Human Health Risk Assessment For Arsenic: A Critical Review

Millions of people are exposed to arsenic resulting in a range of health implications.This paper provides an up-to-date review of the different sources of arsenic (water, soil and food), indicators of human exposure (biomarker assessment of hair, nail, urine and blood), epidemiological and toxicological studies on carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health outcomes, and risk assessment approaches. The review demonstrates a need for more work evaluating the risks of different arsenic species such as; arsenate, arsenite monomethylarsonic acid, monomethylarsonous acid, dimethylarsinic acid and dimethylarsinous acid as well as a need to better integrate the different exposure sources in risk assessments

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Pollutants of Wastewater Characteristics in Textile Industries

Textile Industry is one of the most important and largest industrial sectors in Pakistan. It has a high importance in terms of its environment impact, since it consumes large quantity of textile industrial processed water and produces highly polluted discharge water. The textile industry uses high volume of water throughout its operation, from the washing of fibers to bleaching, mercerizing, dyeing, printing and washing of finished products. A process data collection was performed and integrated with a characterization of the process effluents in terms of treatability and reusability. In order to evaluate properly the wastewater loading, on analysis course was set. The samples were collected during four months period of time i.e. November, December, January and February 2009-2010 from the seven samples were collected from different textile mills and analyzed for various parameters such as Total Dissolved Solids(TDS), Chemical Oxygen Demand(COD), Biochemical Oxygen demand(BOD), pH, Electrical Conductivity(EC), and heavy metals like Cadmium(Cd), Chromium(Cr), Copper(Cu), Iron(Fe), Manganese(Mn), Nickel(Ni), Potassium(K), Phosphorous(P), Sodium(Na), Sulphur(S), Zinc(Zn) were found in within the limits. Concentrations of all these metal ions in the effluent were above the recommended NEQS. It was therefore concluded that textile effluents were highly polluted

Pollutants of Wastewater Characteristics in Textile Industries

Textile Industry is one of the most important and largest industrial sectors in Pakistan. It has a high importance in terms of its environment impact, since it consumes large quantity of textile industrial processed water and produces highly polluted discharge water. The textile industry uses high volume of water throughout its operation, from the washing of fibers to bleaching, mercerizing, dyeing, printing and washing of finished products. A process data collection was performed and integrated with a characterization of the process effluents in terms of treatability and reusability. In order to evaluate properly the wastewater loading, on analysis course was set. The samples were collected during four months period of time i.e. November, December, January and February 2009-2010 from the seven samples were collected from different textile mills and analyzed for various parameters such as Total Dissolved Solids(TDS), Chemical Oxygen Demand(COD), Biochemical Oxygen demand(BOD), pH, Electrical Conductivity(EC), and heavy metals like Cadmium(Cd), Chromium(Cr), Copper(Cu), Iron(Fe), Manganese(Mn), Nickel(Ni), Potassium(K), Phosphorous(P), Sodium(Na), Sulphur(S), Zinc(Zn) were found in within the limits. Concentrations of all these metal ions in the effluent were above the recommended NEQS. It was therefore concluded that textile effluents were highly polluted

Not Available

Not AvailableThe growth and reproductive performance of local nondescript and crossbred (CB; Beetal × local) goats was studied in farmer’s field. Four Beetal bucks were placed in each of the four villages and crossed with local non-descript does selected at random. The weight at birth, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months age were significantly higher in CB goats. The age at puberty, age at kidding and kidding interval were also significantly reduced in CB goats than that of local goats. Adoption of cross-breeding with superior Beetal goat shall be recommended for achieving better growth and fertility traits.Not Availabl

Tracing mantle components and the effect of subduction processes beneath the northern Antarctic Peninsula

Understanding subduction processes is critical in assessing the long-term evolution of the upper mantle and continental crust. We present new geochemical data on glassy submarine lavas from the Bransfield Strait, the Phoenix and the West Scotia ridges, and previously unpublished data of marine sediments from atop the Phoenix Plate. We combined new and published geochemical data from across the northern sector of the Antarctic Peninsula to unravel both large-scale mantle composition and flow across the region. The geochemistry of Phoenix and West Scotia ridge basalts supports the hypothesis that both ridges are underlain by Pacific MORB mantle, brought into the region through the eastward expansion of the Scotia Plate. Comparisons among lavas from the Phoenix/West Scotia ridges, the South Shetland Islands volcanic arc, and the Bransfield Strait/Prince Gustav Rift back-arc region reveal that the Pacific upper mantle flowed into the mantle wedge and was subsequently modified by subduction processes. The compositions of Bransfield Strait lavas range from strongly subduction-influenced near the strait’s center to akin to Phoenix Ridge MORB toward the strait’s edges. This suggests that the Phoenix MORB mantle has flowed around the slab edges into the mantle wedge, diluting the subduction signal and focusing the subduction-modified mantle towards the center of the strait. Monte Carlo simulations indicate that mixing of Phoenix MORB mantle with 0 to 3% subduction component having a fluid/sediment ratio of ∼1 can explain the compositional range in the Bransfield Strait. Furthermore, our modeling suggests the presence of a more depleted Phoenix MORB mantle beneath the South Shetland Islands modified by the addition of ∼3% subduction component with a fluid/sediment ratio ranging from ∼0.18 to 4. The increase in fluid/sediment ratios in the South Shetland Island lavas corresponds to a spatiotemporal progression of volcanism from the southwest (40-140 Ma) to the northeast (30-60 Ma). Finally, we have identified a set of lavas with unique trace element and isotope compositions typical of alkaline volcanism found across other parts of the Antarctic Peninsula. Surprisingly, we find occurrences of these lavas on both sides of the South Shetland Trench, suggesting the presence of a distinct enriched source in the upper mantle throughout the region