Horses’ rejection behaviour towards the presence of Senecio jacobaea L. in hay

Background Senecio jacobaea contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids that can induce severe hepatic intoxication in horses, either acute when ingested in high amounts or chronic when consumed over a long period. The aim of this study was to determine horses’ rejection behaviour towards the presence of Senecio jacobaea in hay when fed ad libitum. We hypothesized that adult horses can sort Senecio jacobaea out of the contaminated hay when hay is fed ad libitum. Six warmblood geldings with a mean (±SD) age of 15 ± 2 years were included. In a randomized study, Senecio jacobaea contaminated hay (5% or 10% contamination level) was provided at several timepoints over the day for 1 hour to six. Hay was provided ad libitum for the rest of the day. The horses’ rejection behaviour towards Senecio jacobaea was observed. If a horse ingested two Senecio jacobaea plants twice at different timepoints, then the horse was excluded from the experiment. Results Two out of six horses had to be excluded from the study after three out of 12 observation periods due to repeated Senecio jacobaea intake. Two other horses had to be excluded after nine and 11 out of 12 observation periods. Only two horses were able to sort out the various amounts (5 and 10% contamination level) of Senecio jacobaea during the whole experiment. Conclusions Horses’ intake of Senecio jacobaea cannot be avoided despite being fed with hay ad libitum. Due to the risk of chronic intoxication by pyrrolizidine alkaloids intake, feeding Senecio jacobaea contaminated hay must be avoided, and pastures with Senecio jacobaea growth are considered inappropriate for feed production.

Air pollution from gas refinery through contamination with various elements disrupts semiarid Zagros oak (Quercus brantii Lindl.) forests, Iran

Soils and oak trees (Quercus brantii Lindl.) in Zagros forests are suffering from the air pollution caused by the Ilam Gas Refinery. Thus, for the first time, we investigated the contamination level of sulfur and trace elements in these ecosystems. Sampling of soil and tree leaves was carried out in different seasons of 2019 and at different distances from the gas refinery. The results showed that soils and leaves at the various distances compared with control distance (10,000 m) were more affected by the gas refinery. Distance from the pollution source and physicochemical properties of soils were the main factors affecting contamination of soil elements contents. The soils with pollution load indices (PLI) of 4.54 were in the highly polluted category. Sulfur was at highly polluted category in soils and were highly enriched in trees. The trees mainly absorbed studied elements via their aerial organs. Our findings indicated that oak trees with the highest value of metal accumulation index are influence tools for monitoring various elements in the polluted air produced by the gas refinery. It is recommended that the ecosystem components near the refinery be studied to accurately evaluate disorders in the food chain.

Assessment of contamination level of a Tanzanian river system with respect to trace metallic elements and their fate in the environment

The quality of water and sediments from a marginally-studied river was investigated with respect to As, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn including their fractionation behavior and environmental risk. Samples were collected along the Kou River that flows across two districts in the Manyara region of Tanzania. The leaching behavior of Fe was studied using sequential extraction fractionation and kinetics approach. The Kou water failed to meet the irrigation, aquatic, and biological life standards with respect to one of more trace metallic elements (TMEs). Fe concentration in the river water ranged from 4.1 to 5.38 mg/L exceeding all the three standards. Six pollution indices were applied to assess the contamination and ecological risks of the nine trace metallic elements in the sediments. Overall, the metals were found to moderately contaminate the sediments. Cr, Fe, and Mn fell under the ‘severely polluted’ sediment quality class. Fe was the only metal that was found to significantly pollute both the river water and sediments. The Fe fractions in the sediments were in the order of residuals>Fe-Mn bound>organic bound>carbonate bound>water soluble>ion exchangeable. 7.8% of the total Fe content was bioavailable with a low potential to leach from the sediments. Under natural conditions, the sharpest release of the non-residual mobile fractions of Fe were identified to occur within the first 24 hours with the maximum Fe leached being 0.14% on the 12th day. None of the metals in the sediments were found with a potential to pose ecological risk.

Consistent Organochlorinated Pesticides (OPC) Residues Contamination in Beans Consumed in Gombe Metropolis Nigeria

Most of the locally consumed beans in our vicinity contain excess chemicals of pesticides residues which are harmful to humans and environmental hazards to ecosystem. Investigation of this study revealed contamination level of organochlorine pesticides residues in dried beans originating from Nigeria with a view to controlling them, it also studies crude fiber of beans showed that B4 has the highest fiber content, 27.85% and the order of decreasing value as B4, B5 , B1, B3 and B2. The least percentage of crude fiber was shown by B2 in all the beans samples analyzed. This study also investigated the pesticides residue components of the organochlorinated pesticides test. The presence of pesticide residues in all 14 types of organochlorine pesticides in beans is lower than a previously reported level. Despite this, the amount of organochlorine pesticides tested is more than the permitted levels of 0.01 to 0.2 mg/kg, indicating that the beans consumed in the Gombe metropolis included pesticide residues beyond the permissible limit.

