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Heavy metals (HMs) have attracted global attention due to their toxicity, persistence, and accumulation in aquatic fish in the polluted water environment. The consumption of these fishes exposed humans to a higher risk of non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks. In this study, we provided a critical overview of the potential sources and concentration of HMs in Nigeria's freshwater. Furthermore, we reported their pollution level in widely eaten fish species in the country. Our findings show that effluent from anthropogenic and industrial activities is one of the major sources HMs in the country. The mean concentration of Zn (9.02 mg/L), As (7.25 mg/L), Cu (4.35 mg/L), Fe (1.77 mg/L), and Pb (1.46 mg/L) in Nigeria's freshwaters were found to be high than Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality permissible limit. This study demonstrated considerable health risks associated HMs via dietary consumption of different fishes from polluted waters. Therefore, we recommended an urgent need for effective management HMs in water bodies in order to protect the lives of people living in the country.

Almost all aspects of society from food security to disease control and prevention have benefited from pharmaceutical and personal care products, yet these products are a major source of contamination that ends up in wastewater and ecosystems. This issue has been sharply accentuated during the coronavirus disease pandemic 2019 (COVID-19) due to the higher use of disinfectants and other products. Here we review pharmaceutical and personal care products with focus on their occurrence in the environment, detection, risk, and removal.The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10311-022-01498-7.

The present study aimed to investigate the annual potential of water hyacinth (WH; Eichhornia crassipes) macrophyte in an un-operated/abandoned stretch of the upper Ganga canal at Haridwar, India. The study covered a 25 km long and 100 m wide stretch of the old Ganga canal which exhibits a huge WH growth every year. For this, standard field and laboratory methods were adopted to estimate the WH biomass density (Kg/m2), and heavy metals dynamics between canal water and macrophyte biomass. Results showed that the average annual density of WH biomass was 5.538 kg/m2 with significant (P

This study aimed at assessing the concentration of six heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn) in two wild edible oyster mushrooms (

The recent emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to the drastic production and use of healthcare and personal protective equipment, leading to the release of a huge quantity of hazardous medical and solid wastes in the environment. Meanwhile, these solid wastes may contribute to the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 viral particles when disposed of without proper treatment and care. Since SARS-CoV-2 could persist on different material surfaces including plastic, steel, paper, cardboard, cloth, and wood, proper management of these hazardous solid wastes has become a challenging task during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, an overview of the consumption of COVID-19-related healthcare and personal protective equipment along with the production of hazardous solid waste is presented. The efficient management of these wastes is necessary to prevent the entering of SARS-CoV-2 in various environmental compartments. Therefore, some preventive measures including the use of biodegradable materials for manufacturing personal protective equipment, minimizing the use of non-biodegradable materials, efficient pre- and-post planning, careful segregation, and disposal are, therefore, proposed for their sustainable management. The findings reported in this paper contribute to tackling the problems associated with hazardous solid waste management, particularly for low- and middle-income countries.

Water scarcity is a major challenge around the world, particularly in Ekpoma community, Edo State, Nigeria. The population depends on water vendors and reservoir tanks as a means of water supply. This study aims to make an assessment of groundwater potentials for effective and sustainable water resources management in Ekpoma. Seven criteria were considered to determine groundwater potentiality including slope, rainfall, land use, drainage density, distance to lineament, soil, and geology. According to their impact on groundwater, the parameters were grouped into fuzzy membership categories. The groundwater potentiality map was generated by overlaying the fuzzy members. Of the 101.2 km2 area of Ekpoma, the high, medium, and low potential zones cover 7.9, 6.4, and 85.7% of the total area, respectively. High and medium groundwater zones were identified mostly on the outskirt of the built-up areas. These groundwater potential areas were discovered to be predominant around the lineament areas suggesting that lineament plays a major role in the potential for groundwater in the study area. Reservoirs can be assigned in these high potential areas. Conclusively, the generated groundwater prospective map can be exploited for hydrological policy making and also by water supply engineers to predict the availability of groundwater.

