gupta

Abstract Background The water supplies are hindered because aquatic resources have constrained with natural and man-made pollution activities in terms of releasing huge amounts of contaminants from different point and non-point sources across the globe. The industries like metal plating, batteries, paint, fertilizers, tanneries, textile industries, dyeing industries, mining operations, and paper industries discharge their effluents into the environment directly or indirectly, and hence, they are considered as the key sources of heavy metals contamination in water resources. Heavy metals are inorganic, non-biodegradable, persistent, and having a tendency to get accumulated in biotic and abiotic components of environment as compared to organic pollutants. Some heavy metal cations, for example, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, zinc, lead, nickel, copper, and chromium, are carcinogenic in nature and so, lethal. There are growing health concerns due to toxic impacts of heavy metals on every genre of ecosystem. To deal with the bottleneck situation, it is highly imperative to search a feasible solution for heavy metal remediation in water in context of preventing amalgamation of noxious contaminants in food web. Different methods are exercised for the remediation of such impurities from its solutions. One method, i.e. adsorption is found to be the simplest, economical, efficient, and eco-friendly in this context. Main body Geopolymers exhibit heterogeneous amorphous microstructure and wide surface area. The compatibility for depollution and the performance of these materials mainly depend upon their preparation methods, composition, and microstructure. Fly ash-based geopolymer may serve as a better alternate to various cost-effective adsorbents and it will be a proven environmentally viable, waste to money solution by consuming heaps of fly ash waste for the adsorbent modified by using fly ash. The possible utilization of wastes from several industries is a matter of concerned sustainability benefits. This study shows that fly ash-based geopolymers have the potential to cope up with the problems and risk factors associated with the fly ash waste management and it would be the utmost scientific panacea in the field of removing toxins from aqueous medium and maintain environmental health in the future. Short conclusions The literature available in different databases is very limited pertaining to heavy metal remediation using fly ash-based geopolymers. Keeping all the factors in mind, this article is an attempt to summarize relevant informations related to work done on fly ash-based geopolymers for treating aqueous solutions comprising heavy metals.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-82
Author(s):  
Rong Wu ◽  
Muhammad Zubair ◽  
Aman Ullah

More than 100 million tons of banana peels are produced annually, and about 40 million banana peels (40% of total weight) remain greatly unused. Hence, exploring banana peels’ ability to clean contaminated water would bring an additional value to the current “waste” product. One of the most common aspects of water pollution currently is heavy metal contamination, which is particularly dangerous for humans due to its high toxicity. Banana peels contain a high concentration of carbohydrates, the two most abundant being cellulose and starch, which has multiple hydroxyl and carboxyl functional groups. Banana peels are an easily available and cost-effective adsorbent that can adsorb different kinds of heavy metal ions. This research primarily focuses on improving the current efficiency of this technique through the development of a banana peel/graphene oxide hybrid adsorbent. The cross-linking graphene oxide possess numerous hydroxyl, carbonyl, carboxyl, and epoxide functional groups that can be used to induce chemical reactions with banana peel carbohydrates, providing the graphene oxide with additional functional groups. This modification can potentially increase the adsorption capacity of banana peel derived adsorbents. It is evident through FTIR analysis that banana peel powder and graphene oxide have many functional groups of similar types. Thus, reactions can readily occur to combine the two substances. The TGA analysis of both compounds, however, indicates different patterns of thermal decomposition. Further thermal analysis is required for the hybrid adsorbent. After the development and characterization of this hybrid adsorbent, the next step is to complete a water purification analysis. In the future, banana peel/graphene oxide derived adsorbent may serve as a sustainable and efficient solution for water purification.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 6089-6094

Diclofenac (DCF), a non-steroidal antiinflammatory drug has turned into an anthropogenic pollutant of emerging concern. Chronic exposure to DCF not only draws special attention to health issues for aquatic organisms, arthropods, and higher plants but also leads to serious damage to human beings. Its persistence in the ecosystem and synergistic interactions with existing pollutants may lead to proliferation of newly emerging contaminants which further disrupt the balance of nature. This comprehensive review highlights the toxicity effects of DCF and its metabolites. To counter this critical environmental imbalance, bioremediation is exploited for effective environmental clean-up. It is a fast, simple, cost effective and eco –friendly approach that explores microbial communities for mitigating the harmful effects of such toxic contaminants to control the levels of pollution. The practice of bioremediation approach using beneficial microorganisms in DCF degradation is important as it generates less hazardous compounds by maintaining the environment stability. Microorganisms adapt in the extreme conditions to transform DCF into innocuous intermediate metabolic products. These beneficial bioremediators can be used in the biological treatment of waste water thereby providing cleaner water resources to reduce the levels of water pollution, which is a great concern worldwide


Proceedings ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Giulia Simonetti ◽  
Elisa Sonego ◽  
Federica Castellani ◽  
Patrizia Di Filippo ◽  
Carmela Riccardi ◽  
...  

In indoor environments, the concentration of halogenated organic pollutants in dust can be high due to the presence of products treated with these chemicals. In this study, we monitored emerging organic pollutants, such as novel brominated flame retardants (nBFRs) and some perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), together with legacy polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in settled dust collected in five different (domestic and occupational) environments. In workplaces, a high incidence of PCBs, PBDEs and nBFRs occurred. Dust collection represents a simple, fast and cost-effective sampling and dust contamination level can be a useful indicator of environment healthiness.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mavrommatis ◽  
Damigos ◽  
Mirasgedis

Changing climate conditions affect mining operations all over the world, but so far, the mining sector has focused primarily on mitigation actions. Nowadays, there exists increasing recognition of the need for planned adaptation actions. To this end, the development of a practical tool for the assessment of climate change-related risks to support the mining community is deemed necessary. In this study, a comprehensive framework is proposed for climate change multi-risk assessment at the local level customized for the needs of the mining industry. The framework estimates the climate change risks in economic terms by modeling the main activities that a mining company performs, in a probabilistic model, using Bayes’ theorem. The model permits incorporating inherent uncertainty via fuzzy logic and is implemented in two versatile ways: as a discrete Bayesian network or as a conditional linear Gaussian network. This innovative quantitative methodology produces probabilistic outcomes in monetary values estimated either as percentage of annual loss revenue or net loss/gains value. Finally, the proposed framework is the first multi-risk methodology in the mining context that considers all the relevant hazards caused by climate change extreme weather events, which offers a tool for selecting the most cost-effective action among various adaptation strategies.


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