Development of Novel Formaldehyde-Free Melamine Resin for Retanning of Leather and Reduced Effluent Discharge in Water

The objective of this study was to develop a novel melamine-based resin suitable for producing formaldehyde-free leather with improved retanning properties. The resin was prepared by optimized condensation of melamine, glyoxal and metanilic acid. The novel resin was compared with a commercial resin against different parameters. Functional group analysis of the polymer structure and the route of synthesis was verified with the help of FT-IR spectroscopy. A Leica metallurgical microscope coupled with a CCD camera was used for SEM analysis. The results revealed that the mechanical and organoleptic properties of the novel resin were better than those of the commercial melamine resin. Tensile strength, tear strength and percentage elongation of leather were increased by 17.43%, 10.41% and 8.62%, respectively, in the direction parallel to the backbone, while the increases in these parameters were 15.17%, 9.79% and 6.0%, respectively, in the direction perpendicular to the backbone at the same dose. We observed a 100% reduction in free formaldehyde content in retanned leather as well as in effluent produced by the novel melamine resin. Pollution load study of effluent showed reductions in chemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids and total dissolved solids by 9.21%, 5.60% and 6.97%, respectively, for the novel melamine resin, reflecting its improved exhaustion. The fiber structure of the leather produced by the novel melamine resin was more orderly arranged, showing its improved retanning. These results prove that the novel melamine resin is an effective retanning agent suitable for producing formaldehyde-free leather with a reduction in effluent pollution load. This work introduces an alternative to formaldehyde for amino resins to address its carcinogenic effects

Development of Novel Formaldehyde-Free Melamine Resin for Retanning of Leather and Reduced Effluent Discharge in Water

The objective of this study was to develop a novel melamine-based resin suitable for producing formaldehyde-free leather with improved retanning properties. The resin was prepared by optimized condensation of melamine, glyoxal and metanilic acid. The novel resin was compared with a commercial resin against different parameters. Functional group analysis of the polymer structure and the route of synthesis was verified with the help of FT-IR spectroscopy. A Leica metallurgical microscope coupled with a CCD camera was used for SEM analysis. The results revealed that the mechanical and organoleptic properties of the novel resin were better than those of the commercial melamine resin. Tensile strength, tear strength and percentage elongation of leather were increased by 17.43%, 10.41% and 8.62%, respectively, in the direction parallel to the backbone, while the increases in these parameters were 15.17%, 9.79% and 6.0%, respectively, in the direction perpendicular to the backbone at the same dose. We observed a 100% reduction in free formaldehyde content in retanned leather as well as in effluent produced by the novel melamine resin. Pollution load study of effluent showed reductions in chemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids and total dissolved solids by 9.21%, 5.60% and 6.97%, respectively, for the novel melamine resin, reflecting its improved exhaustion. The fiber structure of the leather produced by the novel melamine resin was more orderly arranged, showing its improved retanning. These results prove that the novel melamine resin is an effective retanning agent suitable for producing formaldehyde-free leather with a reduction in effluent pollution load. This work introduces an alternative to formaldehyde for amino resins to address its carcinogenic effects

Unraveling health risk and speciation of arsenic from groundwater in rural areas of Punjab, Pakistan

This study determined the total and speciated arsenic (As) concentrations and other health-related water quality parameters for unraveling the health risk of As from drinking water to humans. Groundwater samples (n = 62) were collected from three previously unexplored rural areas (Chichawatni, Vehari, Rahim Yar Khan) of Punjab in Pakistan. The mean and median As concentrations in groundwater were 37.9 and 12.7 µg·L−1 (range = 1.5–201 µg·L−1). Fifty three percent groundwater samples showed higher As value than WHO safe limit of 10 µg·L−1. Speciation of As in groundwater samples (n = 13) showed the presence of inorganic As only; arsenite (As(III)) constituted 13%–67% of total As and arsenate (As(V)) ranged from 33% to 100%. For As health risk assessment, the hazard quotient and cancer risk values were 11–18 and 46–600 times higher than the recommended values of US-EPA (i.e., 1.00 and 10−6, respectively). In addition to As, various water quality parameters (e.g., electrical conductivity, Na, Ca, Cl−, NO3−, SO42−, Fe, Mn, Pb) also enhanced the health risk. The results show that consumption of As-contaminated groundwater poses an emerging health threat to the communities in the study area, and hence needs urgent remedial and management measures

Assessment of the COVID-19 Pandemic's Impact on Gasoline Prices in Pakistan

Abstract The COVID-19 virus is a pandemic that, from the outset, alters its appearance and symptoms. It has aggressively spread around the world. The COVID-19-induced fear and uncertainty are disrupting the global economy and exacerbating financial market volatility. The most impacted countries were the United States, the United Kingdom, India, and Pakistan. The continuing COVID-19 situation is both a public health and economic concern on a worldwide. This research aims at how the spread of the COVID-19 has affected the cost of gasoline,diesel, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Every week, statistics on COVID-19 instances and pricing are collected. The data was analyzed using the ARDL model and the Bound test to determine the short and long-term association between COVID-19 and prices. The Autoregressive distributive lag model findings reveal that confirmed and mortality cases impact fuel, diesel, and LPG prices