In this study, the potential use of sewage sludge (SS) as a fertilizer source for cultivated Dhaincha (Sesbania bispinosa (Jacq.) W.Wight) crops was investigated. Field experiments were conducted using different doses of SS such as 0% (T0), 5% (T1), 10% (T2), and 15% (T3) to amend the soil (w/w). The findings showed that soil amended with SS significantly (p < 0.05) improved the response parameters of S. bispinosa with an increase in the dose of SS from 0% to 15%. In particular, the T3 treatment gave the best results (mean values) for plant growth and yield parameters such as plant height (380.59 cm), fresh weight (1.47 kg/plant), dry weight (0.27 kg/plant), base diameter (3.19 cm), seed yield (44.71 g/plant), total chlorophyll (3.15 mg/g fwt), carotenoids (0.88 mg/g fwt), carbohydrates (9.40 mg/g), and phenol (0.13 mg/g) contents. Moreover, the selected proximate and fiber characteristics of the S. bispinosa crop were significantly (p < 0.05) improved by the same treatment (T3); such as ash (7.25%), crude fiber (32.70%), crude protein (15.94%), lignin (24.60%), cellulose (37.25%), fiber weight (3.06 g/plant), stick weight (32.08 g/plant), fiber: stick ratio (0.10), fiber diameter (26.97 µm), ultimate tensile strength (855.98 MPa), strength (58.92 g/tex), density (1.54 g/cm3), and luster (45.65%) compared with the control treatment (T0). The bioaccumulation factor (BAF) studies showed that the S. bispinosa plant was capable of accumulating selected heavy metals from the soil following the order: Fe > Mn > Zn > Cu > Cd > Cr. The study suggested a sustainable approach for efficient soil fertilization and high-quality S. bispinosa fiber production that could minimize the environmental pollution caused by the unsafe disposal of SS.

The present study aimed to investigate the impact of sewage sludge (SS) amendment on the growth, yield, and biochemical attributes of the marigold (Tagetes erecta L. var. Pusa Basanti Gainda) crop. For this purpose, marigold flowers were cultivated using three different treatments of SS, i.e., 0% (control with no SS), 5%, and 10%. Multiple linear regression (MLR) modeling was performed to develop prediction models for the impact of soil properties on heavy metals uptake by marigold plants. The results showed that the growth, yield, and biochemical attributes of marigold plants significantly (p < 0.05) increased with an increase in SS dose from 0 to 10%. The most feasible SS treatment was found to be 10%, which achieved a maximum flower yield of 318.42 g/plant. On the other hand, the bioaccumulation factor (BAF) values (>1) showed that the marigold plant was capable of uptaking significant contents of six heavy metals in the order of Cd < Cr < Cu < Zn < Mn < Fe. The MLR-based predictive models were capable of precisely predicting the contents of most heavy metal uptake by marigold plants as indicated by the coefficient of determination (R2 > 0.73), model efficiency (ME > 0.49), root mean square error (RMSE < 3.25), and analysis of variance (ANOVA; p < 0.05) results. Overall, this study presented a novel approach to floriculture by sustainable management of SS while reducing public health and environmental impacts.

This study presents a spatial assessment of eight potentially toxic elements (PTE: Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, Ni, Mn, and Zn) in white button (

Soil erosion and mass movement processes spread across Anambra State in Nigeria, therefore making management and conservation techniques expensive and difficult in execution across the entire state. This study employed the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model with the integration of geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing techniques to assess the risk of soil erosion and hotspots in the area. Remotely sensed data such as Landsat 8 imagery, Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) imagery, Era-Interim coupled with world soil database were used as digital data sources for land use map, digital elevation model, rainfall and soil data, respectively, to generate the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) parameters. The results indicated vulnerability levels in low, medium and high cover areas of 4,143.62 (91%), 332.29 (7%) and 84.06 (2%) km2, respectively, with a total soil loss between 0 and 181.237 ton/ha/yr (metric ton per hectare per year). This study revealed that high rainfall erosivity, steep and long slopes, and low vegetation cover were the main factors promoting soil loss in the area. Thus, the amount of soil loss in Anambra State is expected to increase with climate change and anthropogenic activities.

