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This study evaluates the technoeconomic feasibility of using hybrid advanced oxidation technologies (AOTs) for the removal of chlortetracycline (CTC) in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). E...

Northeast India is rich in biodiversity; however, in recent decades due to increase in population and demand for economic development, this region has encountered massive changes in its lan...

Petroleum hydrocarbon–contaminated soil and groundwater is a worldwide environmental problem, which results in environmental hazard and human health risk problems. Because petroleum is a complex composition mixture rather than a single compound, health risk assessment for a petroleum hydrocarbon–contaminated site is a complicated process. In this study, a modified total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) fraction method was applied to determine the health risk level for each TPH fraction. The concentrations and toxicity data of total of 13 TPH fraction categories were evaluated and used for risk calculation. Results show that up to 1,772 mg/kg of TPH concentration was observed in soils collected from the studied site. Results indicate that benzene was the most concerning chemical that appeared in TPH. The calculated cancer risk for benzene was 4.48×10−7, which was lower than the minimum total cancer risk level (1×10−6). The calculated hazard quotient for the noncarcinogenic compounds was slightly highe...

Nature’s ability of programming the synthesis of different metallic nanoparticles has paved way to a new green era in an unforeseen fashion. However, there is a timely need to delve into the practical implications and challenges of this green science. The working principles of green synthesis need a critical analysis for the factual evaluation of different green domains endorsed in it. The inclusion of nongreen elements, such as heat energy and organic solvents, seems to alter the original scope of green synthesis. Moreover, green chemistry principles, green nanotechnology, and green synthesis should be reconsidered within the zone of their interception for conclusive evidence. A new concept, “all green,” is foreseen in this article for a greener nanoscience and analyzed for its practical feasibility.

Nanomaterials (NMs) present some interesting properties that may be tailored; for this reason, they are being used in different fields, which leads to their entry into the environment, whether by normal use or intentional delivery. Once in water and sediments, they undergo different transformations that might be difficult to predict. NMs are also difficult to characterize because the methods for this are recently developed. Currently, the most plausible approach is to combine separation and measurement techniques; one of the most versatile integrations is field-flow fractionation with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP–MS) or ICP optical emission spectrometry. In the same way, toxicity assays must be adapted to these emerging contaminants because they behave neither as chemical compounds nor their bulk counterparts, which produces different results. Nevertheless, several adverse effects of NMs exposure on organisms have been reported, including DNA damage, mortality, oxidative stress, and growth reduction. However, the majority of these studies utilized acute laboratory exposure, whereas in a real ecosystem, organisms are more likely to experience chronic exposure conditions to numerous NMs and a biomagnification effect should be expected through the trophic chain. Despite the lack of sufficient literature, the present review attempts to link various compartmentalization aspects of NMs, their physical properties, and their toxicity in surface water and sediments. Fil: Maiti, Sampa. Université du Québec; Canadá Fil: Fournier, Isabelle. Université du Québec; Canadá Fil: Brar, Satinder Kaur. Université du Québec; Canadá Fil: Cledón, Maximiliano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencia Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Surampalli, R. Y.. Universidad de Nebraska - Lincoln; Estados Unidos

Industrial revolution has led to the introduction of innumerable contaminants into the environment via industrial, agricultural, and household applications. In particular, engineered nanoparticles (ENPs), which are emerging in the natural environment and being transported in the environment, may have a significant effect on ecosystems, even though they may only be present at low concentrations. Nanotechnology is going to play a major role which will be responsible for the release of ENPs in the environmental matrices and thus has led to increased focus on environmental research for the betterment of human society. Despite widespread applications of ENPs, in recent years, their hazardous effects on the air, water, soil, and sediments have been studied, which directly impact human health. Hence, to evaluate their persistence and understand the mechanisms that affect their fate, it is necessary to obtain realistic impact due to significant concentration of ENPs. The application of analytical techniqu...

