The current study has aims to investigate the soil quality and phytoextraction of cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), and lead (Pb) from saline soils using Alhagi maurorum (camelthorn), Tamarix aphylla (saltcedar), Salvadora persica (mustard bush), and Suaeda nigra (bush seep weed). The saline bulk soil, rhizospheric soil, and different parts of selected plants were oxidized using the acid mixture and determined Cd, Cr, and Pb by atomic absorption spectrometry. The bio-concentration factor (BCF) and translocation factor (TF) of also examined. The quality parameters of soil like pH (< 8.5), and electrical conductivity (EC; > 4.00 dS m-1) indicated the soil is saline. The salinity of soil was lower the organic matters, and total nitrogen contents in studied saline bulk soil due to deterioration condition of soils. However, the rhizospheric soil showed the improved quality of saline soil reflected the good phytoextraction of salts from saline soil. The high contents of Cd in roots and shoots (1.02 and 0.65µgg-1) of Alhagi maurorum, Cr in the roots and shoots (6.20, and 6.75µgg-1) of Tamarix aphylla and Pb in the roots and shoots (5.63, and 5.75µgg-1) of Suaeda nigra. The BCF and TF showed the Tamarix aphylla and Alhagi maurorum for Pb, Alhagi maurorum, and Salvadora persica for Cr considered as hyperaccumulator plants. Based on BCF and TF values of Alhagi maurorum, Tamarix aphylla for Cd, and Salvadora persica for Cr and Pb have the efficiency to uptake toxic metals from saline soil. Thus, it can be concluded that selected plant species may have ability for the phytoextraction the Cd, Cr and Pb from saline soil.

In this study, we aimed to examine the tolerance of mixed culture of microorganisms isolated from sewage waste sludge to degrade high concentrations of polyaromatic hydrocarbons, naphthalene, and phenanthrene. The performance of the artificial neural network (ANN) model to predict and simulate the experimental biodegradation results was investigated. The mixed culture of microorganisms was isolated from sewage waste sludge and adopted to biodegrade naphthalene and phenanthrene at different concentrations (100-1000mg/L). Sewage waste sludge obtained from wastewater treatment plants. A three-layer feed-forward network with a sigmoid transfer function (logsig) at the hidden layer, a linear transfer function (purelin) at the output layer, and a backpropagation training algorithm was used to set the ANN model. The results of this study show that naphthalene at concentrations of 100, 300, 700, and 1000 mg/L was depleted after incubation with the mixed culture for 6, 8, 14, and 16 days, respectively. For phenanthrene, depletion of 100, 300, 600, and 1000 mg/L was achieved after 8, 11, 16, and 19 days of incubation, respectively. A high correlation coefficient of 99.5% between the predicted and the experimental results were obtained by using the AAN model. The results indicated that the mixed culture of microorganisms from sewage waste sludge could effectively consume naphthalene and phenanthrene as carbon and energy sources. Also, the ANN model could efficiently predict the experimental results for biodegradation treatment.

This study aims to investigate the effect of using Al2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) in membrane structure on the operation condition of the membrane bioreactor. To this end, alumina NPs as the high hydrophilic agents with an approximate size of 40nm and a concentration of 0-3 wt.% were placed within the PAN polymeric membrane matrix structure with high hydrophilicity and high mechanical resistance over the others via the phase inversion method. Characterization of synthesized nanocomposite membranes was carried out by SEM analysis. In the presence of the alumina NPs, the porosity of the membranes improved. The water contact angle measurement confirmed the superior hydrophilicity of mixed PAN membranes compared to the pure polymeric membranes. The best nanocomposite membrane with better antifouling properties was selected to evaluate the MBR's performance in wastewater treatment and assessed in terms of the resistance, flux recovery, and COD removal rates. The result of a comparison with pure membrane showed that by increasing the Al2O3 amount up to 2wt.%, irreversible fouling resistance mitigated as much as 50%. Moreover, the flux recovery ratio was increased by 15%, and the COD removal rate was also raised as large as 16%. Our investigation illustrated that the presence of alumina NPs has improved the MBR performance and decreased the irreversible fouling resistance of the membrane.

