A review of the distribution of particulate trace elements in urban terrestrial environments and its application to considerations of risk

We review the evolution, state of the art and future lines of research on the sources, transport pathways, and sinks of particulate trace elements in urban terrestrial environments to include the atmosphere, soils, and street and indoor dusts. Such studies reveal reductions in the emissions of some elements of historical concern such as Pb, with interest consequently focusing on other toxic trace elements such as As, Cd, Hg, Zn, and Cu. While establishment of levels of these elements is important in assessing the potential impacts of human society on the urban environment, it is also necessary to apply this knowledge in conjunction with information on the toxicity of those trace elements and the degree of exposure of human receptors to an assessment of whether such contamination represents a real risk to the city’s inhabitants and therefore how this risk can be addressed

The study of atmospheric ice-nucleating particles via microfluidically generated droplets

Ice-nucleating particles (INPs) play a significant role in the climate and hydrological cycle by triggering ice formation in supercooled clouds, thereby causing precipitation and affecting cloud lifetimes and their radiative properties. However, despite their importance, INP often comprise only 1 in 10³–10⁶ ambient particles, making it difficult to ascertain and predict their type, source, and concentration. The typical techniques for quantifying INP concentrations tend to be highly labour-intensive, suffer from poor time resolution, or are limited in sensitivity to low concentrations. Here, we present the application of microfluidic devices to the study of atmospheric INPs via the simple and rapid production of monodisperse droplets and their subsequent freezing on a cold stage. This device offers the potential for the testing of INP concentrations in aqueous samples with high sensitivity and high counting statistics. Various INPs were tested for validation of the platform, including mineral dust and biological species, with results compared to literature values. We also describe a methodology for sampling atmospheric aerosol in a manner that minimises sampling biases and which is compatible with the microfluidic device. We present results for INP concentrations in air sampled during two field campaigns: (1) from a rural location in the UK and (2) during the UK’s annual Bonfire Night festival. These initial results will provide a route for deployment of the microfluidic platform for the study and quantification of INPs in upcoming field campaigns around the globe, while providing a benchmark for future lab-on-a-chip-based INP studies

Appraisal of salinity and fluoride in a semi-arid region of India using statistical and multivariate techniques

“The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com”. Copyright Springer. DOI: 10.1007/s10653-008-9222-5Various physico-chemical parameters, including fluoride (F−), were analyzed to understand the hydro-geochemistry of an aquifer in a semi-arid region of India. Furthermore, the quality of the shallow and deep aquifer (using tube well and hand pumps) was also investigated for their best ecological use including drinking, domestic, agricultural and other activities. Different multivariate techniques were applied to understand the groundwater chemistry of the aquifer. Findings of the correlation matrix were strengthened by the factor analysis, and this shows that salinity is mainly caused by magnesium salts as compared to calcium salts in the aquifer. The problem of salinization seems mainly compounded by the contamination of the shallow aquifers by the recharging water. High factor loading of total alkalinity and bicarbonates indicates that total alkalinity was mainly due to carbonates and bicarbonates of sodium. The concentration of F− was found more in the deep aquifer than the shallow aquifer. Further, only a few groundwater samples lie below the permissible limit of F−, and this indicates a risk of dental caries in the populace of the study area. The present study indicates that regular monitoring of groundwater is an important step to avoid human health risks and to assess its quality for various ecological purposes.Peer reviewe

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Not AvailableGenotoxicity was assessed in Channa punctatus, collected during different seasons by using micronuclei test. The results showed that there was seasonal variation in frequency of micronuclei in C. punctatus. It was 0.15′ 0.06%(maximum) during spring season and nil in monsoon season.Not Availabl

<span style="font-size:15.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Mangal;mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:HI" lang="EN-GB">Assessment of pollution of river Ganges by tannery effluents using genotoxicity biomarkers in murrel fish, <i>Channa punctatus</i> (Bloch)</span>