Selective Removal of Hexavalent Chromium from Wastewater by Rice Husk: Kinetic, Isotherm and Spectroscopic Investigation

Chromium (Cr) in water bodies is considered as a major environmental issue around the world. In the present study, aqueous Cr(VI) adsorption onto rice husk was studied as a function of various environmental parameters. Equilibrium time was achieved in 2 h and maximum Cr(VI) adsorption was 78.6% at pH 5.2 and 120 mg L−1 initial Cr(VI) concentration. In isotherm experiments, the maximum sorption was observed as 379.63 mg g−1. Among four isotherm models, Dubinin–Radushkevich and Langmuir models showed the best fitting to the adsorption data, suggesting physical and monolayer adsorption to be the dominant mechanism. The kinetic modeling showed that a pseudo-second order model was suitable to describe kinetic equilibrium data, suggesting a fast adsorption rate of Cr(VI). The results of FTIR spectroscopy indicated that mainly –OH and C–H contributed to Cr(VI) adsorption onto rice husk. This paper provided evidence that rice husk could be a cost-effective, environment-friendly and efficient adsorptive material for Cr(VI) removal from wastewater due to its high adsorption capacity

Selective Removal of Hexavalent Chromium from Wastewater by Rice Husk: Kinetic, Isotherm and Spectroscopic Investigation

Chromium (Cr) in water bodies is considered as a major environmental issue around the world. In the present study, aqueous Cr(VI) adsorption onto rice husk was studied as a function of various environmental parameters. Equilibrium time was achieved in 2 h and maximum Cr(VI) adsorption was 78.6% at pH 5.2 and 120 mg L−1 initial Cr(VI) concentration. In isotherm experiments, the maximum sorption was observed as 379.63 mg g−1. Among four isotherm models, Dubinin–Radushkevich and Langmuir models showed the best fitting to the adsorption data, suggesting physical and monolayer adsorption to be the dominant mechanism. The kinetic modeling showed that a pseudo-second order model was suitable to describe kinetic equilibrium data, suggesting a fast adsorption rate of Cr(VI). The results of FTIR spectroscopy indicated that mainly –OH and C–H contributed to Cr(VI) adsorption onto rice husk. This paper provided evidence that rice husk could be a cost-effective, environment-friendly and efficient adsorptive material for Cr(VI) removal from wastewater due to its high adsorption capacity

Environmental pollution and COVID-19 outbreak : insights from Germany

The impact of environmental pollutants and climate indicators on the outbreak of COVID-19 has gained considerable attention in the recent literature. However, specific investigation of industrial economies like Germany is not available. This provides us motivation to examine the association between environmental pollutants, climate indicators and the COVID-19 cases, recoveries, and deaths in Germany using daily data from February 24, 2020, to July 02, 2020. The correlation analysis and wavelet transform coherence (WTC) approach are the analytical tools, which are used to explore the association between variables included in the study. Our findings indicate that PM2.5, O3, and NO2 have a significant relationship with the outbreak of COVID-19. In addition, temperature is the only significant climate indicator which has significant correlation with the spread of COVID-19. Finally, PM10, humidity, and environmental quality index have a significant relationship only with the active cases from COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings conclude that Germany’s successful response to COVID-19 is attributed to environmental legislation and the medical care system, which oversaw significant overhaul after the SARS and MERS outbreaks. The current study implicates that other industrial economies, especially European economies, that are still facing COVID-19 outbreak can follow the German model for pandemic response

Citric acid assisted phytoremediation of copper by Brassica napus L.

Use of organic acids for promoting heavy metals phytoextraction is gaining worldwide attention. The present study investigated the influence of citric acid (CA) in enhancing copper (Cu) uptake by Brassica napus L. seedlings. 6 Weeks old B. napus seedlings were exposed to different levels of copper (Cu, 0, 50 and 100μM) alone or with CA (2.5mM) in a nutrient medium for 40 days. Exposure to elevated Cu levels (50 and 100μM) significantly reduced the growth, biomass production, chlorophyll content, gas exchange attributes and soluble proteins of B. napus seedlings. In addition, Cu toxicity increased the production of hydrogen peroxide (HO), malondialdehyde (MDA) and electrolyte leakage (EL) in leaf and root tissues of B. napus. Activities of antioxidant enzymes such as guaiacol peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalases (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) in root and shoot tissues of B. napus were increased in response to lower Cu concentration (50μM) but increased under higher Cu concentration (100μM). Addition of CA into nutrient medium significantly alleviated Cu toxicity effects on B. napus seedlings by improving photosynthetic capacity and ultimately plant growth. Increased activities of antioxidant enzymes in CA-treated plants seems to play a role in capturing of stress-induced reactive oxygen species as was evident from lower level of HO, MDA and EL in CA-treated plants. Increasing Cu concentration in the nutrient medium significantly increased Cu concentration in in B. napus tissues. Cu uptake was further increased by CA application. These results suggested that CA might be a useful strategy for increasing phytoextraction of Cu from contaminated soils