The technical inefficiencies of crop production system in terms of large-scale irrigation schemes are major problems attributed to the underperformance of crop farms. Therefore, the aim of this stu...

The potential use of carbon dioxide (CO2) and wastewater released from a mushroom farm for the cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris microalga was investigated in this study. For this purpose, a microcontroller-based aided CO2 capture and mixing prototype was constructed for the cultivation of C. vulgaris under varying concentrations of mushroom farm wastewater (0 as control, 50 and 100%). The results showed that the constructed prototype was helpful to maintain desirable CO2 levels (6000 ppm) in the mushroom cultivation chamber with constant CO2 supply to algal culture, i.e., 0.6% at an airflow rate of 50 mL/min. After 16 days of algal cultivation, it was observed that the maximum significant (p < 0.05) algal biomass production of 2.550 ± 0.073 mg/L was recorded in 50% wastewater concentration followed by 100% and control. Also, the maximum removal of selected mushroom farm wastewater pollutants, such as total dissolved solids (84.00 ± 1.37%), biochemical oxygen demand (90.17 ± 2.42%), chemical oxygen demand (91.53 ± 0.97%), total nitrogen (86.27 ± 1.60%) and total phosphorus (94.19 ± 2.33%), was achieved in 50% concentration of wastewater treatment with maximum first-order rate constant (k) values. In addition, the algal growth kinetics results showed that the logistic model fit best compared to the modified Gompertz model, based on selected validation tools, such as experimental vs. predicted values, coefficient of determination (R2 > 0.9938), model efficiency (ME > 0.98) and root mean square error (RMSE < 0.03). The post-harvest characterization of algal biomass revealed that the proximate, biochemical, ultimate elements (carbon, oxygen and nitrogen) and structural properties were significantly higher in 50% treatment than those in 100% and control treatments. Therefore, the findings of this study are novel and provide significant insight into the synergistic use of CO2 and wastewater produced by mushroom farms for algal cultivation and biological wastewater treatment.

This study investigated the monitoring of six heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn) in pond water, sludge, and cultivated water chestnut (Trapa natans L.) crops in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, India. For this purpose, samples of pond water, sludge, and T. natans plant (nut, shoot, and root) were collected in November of 2021 and 2022 from three zones (Zone 1: agricultural area irrigated with borewell water, Zone 2: urban area irrigated with municipal wastewater, and Zone 3: rural area irrigated with mixed type of wastewater) and subsequently analyzed for heavy metal concentration using atomic absorption spectroscopy. The results showed that the physicochemical and heavy metal characteristics of pond water and sludge were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in Zone 2 and 3 than to those in Zone 1. The concentration of heavy metals in T. natans root was comparatively high followed by shoot and nut parts. The bioaccumulation factor (BAF) was maximum while using pond water as a reference medium compared to pond sludge. Overall, the increasing order of heavy metals in T. natans was observed as Cd < Cr < Cu < Zn < Mn < Fe. In the edible part (nut) of T. natans, the average contents of Cd (0.005 ± 0.002 mg/kg), Cr (0.134 ± 0.009 mg/kg), Cu (1.043 ± 0.104 mg/kg), Fe (9.589 ± 0.957 mg/kg), Mn (4.326 ± 0.753 mg/kg), and Zn (1.540 ± 0.537 mg/kg) were comparatively less than shoot and root parts. Overall, the results revealed that T. natans irrigated with contaminated irrigation supplies at Zone 2 and 3 showed the highest BAF of heavy metals than Zone 1. Because the heavy metal concentrations in edible parts of T. natans did not exceed the threshold limits, the contaminated water sources in the Saharanpur region of India should be used in a safe and controlled manner.

