Development of Eco-efficiency Indicators for Rubber Glove Product by Material Flow Analysis

AbstractRubber glove product Thailand shows the trend of higher growth. Currently, the average export value of rubber glove product is 826.72 US$/year. Thus, the development guideline of this product for Thailand should be concerned. However, rubber glove process caused the environmental and human impacts. Hence, the eco-efficiency concept of rubber glove product was interested. Initial important step of eco-efficiency concept was indicator development. Therefore, this research developed the eco efficiency indicators including economic and environmental indicators of rubber glove product based on the eco-efficiency theory and material flow analysis. The result showed that economic indicators consisted of quantity product and net sale and environmental indicators consisted of material consumption, energy consumption, water consumption, wastewater production, solid waste production, greenhouse gas emission, were selected to eco-efficiency indicators based on eco-efficiency theory and material flow analysis. These eco-efficiency indicators would help to discover more economic and effective ways to improve productivity process and to enhance recyclability or reducing energy and material intensity

Health Risk Assessment from Haloacetic Acids Exposure in Indoor and Outdoor Swimming Pool Water

The concentrations of haloacetic acids (HAAs) in both indoor and outdoor swimming pools were assessed for cancer and non-cancer health risks with water samples collected during the summer and rainy seasons from two sources. Results showed that average concentrations of HAA5 (MCAA, DCAA, TCAA, MBAA, and DBAA) in both indoor and outdoor pools ranged from 74.28 to 163.05 µg/L which was higher than USEPA and WHO water quality standards. Cancer and non-cancer risk values of HAA5 exposure from both swimming pool types were acceptable risks based on USEPA recommendation (10 -6-10-4 and <1, respectively). The highest cancer and non-cancer risk values of HAAs exposure were females for indoor pool and children for outdoor pool, respectively. Cancer and non-cancer risk values of HAA5 exposure from outdoor pool were higher than indoor pool and during the rainy season, respectively. Results indicated that monitoring and control of water quality and accumulated organic substance in swimming pools should be followed to maximize health risk reduction from HAA exposure

Promoting Circular Economy in the Palm Oil Industry through Biogas Codigestion of Palm Oil Mill Effluent and Empty Fruit Bunch Pressed Wastewater

This research aimed to investigate the biogas production and circular economy perspective in the palm oil industry through codigestion of oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) pressing wastewater and palm oil mill effluent (POME). The EFB pressing method constitutes an alternative new technology used to extract the remaining oil, increasing palm oil product; however, it produces highly polluted wastewater. Batch experiments were carried out at 35 °C to investigate the optimal ratios of EFB wastewater, inoculums, and POME. The optimal condition was 45% POME + 50% seed + 5% EFB wastewater. This condition was then used in semicontinuous fermentation where the optimal hydraulic retention time (HRT) totaled 25 days. The accumulated biogas was 18,679 mL/L while the accumulated methane totaled 6778 mL/L. The methane content was 62%, and the COD removal efficiency was 67%. The sludge produced from the HRT 25-days digester complied with the organic compost standard which could be further used to nourish the soil. An economic analysis of the EFB pressing project revealed a higher internal rate ratio with shorter payback compared with the conventional process. These results provide information on the circular economic approach to promote sustainable palm oil processing

Preventive Behaviors and Influencing Factors among Thai Residents in Endemic Areas during the Highest Epidemic Peak of the COVID-19 Outbreak

This research aims to investigate COVID-19 preventive behavior and influencing factors among Thai residents during the highest epidemic peak of COVID-19. Nine hundred and forty-six residents in five districts with high COVID-19 infection cases in Thailand were systematically included in this cross-sectional survey. The results showed that 87.2% and 65.2% of the residents had a high level of general knowledge and preventive measures, respectively. As to COVID-19 attitudes, poor levels of attitude among Thai residents were found in risk perception (53.6%) and mistrust issues (70.4%). Moreover, this study presents good preventive behavior (77.0%) among Thai residents. Multiple logistic regression showed that the influence factors of COVID-19 preventive behavior were the young age group (AOR 2.97, 95% CI 1.68&ndash;5.25), high income (AOR 1.38, 95% CI 1.03&ndash;1.86), and high level of general COVID-19 knowledge (AOR 2.21, 95% CI 1.64&ndash;2.96). The conclusion was that providing information on COVID-19 via social media was the key mechanism of policy action for increasing the level of COVID-19 preventive behavior during the highest epidemic peak in Thailand. In addition, the pandemic preparedness and response policy, with resident participation and involvement, could be recommended for the resilience of pandemic preparedness

