Search

The Red River system plays an important role in the socio-economic development of the Northern of Vietnam. Therefore, regular monitoring and evaluation of water quality parameters in the Red River system are important in water resources management and protection. However, current monitoring methods are often quite expensive and time-consuming. To predict the downstream water quality, this study uses multiple machine learning algorithms to understand the correlation between environmental parameters measured at upstream and downstream stations of the Red River system. The environmental parameters that are chosen for this study include suspended sediment concentration (SSC), inorganic nitrogen content (total N), phosphorus content (total P), and dissolved silicon (DSi). The results show that machine learning algorithms can estimate the downstream DSi and sediment concentrations based on combining values of three upstream stations with relatively high efficiency (R2 equals 0.75 and 0.66, respectively). Meanwhile, these algorithms have limited performance in estimating total N and P content, due to the influence of many exogenous factors. The study introduces a new direction for applying machine learning algorithms in water quality research in the Red River system with the potential application in other river systems in Vietnam.

Microplastics with particle size less than 5 mm are becoming a raising global environmental crisis. These pollutants were found from the poles to the equator, in continental shelves, coasts and in the oceans, moreover, they have also been identified in the water columns, sediments and even in a variety of organisms. The majority of microplastics that ended up in the oceans originate from the land. Due to their small size, they are easily accumulated in the food chain, causing harmful effects on organisms and human health. The bivalves especially caught the interest of scientific researchers because of their direct contact with microplastics through the filter-feeding habit. Therefore, it is essential to develop methods to determine the presence of microplastics in these organisms and identify their source. This study evaluated the efficiency of extracting microplastics from the tissues of green mussels (Perna viridis) using KOH 10% solution to digest and KI 50% as the separating solution. Mussel soft tissue samples were spiked five different types of microplastics: polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and treated with KOH 10% solution and KI 50% solution. The presence of microplastics in some green mussel species was also investigated in some mussel farming areas in Giao Thuy, Nam Dinh province, Thi Nai, Quy Nhon, Binh Dinh province and Hue city, Thua Thien Hue province. The research results showed high efficiency of microplastic extraction and recovery with the range from 76% to 97%. Microplastic concentration obtained in all mussel samples variates from 1.0 ± 0.1 particles/g to 1.7 ± 0.6 particles/g, in which fiber microplastics predominated. Microplastics in mussel samples have small sizes of < 1,000 µm and 1,000–2,000 µm, make up 74.15–82.32% and 9.76–14.71%, respectively. Purple was dominant among all mussel samples. This study proved that using KOH 10% solution and KI 50% solution to isolate microplastics is a suitable approach and can be used in monitoring studies of microplastic pollution in bivalves.

Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic microorganisms that have their biosynthesis capacities for secondary compounds with the high application value. They can produce a variety of bioactive compounds such as lipopeptides, fatty acids, toxins, carotenoids, vitamins and plant growth regulators which could be released into the culture medium. The present study aimed to isolate and screen cyanobacteria strains that could synthesize phytohormone, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) from paddy soild and fresh water ecosystems (canals, river). Soil and water samples were collected from diferent provinces (Bac Giang, Thanh Hoa and Hue). Indole-3-acetic acid was extracted from the culture of isolated cyanobacteria strains and identified using the Salkowski method. As a result, total 10 strains belonging to 4 genera including Nostoc, Anabena, Geitlerinema and Planktothricoides were susscessful isolated from river, canal and rice field. The morphology of isolated taxa was characterized and monoalgal cultures were grown in BG 11 medium. In L-tryptophan-enriched growth media, all cyanobacteria strains in this research were able to biosynthesize growth regulators with IAA concentrations ranging from 9.1 to 95 µg/mL. Among the isolated cyanobacteria strains, the Planktothricoides raciborskii showed potential for the production of IAA even in the absence of tryptophan in the culture medium. Research results of the L-tryptophan concentration effect on the ability of IAA biosynthesis of this cyanobacteria strain showed that IAA concentration increased gradually and reached the highest value (118,28 ± 2,00 µg/mL) when supplementing L- tryptophan in culture medium at 900 µg/mL. The capacity of producing IAA makes these isolated cyanobacteria an appopriate cadidate for agricultural biotechnology.

Recently, the Asian rivers have faced the strong reduction of riverine total suspended solids (TSS) flux due to numerous dam/reservoir impoundment. The Red river system is a typical example of the Southeast Asian rivers that has been strongly impacted by reservoir impoundment in both China and Vietnam, especially in the recent period. It is known that the reduction in total suspended solids may lead to the decrease of some associated elements, including nutrients (N, P, Si) which may affect coastal ecosystems. In this paper, we establish the empirical relationship between total suspended solids and total phosphorus concentrations in water environment of the Red river in its downstream section from Hanoi city to the Ba Lat estuary based on the sampling campaigns conducted in the dry and wet seasons in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The results show a clear relationship with significant coefficient between total suspended solids and total phosphorus in the downstream Red river. It is expressed by a simple equation y = 0.0226x0.3867 where x and y stand for total suspended solids and total phosphorus concentrations (mg/l) respectively with the r2 value of 0.757. This equation enables a reasonable prediction of total phosphorus concentrations of the downstream Red river when the observed data of total suspended solids concentrations are available. Thus, this work opens up the way for further studies on the calculation of the total phosphorus over longer timescales using daily available total suspended solids values.

Microplastics (particles with a size of less than 5 mm) are a rising environmental problem. Microplastics can disseminate in the air and accumulate in sediments as well as in microorganisms and humans, due to their small size. Sediment is considered to be the major repository of microplastics, particularly those of the PE type. Microplastics in massive amounts accumulated in sediments, perhaps as a result of point sources or diffuse contamination. Microplastic contamination can spread from industrial production facilities, urban areas, agricultural areas, or the air. The current study was carried out to explore the occurrence of MPs in sediments at discharge sources by evaluating 27 sediment samples taken from 9 distinct waste sources from industrial activity locations to determine the amount of microplastic contamination in sediments at discharge sources. Microplastics with relatively high density were found in all sediment samples in this research, ranging from 2,900 to 238,200 particles/kg dw. The most prevalent microplastics detected in sediment samples at these sites were fibers and fragments, accounting for 59-94% and 6-41%, respectively. Fiber microplastics ranged in size from 1000 to 9,000 µm, whereas fragment microplastics ranged from 200,000 to 2,100,000 µm2. Microplastics with < 1000 µm and 1000-2000 µm sizes accounted for a significant portion of the total, reaching 21.05-37.84% and 39.74-61.17%, respectively. The hue of microplastic particles in sediment samples obtained was highly varied.