The present study focused on the use of sewage sludge (SS) as a casing material amendment and the potential uptake of metal elements by the cultivated white button (

Considering its richness in organic and inorganic mineral nutrients, the recycling of sewage sludge (SS) is highly considered as a soil supplement in agriculture. However, the fate of hazardous heavy metal accumulation in the crops cultivated in SS amended soils is always a source of concern. Since nanoparticles are widely recognized to reduce heavy metal uptake by crop plants; thus, the present experiment deals with okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench) cultivation under the combined application of SS and TiO

The world’s sustainable growth is being severely hampered by the inefficient use of water resources. Despite the widely acknowledged importance of trade in global and regional water and food security, societal reliance on local production, as well as international trade, remains inadequately assessed. Therefore, using South Korea as a case study, this study fills in this research gap by applying the virtual water concept, the logarithmic mean divisia index (LMDI) method, and the Tapio decoupling model. The virtual water concept was used to estimate South Korea’s net virtual water trade for major grain crops from 1992 to 2017. Then, the LMDI method was utilized to assess the driving factors causing changes in net virtual water trade. Lastly, the Tapio decoupling model was used to investigate the decoupling relationships between economic growth and the driving factors of net virtual water trade. The results showed that South Korea remains a net importer of virtual water flows with respect to grain crops, with an average import of 16,559.24 million m3 over the study period. In addition, the change in net virtual water trade could be attributed to the water intensity effect, product structure effect, economic effect, and population effect. However, water intensity and economic effects were the major decisive factors for decreases and increases in net virtual water trade, respectively, while the population and product structure effects had minor positive influences on the net virtual water trade. Furthermore, water intensity and economic growth showed a strong decoupling in most periods, while the decoupling state between product structure and economic growth was observed as expansive negative decoupling. Likewise, population size and economic growth showed a weak decoupling in most periods. The results reveal South Korea’s status as it concerns the virtual water trade of grain crops, thus providing valuable insights into the sustainability of trade activities for the management of local water resources.

The abundant biomass growth of aquatic macrophytes in wetlands is one of the major concerns affecting their residing biota. Moreover, the biomass degenerates within the wetlands, thereby causing a remixing of nutrients and emission of greenhouse gases. Therefore, it is crucial to find sustainable methods to utilize the biomass of aquatic macrophytes devoid of environmental concerns. The present study investigates the utilization of the biomass of three aquatic macrophytes, including the lake sedge (CL: Carex lacustris Willd.), water hyacinth (EC: Eichhornia crassipes Mart. Solms), and sacred lotus (NL: Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) to produce oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus var. florida) mushrooms. For this purpose, different combinations of wheat straw (WS: as control) and macrophyte’s biomass (WH) such as control (100% WH), CL50 (50% WH + 50% CL), CL100 (100% CL), EC50 (50% WH + 50% EC), EC100 (100% EC), NL50 (50% WH + 50% NL), and NL100 (100% NL) were used for P. florida cultivation under controlled laboratory conditions. The results showed that all selected combinations of wheat straw and macrophyte biomass supported the spawning and growth of P. florida. In particular, the maximum significant (p < 0.05) growth, yield, bioefficiency, proximate, and biochemical parameters were reported using the WH substrate followed by CL, NL, and EC biomass, which corresponds to the reduction efficiency of the substrate parameters. Therefore, the findings of this study reveal that the biomass of selected aquatic macrophytes can be effectively utilized for sustainable mushroom cultivation while minimizing the risk associated with their self-degeneration.

Scientific works examining coal-derived nanoparticles (NPs) containing potentially toxic elements (PTEs) confined in marine suspended sediments (MSSs) in port regions worldwide is an understudied topic, despite the fact that coal NPs have tremendous negative impacts on marine estuaries. The general objective of this study is to analyze the NP levels of coal, including PTEs, contained within MSSs in the general vicinity of the largest Caribbean port in Colombia. The morphology, size, chemical composition, and agglomeration states of NPs within MSSs of the sampled beaches were calculated through modern electron microscopy. The methodology used to detect chemical elements, unfortunately with EDS, it is not possible to precisely specify the chemical elements of low atomic weight (e.g. H, O, F, etc.) Therefore, with the EDS available today, it is only possible to have an idea of the chemical composition of each detected particle. Thus, it was possible to obtain the average frequency of the chemical elements identified in the 23 analyzed sampling points. Through the results, more than one thousand particles were detected in the most abundant phases, thus, the most frequent particles in the results of this manuscript were described. Sample point 8, located closest to the coal export port, had a higher concentration of nano-toxic elements (Al, Fe, Si, K, Mg, K) most concerning for human health in addition to being harmful to marine life. This study suggests that public policies dealing with MSS pollution need to be discussed by public managers to avoid further and sustained environmental degradation. The need to create projects will subsidize legacy liabilities generated by coal in seaports in other regions of the world.