Bacteriological Examination of DrinkingWater in Different Public Places with Reference to Coliforms

This ponder explores the contamination level in drinking water in several open places. The bacteriological investigations performed were in accordancewith standard methods. Out of eight tests from distinctive locales all had checks higher than the guidelines. Cinema theaters were the foremost contaminated.

Study of Some Indicators of Environmental Pollution of Surface Soil for the City of Touggourt (Southeast Algeria)

Soil is contaminated with various potentially harmful metals (PTMs). Therefore, the adequate protection of soil from contamination is imperative, as the soil is regarded as the primary cradle for living and environmental balance. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to assess the contamination level by PTMs in Touggourt city, where soil samples have been collected randomly from 18 sites. These sites included manufacturing companies and institutions belonging to the industrial region of Touggourt city. The concentrations of six PTMs - zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), lead (Pb) and manganese (Mn) were assessed using the atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) instrument as well as the application of the modern pollution indices such as CF (Contamination Factor), PLI (Pollution Load Index) and EF (Enrichment Factor). The highest values of contamination factor (CF) for Zn, Fe, Co, Cu, and Pb were 0.605, 1.605, 0.277, 0.05, 0.438, and 0.01, respectively, and the highest value of pollution load index (PLI) was 0.139, while the results of enrichment factor (EF) for the Zn, Mn, Co, Cu and Pb metals were 2.608, 0.060, 0.740, 0.122, and 2.358, respectively. According to these pollution indices, the results of this study have indicated that human effects or industrial wastes and traffic, in particular, were the sources of heavy metal contaminating the studied region.

Pathogenic Escherichia coli: An Overview on Pre-Harvest Factors that Impact the Microbial Safety of Leafy Greens

Consumption of fresh leafy greens has been repeatedly reported and linked to pathogenic Escherichia coli-associated foodborne illnesses outbreaks. Leafy greens are mostly eaten raw, based on the increased consumers’ preferences for natural, nutritious diets. Recent studies indicate the incidence of infections caused by pathogenic Escherichia coli remained almost unchanged or even increased. In this context, fresh produces increased the awareness about their primary contamination level, namely the pre-harvest phase. Fully eliminating pathogenic Escherichia coli from pre-harvest environment proved to be impossible. Emphasis must be placed on the pre-harvest factors that affect the food safety and, subsequently, on the identification of possible mitigation strategies that can be used on-farm for reducing the risk of leafy greens contamination with pathogenic Escherichia coli.

Investigating the Correlation of Microplastic Pollution Between Seawater and Marine Salt Using Micro-Raman Spectroscopy

Microplastics (MPs) are synthetic polymer pieces with a size of less than 5 mm that are ubiquitous in the marine environment. They have been recently detected in several wild species and sea products. An indispensable condiment in human food is marine salt that is produced from seawater. Since toxicity studies report potential health impacts when plastic debris is ingested, more attention must be paid to the MP contamination of sea salt and the underlying reasons for this. The central aim of this study is to evaluate the MPs contamination level of sea salt in correlation with the MPs contamination level of seawater in Vietnamese areas. Micro-Raman spectroscopy was employed to determine MPs in the samples collected from three artificial salt pans of Vietnam. The result revealed the presence of MPs in all study areas—Vung Tau (VT;14.54 MPs/L seawater and 114.67 MPs/kg salt), Ly Nhon (LN; 13.14 MPs/L seawater and 63.59 MPs/kg salt), and Can Thanh (9.42 MPs/L seawater and 93.69 MPs/kg salt). The comparisons highlight close correlations in the percentage, shape, size, and color of MPs, especially polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polypropylene particles extracted from the seawater and its salt. This study proved that seawater is a plastic pollution source for salts produced by traditional seawater evaporation. The study also alerts the prevalence of MPs in the environment and human consumables, thereby indicating that actions must be taken to reduce the pollution of water sources in Vung Tau and at the UNESCO Can Gio Mangrove Biosphere Reserve and improve salt production and refinery processes in order to minimize the number of MPs in final salt products for safe consumption.

Potential Loss of Toxic Elements from Slope Arable Soil Erosion Into Watershed in Southwest China: Effect of Spatial Distribution and Land-Uses

The watershed-scale distribution and loss of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) through soil erosion from slope lands to a watershed has not yet been systematically studied, especially in small mountain watersheds with high geological background PTEs in Southwest China. In this study, the spatial distribution, loss intensities and ecological risks of 12 PTEs were investigated in 101 soil samples from four types of land use in a typical watershed, Guizhou Province. Moreover, in order to avoid over- or underestimation of the contamination level in such specific geologies with significant variability in natural PTE distribution, the local background values (local BVs) were calculated by statistical methods. The dry arable land had the highest loss intensity of PTEs and was the largest contributor of PTEs (more than 80%) in the watershed, even though it covers a much smaller area compared to the forest land. The loss of Cd, As, Sb, and Hg from slope arable lands into the watershed leads to a relatively high potential ecological risk. The study suggested that both PTEs content with different types of land-uses and intensities of soil loss are of great importance for PTEs’ risk assessment in the small watershed within a high geological background region. Furthermore, in order to reduce the loss of PTEs in soil, the management of agricultural activities in arable land, especially the slope arable land, is necessary.