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The efficiency of UV/Fenton process was investigated to treat the paper recycling industry wastewater. The effect of Fenton treatment on various water quality parameters namely, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total suspended solids (TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS), total solids (TS), nitrates, phosphates, and heavy metals (Hg, Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu) was investigated. The COD, BOD, EC, TDS, TSS, TS, nitrates, phosphates, and heavy metals reduction percentages remained very high (>90%) for various wastewater samples treated. The strategy involving gradual increase in the mass loading (in terms of increasing the share of original wastewater in dilution showed that the UV/Fenton process was efficient to treat paper industry wastewater. The best results were obtained when paper industry wastewater was diluted with nine parts as real wastewater and one part dilution by freshwater. The findings of this study demonstrate that the UV/Fenton process can significantly break down a variety of pollutants from paper recycling industry wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bad water quality has serious implications for human health, which may include gastrointestinal, liver, respiratory diseases and even cancer. In view of drinking water hardness in the study area, it was hypothesized that bad water quality has some association with the renal disorders. The possible association between nephrolithiasis, drinking water quality and diet in human subjects in district Abbottabad, Pakistan was investigated. Drinking water samples were collected from different areas (total number, n=100) and analyzed for various physico-chemical properties like turbidity, electrical conductivity, and pH by using standard methods. The concentration of total hardness ranged from 250 mgL-1 to 800 mgL-1 which exceeded the standard value of 60 mgL-1 and the water was found to contain high content of calcium ions. Kidney stones analysis reports of affected subjects (n=100) were examined for the type of stone. The calculi collected showed various shapes and were composed of calcium oxalate (88%), struvite (4%), uric acid (7%) and mix of calcium oxalate and uric acid (1%). Oxalate rich diet was another important risk factor for nephrolithiasis. The patients were consuming 100-300 mg day-1 of dietary oxalate. In conclusion, the quality of drinking water and diet habits contributed to nephrolithiasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irrigation of industrial effluents may end in the bioaccumulation of various toxic metals and consequent genetic changes in contaminated food crops. To test this hypothesis and extent of genetic modifications, Allium cepa test was performed to food crops viz. tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum) and chili (Capsicum annum) as Allium cepa test is a useful tool to assess genetic variations in plants. Prior to A. cepa test, the plants were exposed to various metal concentrations 125–1000 mg/L in the synthetic wastewater. The extracts of harvested plants were used to grow the root of A. cepa following its standard method. The root tips were fixed, stained and examined under compound microscope (almost 300–400 dividing cells) to check the extent of chromosomal variations during various stages of mitosis. The results revealed various chromosomal abnormalities including laggards, stickiness, vagrant chromosomes, binucleated cells, nuclear lesions, giant cells and c-mitosis at different level of treatment. On the whole, aberrations were increasing with the increasing doses along the positive control. In comparison, chili crop had higher level of aberrations depicting the higher chromosomal changes. Lower mitotic index (MI) with increasing level of doses was also describing the hampered cell division due to increased metal stress. The study is showing that the cell division was ceased with increasing metal stress thus increasing the rate of cell aberrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]