Sugar mill pressmud is highly considered and used as a supplement to improve soil fertility and crop yield, especially in India. This study investigated the growth and yield performance of cultivated cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) on sugar mill pressmud amended soil. Pot experiments were performed using various pressmud amendment rates (0, 50, 100, and 150 g/kg soil) to study the fertilization impact on cabbage inflorescence yield (g) and size (diameter: cm). Moreover, mineral element (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn) accumulation in the cabbage inflorescence was also studied using a modified polynomial non-linear model. Results showed that the sugar mill pressmud had significantly (p Mn > Zn > Cu > Cr > Zn. Furthermore, the developed modified polynomial quadratic model precisely predicted the total mineral element uptake (mg dwt.) by cabbage inflorescence. The models had good fitness as described by the coefficient of determination (R2 > 0.992) values. This study suggested that sugar mill pressmud was a promising resource for cabbage cultivation, and the developed models were helpful in the precise prediction of mineral elements accumulated by its inflorescence.

The virtual water concept has been largely applied in the study of regional, national, and global water flows with particular emphasis on water endowment. Despite water traditionally being managed locally, certain forces (drivers) influence the local water resource availability and hence virtual water exchanges. This study reviews available literature to determine those drivers and their influence on virtual water exchanges. Studies show that the drivers are numerous, and there exist several available literatures providing controversial results leading to a high level of uncertainty in the determination of their relative significance. Possible reasons for the contradicting results are discussed and suggestions made.

Food waste has become a challenging global issue due to its inefficient management, particularly in low and middle-income countries. Among food waste items, fruit peel waste (FPW) is generated in enormous quantities, especially from juice vendors, resulting in arduous tasks for waste management personnel and authorities. However, considering the nutrient and digestible content of organic wastes, in this study four types of FPW (pineapple: PA; sweet lemon: SL; kinnow: KN; and pomegranate: PG) were investigated for their potential use within biogas production, using conventional and electro-assisted anaerobic reactors (CAR and EAR). In addition, the FPW digestate obtained after the biogas production experiments was considered as a soil bio-fertilizer under radish (Raphanussativus L. cv. Pusa Himani) cultivation. In the results, all four types of FPW had digestible organic fractions, as revealed from physicochemical and proximate analysis. However, PA-based FPW yielded the maximum biogas (1422.76 ± 3.10 mL/62.21 ± 0.13% CH4) using the EAR system, compared to all other FPW. Overall, the decreasing order of biogas yield obtained from FPW was observed as PA > PG > SL > KN. The kinetic analysis of the biogas production process showed that the modified Gompertz model best fitted in terms of coefficient of determination (R2 > 0.99) to predict cumulative biogas production (y), lag phase (λ), and specific biogas production rate (µm). Moreover, fertilizer application of spent FPW digestate obtained after biogas production significantly improved the arable soil properties (p < 0.05). Further, KN-based FPW digestate mixing showed maximum improvement in radish plant height (36.50 ± 0.82 cm), plant spread (70.80 ± 3.79 cm2), number of leaves (16.12 ± 0.05), fresh weight of leaves (158.08 ± 2.85 g/plant), fruit yield (140.10 ± 2.13 g/plant), and fruit length (25.05 ± 0.15 cm). Thus, this study suggests an efficient method of FPW management through biogas and crop production.

