Biosorption of metals from contaminated water using seaweed

Heavy metals are major pollutants in marine, lake and groundwaters as well as in industrial and even treated effluents. Biosorption, an inexpensive and reliable method to remove cadmium and lead ions from solution using dry seaweed biomass as adsorbents, was investigated. Sargassum wightii exhibited maximum metal uptake at pH 4–5 and the value ranged from 18% to 29% of dry biomass. The kinetics of metal adsorption was fast with 70–80% taking place within 30 min. Based on these results, a biobattery involving perforated columns packed with pulverized dry biomass of S. wightii was designed, which could remove metals in the range of 50–97% from a multi-metal ion solution within two and a half hours. The mechanism of metal sorption by seaweeds and the advantages of the present design of seaweed columns are discussed in the light of ecofriendly and cost-effective approach for effluent treatment

Amino acids in the seaweeds as an alternate source of protein for animal feed

The nutritional value of six tropical seaweeds (Sargassum wightii, Ulva lactuca, Kappaphycus alvarezii, Hypnea musciformis, Acanthophora spicifera and Gracilaria corticata) as complementary source of dietary proteins for human and animal nutrition based on amino acid profile was evaluated. All these species showed similar non-essential amino acid patterns in which aspartic and glutamic acids constituted together a large part of the amino acid fraction (25.2% to 29.5%). Among these, Hypnea musciformis possessed higher amino acid content and better amino acid profile and all of them were generally rich in phenylalanine, tyrosine, threonine and tryptophan and deficient in methionine, cysteine, leucine and lysine. Except U. lactuca all others showed a balanced amino acid profile comparable to FAO reference pattern. Seaweeds being rich in minerals, vitamins, polyunsaturated fatty acids as well as phycocolloids, partial substitution of costly protein sources in animal feeds with seaweed protein may improve feed quality while reducing the cost

Not Available

Not AvailableHeavy metals are major pollutants in marine, lake and groundwaters as well as in industrial and even treated effluents. Biosorption, an inexpensive and reliable method to remove cadmium and lead ions from solution using dry seaweed biomass as adsorbents, was investigated. Sargassum wightii exhibited maximum metal uptake at pH 4–5 and the value ranged from 18% to 29% of dry biomass. The kinetics of metal adsorption was fast with 70–80% taking place within 30 min. Based on these results, a biobattery involving perforated columns packed with pulverized dry biomass of S. wightii was designed, which could remove metals in the range of 50–97% from a multi-metal ion solution within two and a half hours. The mechanism of metal sorption by seaweeds and the advantages of the present design of seaweed columns are discussed in the light of ecofriendly and cost-effective approach for effluent treatment.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableHeavy metals are major pollutants in marine, lake and groundwaters as well as in industrial and even treated effluents. Biosorption, an inexpensive and reliable method to remove cadmium and lead ions from solution using dry seaweed biomass as adsorbents, was investigated. Sargassum wightii exhibited maximum metal uptake at pH 4–5 and the value ranged from 18% to 29% of dry biomass. The kinetics of metal adsorption was fast with 70–80% taking place within 30 min. Based on these results, a biobattery involving perforated columns packed with pulverized dry biomass of S. wightii was designed, which could remove metals in the range of 50–97% from a multi-metal ion solution within two and a half hours. The mechanism of metal sorption by seaweeds and the advantages of the present design of seaweed columns are discussed in the light of ecofriendly and cost-effective approach for effluent treatment.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableThe nutritional value of six tropical seaweeds (Sargassum wightii, Ulva lactuca, Kappaphycus alvarezii, Hypnea musciformis, Acanthophora spicifera and Gracilaria corticata) as complementary source of dietary proteins for human and animal nutrition based on amino acid profile was evaluated. All these species showed similar non-essential amino acid patterns in which aspartic and glutamic acids constituted together a large part of the amino acid fraction (25.2% to 29.5%). Among these, Hypnea musciformis possessed higher amino acid content and better amino acid profile and all of them were generally rich in phenylalanine, tyrosine, threonine and tryptophan and deficient in methionine, cysteine, leucine and lysine. Except U. lactuca all others showed a balanced amino acid profile comparable to FAO reference pattern. Seaweeds being rich in minerals, vitamins, polyunsaturated fatty acids as well as phycocolloids, partial substitution of costly protein sources in animal feeds with seaweed protein may improve feed quality while reducing the cost.Not Availabl

Not Available

Not AvailableHeavy metals are major pollutants in marine, lake and groundwaters as well as in industrial and even treated effluents. Biosorption, an inexpensive and reliable method to remove cadmium and lead ions from solution using dry seaweed biomass as adsorbents, was investigated. Sargassum wightii exhibited maximum metal uptake at pH 4–5 and the value ranged from 18% to 29% of dry biomass. The kinetics of metal adsorption was fast with 70–80% taking place within 30 min. Based on these results, a biobattery involving perforated columns packed with pulverized dry biomass of S. wightii was designed, which could remove metals in the range of 50–97% from a multi-metal ion solution within two and a half hours. The mechanism of metal sorption by seaweeds and the advantages of the present design of seaweed columns are discussed in the light of ecofriendly and cost-effective approach for effluent treatment.Not Availabl

<smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"><smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place" downloadurl="http://www.5iantlavalamp.com/"> Measurement of CO and SO₂ trace gases in southern India during ISRO-GBP Land Campaign – I </smarttagtype></smarttagtype>

216-220 Under ISRO-GBP land campaign-I, the concentrations of CO and SO2 gases were simultaneously measured during 1-29 Feb. 2004 over southern India. These measurements were made onboard instrument vehicle along the road network during the dry, winter season of 2004. The study region covered coastal, industrial, urban, rural, remote, semi-arid and vegetated forest lands in the central part of the southern India. Average CO concentration at Nellore, an urban and coastal site is comparatively high (1300 ppbv) and the same is low (620 ppbv) at Sri Perumbuthur, a semi-urban site. These maximum levels of CO at Nellore may be due to traffic emissions and shallow surface layer. Average SO2 concentrations at Sri Perumbuthur and Shadnagar (5 ppbv) are significantly higher than those at other locations. Fairly good correlation has been established between CO, SO2 and meteorological parameters over the study region. </smarttagtype

Biomass-derived provenance dominates glacial surface organic carbon in the western Himalaya

The origin, transport pathways, and spatial variability of total organic carbon (OC) on the western Himalayan glaciers is poorly understood compared to that of black carbon (BC) and dust, but it is critically important to evaluate the climatic role of OC in the region. Applying the distribution of OC activation energy, 14C activity and radiogenic isotopes of 208Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb and 206Pb/204Pb in glacial debris and atmospheric particulate matter (PM10 size fraction) we demonstrate that 98.3 ± 1.6% and 1.7 ± 1.6% of the OC in western Himalayan glaciers are derived from biomass and petrogenic sources, respectively. The δ13C and N/C composition shows that the biomass is a complex mixture of C3 vegetation and autochthonous photo-autotrophic inputs modified by heterotrophic microbial activity. The dataset reveals that the studied western Himalayan glacier has negligible contributions from fossil fuel-derived particles, which contrasts to the central and eastern Himalayan glaciers that have significant contributions from fossil fuel sources. We show that this spatial variability of OC sources relates to regional differences in air-mass transport pathways and precipitation regimes over the Himalaya. Moreover, our observation suggests that biomass-derived carbon could be the only primary driver of carbon-induced glacier melting in the western Himalaya