Combined Impact of Omicron Vaccination and Environmental Risk Exposure: A Thailand Case Study

This research aimed to determine the levels of COVID-19 booster dose vaccinations in Thai populations in areas with environmental risk exposure during the Omicron outbreak. Five of twenty provinces in Thailand were selected by assessing environmental risk exposure for study settings. A total of 1038 people were interviewed by a structured questionnaire. The predicting factors of COVID-19 booster dose vaccinations were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analysis. The results showed that 69.4% (95% CI 66.5–72.1) of the population was vaccinated with COVID-19 booster doses. Multiple logistics regression revealed that the female gender (AOR 1.49, 95% CI 1.11–2.00), all age groups from 38 to 60 years old, all education levels of at least secondary school, high income (AOR 1.16, 95% CI 1.15–2.24), populations having experience with COVID-19 infection (AOR 2.27, 95% CI 2.05–3.76), knowledge of vaccine (AOR 1.78, 95% CI 1.11–2.83), and trusting attitude (AOR 1.76, 95% CI 1.32–2.36) were factors among those more likely to take COVID-19 booster dose vaccinations in high-environmental-risk-exposure areas. Therefore, an effective booster dose campaign with education programs to increase attitudes toward booster vaccinations should be implemented for the resilience of COVID-19 prevention and control

Combined Impact of Omicron Vaccination and Environmental Risk Exposure: A Thailand Case Study

This research aimed to determine the levels of COVID-19 booster dose vaccinations in Thai populations in areas with environmental risk exposure during the Omicron outbreak. Five of twenty provinces in Thailand were selected by assessing environmental risk exposure for study settings. A total of 1038 people were interviewed by a structured questionnaire. The predicting factors of COVID-19 booster dose vaccinations were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analysis. The results showed that 69.4% (95% CI 66.5&ndash;72.1) of the population was vaccinated with COVID-19 booster doses. Multiple logistics regression revealed that the female gender (AOR 1.49, 95% CI 1.11&ndash;2.00), all age groups from 38 to 60 years old, all education levels of at least secondary school, high income (AOR 1.16, 95% CI 1.15&ndash;2.24), populations having experience with COVID-19 infection (AOR 2.27, 95% CI 2.05&ndash;3.76), knowledge of vaccine (AOR 1.78, 95% CI 1.11&ndash;2.83), and trusting attitude (AOR 1.76, 95% CI 1.32&ndash;2.36) were factors among those more likely to take COVID-19 booster dose vaccinations in high-environmental-risk-exposure areas. Therefore, an effective booster dose campaign with education programs to increase attitudes toward booster vaccinations should be implemented for the resilience of COVID-19 prevention and control

Biogas Production by Co-Digestion of Canteen Food Waste and Domestic Wastewater under Organic Loading Rate and Temperature Optimization

The objective of this study was to characterize biogas production performance from the co-digestion of food waste and domestic wastewater under mesophilic (35 &#177; 1 &#176;C) and thermophilic (55 &#177; 1 &#176;C) conditions. The food waste used as a co-substrate in this study was collected from a main canteen at the Hatyai campus of Prince of Songkla University, Songkhla Province, Thailand. The optimum co-digestion ratio and temperature conditions in a batch experiment were selected for a semi-continuous experiment. Organic loading rates (OLRs) of 0.66, 0.33, and 0.22 g volatile solid (VS) L&#8722;1 d&#8722;1 were investigated in a semi-continuous experiment by continuously stirring a tank reactor (CSTR) for biogas production. The highest biomethane potential (BMP, 0.78 ml CH4 mg&#8722;1 VS removal) was achieved with a ratio of food waste to domestic wastewater of 10:90 w/v at a mesophilic temperature. An OLR of 0.22 g VS L&#8722;1 d&#8722;1 of co-digestion yielded positive biogas production and organic removal. The findings of this study illustrate how biogas production can be used for operating feed conditions and control for anaerobic co-digestion of domestic wastewater and food waste from a university canteen

Organotins’ fate in lagoon sewage system: dealkylation and sludge sorption/desorption

International audienc