Geospatial analyses have gained fundamental importance on a global scale following emphasis on sustainability. Here we geospatially analyze images from Landsat 2/5/7/8 satellites captured during 1975 to 2020 in order to determine changes in land use. Sentinel-3B OLCI (Ocean Land Color Instrument) images obtained in 2019 and 2021 were utilized to assess water resources, based on water turbidity levels (TSM_NN), suspended pollution potential (ADG_443_NN) and the presence of chlorophyll-a (CHL_NN) in order to temporally monitor the effectiveness of Brazilian legislation currently in force. This work on sustainability standards was applied to a hydrographic basin dedicated to agricultural production located in southern Brazil. Satellite images from Landsat 2/5/7/8 (1975 to 2020) and Sentinel-3B OLCI (2019 and 2021) revealed that changes in land use, vegetation cover and water in the Capinguí Dam reservoir detected high concentrations of ADG_443_NN (3830 m−1), CHL_NN (20,290 mg m−3) and TSM_NN (100 gm−3). These results can alert the population to the risks to public health and harm to hydrographic preservation, capable of covering large regions.

Sugar mill pressmud is highly considered and used as a supplement to improve soil fertility and crop yield, especially in India. This study investigated the growth and yield performance of cultivated cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) on sugar mill pressmud amended soil. Pot experiments were performed using various pressmud amendment rates (0, 50, 100, and 150 g/kg soil) to study the fertilization impact on cabbage inflorescence yield (g) and size (diameter: cm). Moreover, mineral element (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn) accumulation in the cabbage inflorescence was also studied using a modified polynomial non-linear model. Results showed that the sugar mill pressmud had significantly (p 0.05) higher nutrient elements which induced their concentration in the soil after mixing. Also, the highest yield (849.25 ± 7.47 g), size (15.10 ± 1.50 cm diameter), and dry weight (42.13 g) of cabbage inflorescence were attained using 100 g/kg pressmud treatment with a maximum significant (p 0.05) accumulation of mineral elements. However, the highest accumulation of mineral elements was observed in the outer zones (Z1 and Z2) of leafy inflorescence as compared to inner zones (Z3 and Z4), respectively. The mineral elements in both outer and inner zones of cabbage followed an order of Fe Mn Zn Cu Cr Zn. Furthermore, the developed modified polynomial quadratic model precisely predicted the total mineral element uptake (mg dwt.) by cabbage inflorescence. The models had good fitness as described by the coefficient of determination (R

The recent spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SAR-CoV-2) and the accompanied coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has continued ceaselessly despite the implementations of popular measures, which include social distancing and outdoor face masking as recommended by the World Health Organization. Due to the unstable nature of the virus, leading to the emergence of new variants that are claimed to be more and rapidly transmissible, there is a need for further consideration of the alternative potential pathways of the virus transmissions to provide the needed and effective control measures. This review aims to address this important issue by examining the transmission pathways of SARS-CoV-2 via indirect contacts such as fomites and aerosols, extending to water, food, and other environmental compartments. This is essentially required to shed more light regarding the speculation of the virus spread through these media as the available information regarding this is fragmented in the literature. The existing state of the information on the presence and persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in water-food-environmental compartments is essential for cause-and-effect relationships of human interactions and environmental samples to safeguard the possible transmission and associated risks through these media. Furthermore, the integration of effective remedial measures previously used to tackle the viral outbreaks and pandemics, and the development of new sustainable measures targeting at monitoring and curbing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 were emphasized. This study concluded that alternative transmission pathways via human interactions with environmental samples should not be ignored due to the evolving of more infectious and transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variants., Graphical abstract Image 1

The world is inundated by the global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has resulted in millions of reported cases and loss of many lives since December 2019, when the first case was reported in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. The presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a virus causing COVID-19, has been confirmed in both the urine and feces of the infected people. In contrast, only the ribonucleic acid of the virus have been continuously isolated in wastewater. Currently, there is limited information on the virulence of SARS-CoV-2 and its infectivity in the wastewater environment; still, fecal-oral contamination and transmission cannot be ruled out yet. Early detection of the virus would have far-reaching benefits in curbing the spread of COVID-19 by employing effective tools like wastewater-based epidemiology to monitor hospital sewage and community wastewater in determining the prevalence of the SARS-CoV-2 within the population. Moreover, there is a need to provide sustainable remedial approaches that can be employed to inactivate the virus in wastewater, and protective measures for the personnel and wastewater treatment workers against viral infections to forestall future pandemics and waterborne diseases. This study critically reviewed the knowledge gap focusing on the presence, detection, and persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and biosolids. Furthermore, the sustainable remedial measures to address SARS-CoV-2 in the wastewater environment are proposed and discussed. This study provides new and useful insights into the presence, detection, and persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater environments, while proposing sustainable remedial approaches to preventing the COVID-19 transmission through this medium.