476-483<span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family: " times="" new="" roman","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";mso-bidi-font-family:="" mangal;mso-ansi-language:en-gb;mso-fareast-language:en-us;mso-bidi-language:="" hi"="" lang="EN-GB">River pollution due to rapid industrialization and anthropogenic activities adversely affects the aquatic organisms, especially fish. Here, we assessed the genotoxicity, mutagenicity and bioaccumulative aspects of tannery effluents in freshwater murrel, Channa punctatus<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic">, an inhabitant of river Gange. Test specimens were collected from three different polluted sites of the river within and nearby Kanpur area during different seasons and blood samples of these specimens were processed for comet assay and micronucleus test as genotoxicity biomarkers. A significantly (P <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"> <0.05) higher micronuclei induction, nuclear abnormalities and % tail DNA was observed in the specimens collected from the polluted sites. Bioaccumulation studies in the muscle (1.202 µg/g) and gill tissues (of the specimens revealed the concentration of chromium (core component of tanning industry) above the maximum permissible limits as prescribed by World Health Organization (WHO). The findings of the present analysis indicated contamination of river Ganges with tannery effluents which induce genotoxicity in fish with seasonal variation.</span

Assessment of pollution of river Ganges by tannery effluents.

River pollution due to rapid industrialization and anthropogenic activities adversely affects the aquatic organisms, especially fish. Here, we assessed the genotoxicity, mutagenicity and bioaccumulative aspects of tannery effluents in freshwater murrel, Channa punctatus, an inhabitant of river Ganges. Test specimens were collected from three different polluted sites of the river within and nearby Kanpur area during different seasons and blood samples of these specimens were processed for comet assay and micronucleus test as genotoxicity biomarkers. A significantly (P <0.05) higher micronuclei induction, nuclear abnormalities and % tail DNA was observed in the specimens collected from the polluted sites. Bioaccumulation studies in the muscle (1.202 μg/g) and gill tissues (<0.300 μg/g) of the specimens revealed the concentration of chromium (core component of tanning industry) above the maximum permissible limits as prescribed by World Health Organization (WHO). The findings of the present analysis indicated contamination of river Ganges with tannery effluents which induce genotoxicity in fish with seasonal variation.Uttar Pradesh Council of Science & Technology (UP-CST), Lucknow

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Not AvailableIn the present study, cytogenetic and molecular characterization of four ornamental marine fish species, namely Chaetodon collare, Plectorhinchus gibbosus, Scarus ghobban and Siganus canaliculatus inhabiting Arabian Sea, were carried out. Karyotype analyses of these species revealed diploid chromosome number 48 with all acrocentric, except in S. ghobban having karyotypic formula of 10m+4sm+12st+22t. Chromosomal configuration of C. collare, P. gibbosus and S. canaliculatus indicated more or less similar genetic makeup among them, than that of S. ghobban. Analyses of ITS 2 region in these species indicated phylogenetic closeness of P. gibbosus with S. ghobban and C. collare with S. canaliculatus with an average evolutionary divergence of 6.8% among them.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableThe molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis have been carried out in four Puntius species using 18S rDNA sequences. The size of the consensus sequences of 18S rDNA ranged between 1807-1817 bp (i.e. 1810 bp in P. chola, 1809 bp in P. conchonius, 1817 bp in P. sophore and 1807 bp in P. ticto). The GC and AT content (%) was 56.96 and 43.04 in P. chola, 55.67 and 44.33 in P. conchonius, 56.69 and 43.31 in P. sophore and 55.06 and 44.94 in P. ticto. The dataset after multiple sequence alignment of these Puntius species contained 1906 nucleotide positions, out of which 1430 were conserved, 467 variable, 205 singleton, and 256 parsimony informative. The inter-specific genetic variation was low. P. chola revealed lowest genetic distance with P. sophore and same was true between P. conchonius and P. ticto. The evolutionary history was inferred by three methods, namely Maximum Parsimony, Neighbour-Joining and the Maximum Likelihood. The three different phylogenetic approaches resulted mostly in similar tree topologies and the clades were well supported with bootstrap values. P. chola and P. sophore clustered together as sister group and same was true with P. conchonius and P. ticto, which showed their close relationship. The phylogenetic reconstruction of present study was also in agreement with earlier studies based on morphometric, cytogenetic studies, mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and restriction fragment polymorphism analysis.UGC, New Delh