A critical investigation into the barriers and opportunities for environmental management systems ‘EMSs’ implementation for the delivery of environmental benefits to the Industrial City in Jeddah, KSA.

The first Industrial City (IC) in Saudi Arabia was established in Jeddah; it is now suffering from serious environmental problems. Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) represent an internationally recognised tool developed to provide a systematic, self-monitoring approach for making continual improvements to all the environmental aspects of a business in line with local environmental regulations and standards. This research critically investigates the scope of the implementation of EMSs in this IC, which necessarily entails assessing the efforts of the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME), which is the government agency responsible for environmental protection. This research also details the barriers and possible environmental benefits to be derived from EMS implementation. These objectives are achieved through a multi-method case study research design, involving questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and document analysis. 183 organizations (32% of all organizations in the IC) participated in the questionnaires, and two sets of interviews were conducted: 14 with environmental managers in the IC, and 12 with officials from various relevant government agencies. The results show that the basic requirements of EMS are inadequately implemented, and that awareness of environmental legislation (and compliance with it) is extremely limited. The most important barriers facing the implementation of EMSs in this IC include lack of enforcement of existing legislation and low levels of environmental awareness. The cost of implementing EMSs is a further important obstacle, particularly for small- and medium-sized organizations (SMEs). Nevertheless, although the main motivations reported were economic, adopting an EMS in full can result in measurably improved environmental performance, through reducing natural resource consumption (chiefly energy and water). Those with an informal or partial EMS also experience environmental benefits relative to those who have no form of EMS. Improvements to operational safety are another benefit to be derived from implementing EMSs. It also argues that the widespread adoption of EMS could greatly assist the government in its drive toward sustainable development and improved management of natural resources. Accordingly, recommendations are provided to enhance the implementation of EMS in the IC as well as to overcome the aforementioned obstacles in order to effect changes towards achieving sustainable development. Keywords: Environmental management systems (EMSs); implementation of EMS; Sustainable development; Environmental awareness; EMSs; KSA

Effect of foliar application of nano-nutrients solution on growth and biochemical attributes of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) under drought stress

IntroductionDrought stress has drastically hampered the growth and yield of many crops. Therefore, environmentally safe agricultural techniques are needed to mitigate drought stress impact. To this end, foliar spray of nano-nutrients solution to (NNS) alleviate harmful aspects of drought stress.MethodsIn a completely randomized design (CRD) experiment, seedlings were transplanted into pots at 2-3 leaf stage, each filled with loam-compost- organic manure soil (3:1:1). Plants were divided into two groups. (a) control group (b) applied stress group. Plants at vegetative stage were treated with 100% FC for control group and 60% FC for drought group, and these levels were maintained until harvesting. Three treatments of NNS with four levels i.e., 0%, 1%, 3% and 5% were given to all the pots after two weeks of drought stress treatment with a gap of 5 days at vegetative stage.Results and discussionApplication of 1% of nano-nutrient solution displayed an improvement in shoot length, shoot fresh and dry weight, number of leaves and flowers. Leaf chlorophylls and carotenoids and total phenolics contents were found maximum while minimum electrolyte leakage was observed at 3% application compared to control. Further, 1% application of NNS increased the Leaf RWC%, total soluble sugars, flavonoids contents. 5% NNS application exhibited higher total free amino acids with minimum lipid peroxidation rate in leaves of tomato under drought. Antioxidant enzyme activities increased in a concentration dependent manner as gradual increase was observed at 1%, 3% and 5%, respectively. Overall, this study introduced a new insights on using nano-nutrient solutions to maintain natural resources and ensure agricultural sustainabilit

Optimization of Carboniferous Egyptian Kaolin Treatment for Pharmaceutical Applications

This paper quantitatively determines the occurrences of potentially toxic elements in Carboniferous kaolin in southwestern Sinai, Egypt. This research describes, in detail, the experimental treatment optimization to be used in pharmaceutical applications. The concentrations of As, Co, Ni, Pb, and V in these kaolin deposits exceed the Permitted Concentrations of Elemental Impurities for oral use in pharmaceutical applications. Herein, six desorbing agents (acetic acid, citric acid, DTPA, EDDS, EDTA, and NTA) were utilized as extracting solutions in batch-wise extractions to select the proper reagents. Parameters such as the pH, the mixing speed and time, and the solid–solution ratio were varied to optimize the extraction conditions. The findings indicate that citric acid and EDTA were effective in the removal of the aforementioned elements. The results reveal that the optimum removal of potentially toxic elements from kaolin can be achieved using citric acid and EDTA concentrations of 0.2 M and 0.1 M, respectively, for the treatment of 5 g of kaolin, under a pH of 4 for citric acid, and a pH of 10 for EDTA. The ideal mixing speed and time are 500 rpm and 6 h, respectively. Using 1:10 S/L of citric acid and EDTA showed removal rates of 100% for all the investigated PTEs. We recommend this treatment for different kinds of kaolin showing various degrees of contamination

Optimization of Carboniferous Egyptian Kaolin Treatment for Pharmaceutical Applications

This paper quantitatively determines the occurrences of potentially toxic elements in Carboniferous kaolin in southwestern Sinai, Egypt. This research describes, in detail, the experimental treatment optimization to be used in pharmaceutical applications. The concentrations of As, Co, Ni, Pb, and V in these kaolin deposits exceed the Permitted Concentrations of Elemental Impurities for oral use in pharmaceutical applications. Herein, six desorbing agents (acetic acid, citric acid, DTPA, EDDS, EDTA, and NTA) were utilized as extracting solutions in batch-wise extractions to select the proper reagents. Parameters such as the pH, the mixing speed and time, and the solid–solution ratio were varied to optimize the extraction conditions. The findings indicate that citric acid and EDTA were effective in the removal of the aforementioned elements. The results reveal that the optimum removal of potentially toxic elements from kaolin can be achieved using citric acid and EDTA concentrations of 0.2 M and 0.1 M, respectively, for the treatment of 5 g of kaolin, under a pH of 4 for citric acid, and a pH of 10 for EDTA. The ideal mixing speed and time are 500 rpm and 6 h, respectively. Using 1:10 S/L of citric acid and EDTA showed removal rates of 100% for all the investigated PTEs. We recommend this treatment for different kinds of kaolin showing various degrees of contamination