The increasing levels of nitrogen oxyanion pollution especially nitrate in water environments have become a critical issues of concern because of the potential risk on ecology and human health. Owing to its distinctive merits of sustainability, lesser operational and maintenance expenditure, the utilization of constructed wetland systems for the treatment of wastewater has turned out to be predominant worldwide. Its nitrogen oxyanion removal performance has received significant attention in the last two decades. This chapter presents a comprehensive outline of the application of constructed wetlands (CW) for nitrogen oxyanion removal from water and wastewater. The removal mechanisms and transformations of nitrogen are also discussed. In addition, the major factors that influence the removal performances in CWs are elucidated, especially the types of carbon sources commonly used, and how it affects the denitrification process. This chapter would be useful to engineers and researchers in the field of water and wastewater engineering.

Environmental pollution is increasingly becoming an issue of significant public interest in many developing countries and the international community at large. The growing socioeconomic developments as witnessed globally in recent times due to rapid urbanization and industrialization have led to the overexploitation of natural resources, while inadvertently resulted in severe environmental problems. In this chapter, we attempted to present the effect of environmental pollution to our physical environment as well as its socioeconomic impacts. Specifically, we focused more on the major types of pollution, which are widely recognized as international public health problems, namely, land/soil, water, air, noise, and plastic/microplastic pollution, enumerating their effects and how they have acted as an obstruction to the social and economic progress by placing tremendous pressure on resources and environment. Possible ways of ensuring environmental quality and sustainability leading to improved public health and well-being alongside with different kinds of intervention were proposed.

The environmental benefits of incorporating coal fly ash (CFA) into the concrete manufacturing process as a partial substitute for Portland cement are well known. What is less studied is the potential release of CFA derived nanomineral and amorphous nanoparticles during this process of incorporation. A thorough understanding of this makes it possible to understand the risks of exposure to particulates that are harmful to human health when CFA is mixed into concrete. The general objective of this study is to analyze airborne particulates released when CFA is mixed into concrete at the point of manufacture, focusing on the levels of nanominerals, amorphous nanoparticles and hazardous elements (HEs) contained within that are considered harmful to human health. These airborne particulates can be easily inhaled by plant workers in the absence of personal protective equipment. The authors analyzed samples of ash itself and collected actual airborne particulates using self-made passive samplers installed at the manufacturing plant. Regarding the ash analyzed, iron (Fe) was found in large amounts in relation to calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and silicon (Si). The transport, disposal and application of CFA in civil construction projects can provide an increased efficiency and reduce overall costs associated with the production of concrete. However, CFA poses a threat to human health due to the significant amount of HEs, nanominerals, and amorphous nanoparticles found to be released into the environment at the manufacturing plant.

Food waste management in Korea has become increasingly important as the country continues to champion the transition into a circular economy among the OECD countries to achieve sustainable development target goals. However, reliable primary data on food waste quantity and composition to achieve its prevention and managementtargets by understanding food waste patterns among Korean households is poorly documented. This study investigates the quantity and composition of food waste generation rates among the sampled households by considering two important influencing factors of seasonality and housing types in the Buk-gu province of Daegu, South Korea. The food waste generation rates from three different housing types during four representative seasons were assessed, considering the availability of different food types at different seasons. The identified 46 food waste items from sampled data were statistically analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis statistical test. The results showed that food waste generation rates were 0.88 ± 0.37 kg/household/day (0.26 ± 0.11 kg/capita/day), which varied seasonally. Significant seasonal variations (P 0.002) in food waste generated from the selected housing types were shown by K-W mean rank analysis. The food waste generation rate followed the seasonal order of summer autumn winter spring. The effect of housing type was also a pivotal factor affecting the food waste generation. This study adds to the ground-level insights of food waste generation trends in different seasons and housing types of Korea.