Isolation and Identification of Anthracene Utilizing Proteus vulgaris from Oil Spill Contaminated Soil at NNPC Depot Kano State Nigeria

Microbial biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) like Anthracene, represent an efficient, time, and cost-effective way for bioremediation of the polluted environment. This study was aimed at isolating, identifying and characterizing bacteria with potential to degrade and utilize anthracene as a sole carbon source. A bacteria was isolated from oil spilled contaminated site located in Kano, using an enrichment method on mineral salt media (MSM) following serial dilution (10-1-10-6). Characterization was done by studying the effects of temperature and pH on mineral salt media (MSM) containing anthracene. The isolate was then identified morphologically, biochemically and molecularly based on 16S rRNA partial gene sequence analysis. The morphological and microscopic examination of the isolate from this research shows that the isolate was creamy in color, motile, gram negative, short rod and non-spore forming respectively. The biochemical test of the isolate was found to be positive for these parameters (methyl red, catalase, motility, indole and urease) and negative for (citrate and oxidase). The 16S rRNA sequence and Phylogenetic analysis using neighbor joining tree and 1000 boos trap revealed that, the isolate was closely related (on the same clade) to Proteus vulgaris with accession number MW766369. Characterization was done by studying the effects of temperature and pH. The isolated bacterium was optimal at a temperature of 35ºC and pH 7.5. This isolate is a promising strain that could be used in bioremediation of polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons polluted environment.

Epistemic Pollution

The chapter continues the argument for thinking that individual cognition is highly unreliable. It argues that we live in an epistemically polluted environment: deliberately and inadvertently, other agents shape our environments in ways that leave individual cognition even worse off than it might have been. This chapter sketches some of the pollutants and how they work to undermine virtuous cognition. It argues we live in an environment in which the cues we rely on for assessing the expertise of individuals and the reliability of information are deliberately mimicked by people who seek to deceive us. Because we’re unable to assess a great many claims on our own, we’re reliant on these cues; their pollution ensures that individual cognition is even worse off than it might have been. The chapter finishes with some tentative suggestions for cleaning up the epistemic environment.

Dynamics of a new stage-structured population model with transient and nontransient impulsive effects in a polluted environment

In this paper, we consider a new stage-structured population model with transient and nontransient impulsive effects in a polluted environment. By using the theories of impulsive differential equations, we obtain the globally asymptotically stable condition of a population-extinction solution; we also present the permanent condition for the investigated system. The results indicate that the nontransient and transient impulsive harvesting rate play important roles in system permanence. Finally, numerical analyses are carried out to illustrate the results. Our results provide effective methods for biological resource management in a polluted environment.

Source and Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Water from Mboppi River in Douala–Cameroon

Having a source attributed to anthropogenic activities such as incomplete combustion or pyrolysis of organic materials, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are toxic organic pollutants that the ubiquity is no more to be proved. The purpose of this work is to identify and quantify the hydrocarbons pollution of the Mboppi River. Eight (8) samples of water were collected in the river during the dry and the rainy season (4samples for each season). Hydrocarbon fraction was extracted by magnetic agitation of the mixture water/hexane followed by clean-up, fractionation and subsequently, analysis using gas chromatography coupled to a Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID). Total concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the samples were ranged between 196.3-1040.19 µg/L in the river. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with more than four rings showed the highest concentrations in the river independently from the seasonal variation while the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with 2 or 3 rings were usually present in low concentrations or sometimes undetectable. From the data, it was also possible to conclude that there is predominance of petroleum sources, and essentially closed to the more industrialized areas. Mboppi River can then be considered as being among the most polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons polluted environment in comparison with some rivers and estuaries.

Introduction to the native plant species with phytoremediation potential growing in a high Fe and Zn contaminated site in the copper mine of Dehmadan, Iran

Mining activity is one main source of heavy metal pollution. In this study, Al, Ba, Be, Ca, Cd, Co, Ce, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ga, Gd, K, La, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Nb, Nd, Ni, P, Pb, S, Sc, Si, Sr, Ti, V, Y, Zn and Zr were measured by ICP-OES analyzing of the soils taken in the Dehmadan mining area, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Iran. Al, Fe, Cu, Si and Zn were the most frequent metals in the mining area. Phytoremediation is one of the eco-friendly methods to effectively remediate soils contaminated with heavy metals. Consequently, the wild plants were collected from the mining area and subjected to ICP-OES analysis to determine the elements concentrations. A reverse relation was observed between the metals concentrations and vegetation density in the mining area. Finally, the bioconcentration factor (BCF) of the root and shoot, and translocation factor (TF) were determined to assess phytoremediation potential of species. The shoot elements concentrations in combination with BCF and TF greater than 1 were assess to determine hyperaccumulators and plants with excluder potential. Overall, the results showed that BCF in parallel with TF and metals concentrations can advance the knowledge of recognizing hyperaccumulators for phytoremediation of polluted environment.