Doogh is a famous Iranian drink based on fermented milk. Laminated film is one of the most common packaging for this beverage in Iran. So, chemical substances of the packaging may migrate to the Doogh and endanger human health. In this research, High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was used to determine the migration of Irganox 1010 and Irganox 1076 from the contact layer and inductively coupled plasma for Titanium dioxide (TiO2) from the second layer of three-layer laminate films into Doogh and acetic acid 3% (w/v). The influence of different storage temperatures and times was investigated by evaluating the samples stored in various conditions. The morphological, thermal and mechanical properties of the film, before and after contact with food simulant were further studied. The highest amount of Irganox 1010 concentration of the tested samples were 0.8 ± 0.04mg/l in acetic acid 3% (w/v), and 0.62 ± 0.04mg/l in Doogh. The highest amount of TiO2 concentration were 0.25 ± 0.04mg/l in acetic acid 3% (w/v), and 0.12 ± 0.02mg/l in Doogh. The migration of Irganox 1076 was determined, but it was not detected. The results indicated that the food simulant had no significant effect on the microstructure and thermal properties of the polymer, but it reduced the mechanical properties. The results indicate the possible migrating of Irganox 1010 and TiO2 through laminate packaging into Doogh in some storage conditions. Since the migration value was low, the mentioned film was proven safe for Doogh packaging, imposing no hazards on human health.

Presence of heavy metals in Peenya industries is considered a major environmental and human health risk. The purpose of this research is to determine the concentrations of trace elements in urban industrial soils in north Bengaluru in order to assess the degree of soil pollution and to evaluate environmental and human health risk. Twelve soil samples during July-2016 were taken from Peenya industrial sites at different depth viz., 0-Hft., 1-3ft., and 3-5ft. heavy metals (As, Cd, Co, Cr+3, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Sr, V, and Zn) were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Contamination Factor, Enrichment Factor, Pollution Index, Modified Pollution Index, indices of pollution, Toxic Unit (TU), Hazard Quotient (HQ), Hazard Index (HI), Total Hazard Index (THI), Cancer Risk (CR), and Lifetime Cancer Risk (LCR) were used to evaluate the environmental and potential health hazard risks of human beings. Results showed that Cr+3 concentration exceeded the threshold limit of 60mg/kg and 66.66%, 50%, and 41.66% showing more than the threshold limit at 0-1ft., 1-3ft. and 3-5ft. depth soil samples. Single pollution indices showed that the study site was contaminated with chromium concentration. Nemerow pollution index showed that majority of soil samples were in the very high level of pollution. THI values showing <1 indicating that there were non-carcinogenic risks for children and less risk for adults. Based on LCR for children, 100% of soil samples were at high risk. LCR for Cr+3 concentrations of the soils were found higher than the threshold value of 1.00E-04, indicating a significant carcinogenic risk. The study area is polluted, mainly with Chromium, whereas environmental risk is limited to a small part of it. This study can be used as a reference point to develop future long-term risk assessment plans on the probable movement of heavy metals in urban soils to human beings.

A wide range of policies, strategies, and interventions have been implemented to improve air quality all over the world. This systematic review comprehensively appraises the policies and strategies on air pollutants controls enacted in different countries, worldwide. Three databases, Web of Science, PubMed and Scopus, were used for the search. After screening, a total of 114 eligible manuscripts were selected from 2219 documents for further analysis. Selected articles were divided into two categories: (1) articles focusing on introducing the policies and strategies enacted for controlling air pollution in different countries, and (2) articles which focused on different policies and strategies to control one or more specific pollutants. In the former one, urban air pollution control strategies and policies were divided into four categories, namely, general strategies and policies, transportation, energy, and industry. In case of latter category, policies and strategies focused on controlling six pollutants (PM, SO2, NO2, VOCS, O3 and photochemical smog). The results indicated that, the most common policies and strategies enacted in most countries are pertinent to the transportation sector. Changing energy sources, in particular elimination or limited use of solid fuels, was reported as an effective action by governments to reduce air pollution. Overall, most policies enacted by governments can be divided into three general categories: (a) incentive policies such as implementing a free public transportation program to use fewer private cars, (b) supportive policies such as paying subsidies to change household fuels, and (c) punitive policies such as collecting tolls for cars to enter the congestion charging areas. Depending on the circumstances, these policies are implemented alone or jointly. In addition to the acceptance of international agreements to reduce air pollution by governments, greater use of renewable energy, clean fuels, and low-pollution or no-pollution vehicles such as electric vehicles play an important role in reducing air pollution.