Nanotechnology is of great economic importance due to rapid growth in industrial and household applications and their continuous release into environmental matrices has increased the concerns regarding its potential impact on human and environment. To evaluate the potential toxicity of nanoparticles (NPs), the impact on humans and ecosystems needs to be understood from mechanistic insight by metabolomics. The analytical methods and omics technologies are particularly well-suited to evaluate these two dimensions in environment and both in vitro and in vivo systems, respectively. In this paper, the currently most effective methods for sampling and detection are presented together for future standardization of protocols providing profiles of NPs and associated metabolomics. All these approaches are designed without compromising the reliability and quality of the analytical results for their application in understanding the metabolomics and chemistry of NPs in the environmental matrices. Among samplin...

The rapid growth in the cosmetic industry across the world is mainly due to the application of nanoingredients in cosmetics to enhance their properties and invention of new nanomolecules. Also, the weaker regulations on the application of nanoparticles as cosmetic ingredients and no safety assessment of cosmetics before release into the market has led to uncontrolled production and usage. Unavoidable release of a considerable amount of cosmetic nanoparticles into wastewater introduces them into the environment via treated wastewater effluent and sludge. This paper briefly gives the information about behavior of cosmetic nanomaterials, mainly titanium dioxide (TiO2TiO2) and fullerenes (C60), within the wastewater-treatment plant and current research on their characterization and toxicity. Considering the current analytical methods for evaluating the behavior of these nanomaterials in the wastewater, there is still a need to advance these technologies. Furthermore, a better understanding and modeling of nanomaterials’ fate in wastewater-treatment plants is essential for effectively predicting their impacts on the receiving environment. Fil: Pulicharla, Rama. Université du Québec; Canadá Fil: Zolfaghari, Mehdi. Université du Québec; Canadá Fil: Brar, Satinder Kaur. Université du Québec; Canadá Fil: Cledón, Maximiliano. Université du Québec; Canadá. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencia Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina Fil: Drogui, Patrick. Université du Québec; Canadá Fil: Surampalli, R. Y.. Universidad de Nebraska - Lincoln; Estados Unidos

This paper presents numerical and parameter estimation models for the analysis of virus transport and the identification of transport parameters in the unsaturated zone. The numerical model couples a mass conservative fully implicit finite difference model simulating moisture flow in the unsaturated zone with the hybrid finite volume model for virus transport. The accuracy of the numerical scheme is tested for both advection- and dispersion-dominated transport. The comparison of the numerical model with the analytical solution indicates that the numerical model’s predictions are in excellent agreement with the analytical predictions. The parameter estimation is formulated as a nonlinear least-squares minimization problem in which the parameters are estimated by minimizing the deviations between the model-predicted and experimentally observed virus concentrations. A parameter estimation procedure is developed by coupling the numerical model simulating one-dimensional virus transport in the unsatura...

In this study, sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of input parameters on the calculated risks at a petroleum-hydrocarbon contaminated site. Under a risk-based correcti...

The presence of antibiotic residues in the environment is an emerging pollution issue due to their uninterrupted and unrestrained release into the environment and their harmful effects even at low concentrations. The occurrence and fate of these trace contaminants during wastewater treatment are key issues in the recycling of water resources. One of the major concerns is the presence of antibiotics in drinking water subsequent to wastewater treatment. Several processes have been adopted to degrade or eliminate antibiotics efficiently. This paper provides an insight on efficacy of various advanced oxidation processes for the removal of antibiotics and its crucial link to their physical-chemical properties and degradation.

Flame-retardant polymer nanocomposites exhibiting remarkably improved flame-retardant and environmentally friendly properties have been widely utilized to replace traditional halogenated fire retardants. In this review, flame retardant mechanisms of polymer nanocomposites such as barrier effect, char formation, three-dimensional nanostructure, and radical trapping, are discussed to explain how nanomaterials can be incorporated in a polymer to reduce the polymer’s flammability. Properties that are critical in governing the flame-retardant mechanisms of polymer nanocomposites are discussed in this review. Specifically, category, surface property, and concentration of nanomaterials are critical in affecting flame-retardant properties of polymer nanocomposites and are reviewed in detail. Nanocomposite categories, especially, silicates (clays), inorganic hydroxides, carbonaceous materials, metal oxides, polysilsequioxanes, and their combinations are well described. The use of synergism and surface modi...