Due to the population growth and reduction of water resources, wastewater treatment and reuse vital. As the secondary wastewater treatment processes enable removes a significant amount of P and N, nutrient-rich effluents can cause eutrophication in water bodies. On the other hand, nutrients removal in sewage treatment using mechanical methods is costly and complex. The aquaculture method using Azolla filiculoides could be an appropriate option for removing total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) from wastewater. Synthetic wastewater has been prepared in the typical range of municipal wastewater. Two g fresh weight of an acclimatized A.filiculoides was floated in sample bowls each one containing 500 CC prepared wastewater. Total nitrogen, TP, and COD removal by Azolla filiculoides for 21-days were optimized and investigated using the response surface methodology (RSM). For this aim, the D-optimal method was used to optimize the three independent variables (TP concentration (10.8-84.6mg l- 1), TN concentration (20-99mg l- 1), and COD concentration (66.26-415mg l- 1)) for their maximum removal efficiency of them. Experiments were performed on 28 runs in which independent variables were measured using a HACH DR 5000 spectrometer. Predicted R-squared for COD, TP, TN removal, and Azolla mass (responses) have been equal to -0.0897, 0.8514, 0.7779, and 0.5645, respectively. The model was used to maximize Azolla growth and maximize removal efficiency of nitrogen, phosphorus, and COD that occurred in minimum concentrations of TN (20mg l- 1), TP (10.8mg l- 1), and COD (66.26mg l- 1). The removal efficiency of Azolla was obtained 77.5 % for COD, 66.8 % for TP, and 78.1 % for TN in the optimum condition of independent variables. Also, increase of Azolla mass was 239 %, with desirability of 0.66. The difference between model prediction and model validation testing for Azolla mass increase, COD, TN, and TP removal was equal to ± 11.6 %, ± 7.9 %, ± 0.0 %, and ± 1.9 %, respectively. Azolla could remove phosphorus in nitrogen deficiency or even lack of nitrogen. Results indicate that removal efficiency has an upward trend as the Azolla growth increases. This kind of fern has a significant effect on removing nitrogen, phosphorus, and COD from an aqueous solution. The removal efficiency of TN, TP, and COD at optimum operating conditions showed good agreement with model-predicted removal efficiency.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its spread prevention actions (SPAs) have affected a large number of human activities globally in 2020-2021. Temporary lockdowns, stay-at-home policies, movement restrictions, and personal health care actions have relatively changed the daily life routine in urban areas which can eventually affect the characteristics of municipal wastewater (MW). This study evaluates the performance of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) during COVID-19 pandemic and related SPAs. This evaluation also considers MW variations in quality and quantity and compares the performance of WWTPs (2020) with earlier data (2015–2019). For this purpose, 23 WWTPs located in Isfahan province, Iran, were chosen as the study area and classified based on their locations, biological treatment unit, and capacities. Results indicate that the inflow of WWTPs increased 20 % on average during SPAs, while the concentrations of COD and BOD in MW decreased 23 and 16 %, respectively. Nevertheless, the performance of WWTPs remained rather constant. It is concluded that increasing the dilute domestic proportion of MW, particularly in smaller communities, as a matter of COVID-19 SPAs could not impose adverse impacts on wastewater treatment operations and pollution removal. Different types of secondary treatment units, such as activated sludge, stabilization pond, and aerated lagoon showed stable performances. However, disinfection was enhanced in WWTPs in order to reduce the probability of viral transmission via wastewater for reuse. This study also recommends that the characteristics of MW, and not treated wastewater, can be used as an indicator for coordinating SPAs in similar epidemics. This notification can be helpful for the management of WWTPs and risk control in urban areas.

Metal contamination in water is a worldwide persistent problem. We developed a nano-adsorbent, TEPA-MIL-101(Cr) that exhibits effective removal of heavy metals from real water samples. MIL-101(Cr) was synthesized under solvo-thermal condition. Then MIL-101(Cr) was dehydrated and degassed at high temperature under vacuum to generate the coordinately unsaturated sites which are used for tetraethylene pentamine (TEPA) grafting. The structures, morphologies, and compositions of the sorbents have been characterized. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were applied for describing the adsorption process onto TEPA-MIL-101(Cr). The successful grafting of TEPA on MIL-101(Cr) was verified by Fourier transform infrared. The results of X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and CHN analysis show that the structure of TEPA-MIL-101(Cr) retains the original structure of MIL-101(Cr). Thermogravimetric analysis indicates thermo-stability of the adsorbent up to 300 °C. Optimal conditions for adsorption were determined as pH = 6.5 and contact time = 1h. The adsorption capacities of TEPA-MIL-101(Cr) for Pb(II), Cu(II), Cd(II), and Co(II) from aqueous samples were 227.5, 217.7, 221.4, and 215.6mg/g respectively, which is on average more than 8 times that of MIL-101(Cr). Analysis of Langmuir and Freundlich models for describing the adsorption isotherms of TEPA-MIL-101(Cr) reveals that the metal ions were absorbed onto TEPA-MIL-101(Cr) by a favorable physical absorption process. TEPA-MIL-101(Cr) was synthesized successfully by a simple, and cost-effective method. The removal efficiency of TEPA-MIL-101(Cr) for the metal ions achieved more than 95 % in real water samples, which in addition to its thermal stability character make it a promising candidate for water treatment purposes.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40201-021-00714-w.