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GO, CuO-rGO and ZnO-rGO were tested for their ability to remove textile dyes (R-6G, MG) and antibiotics (AMOX, TC) as wastewater depollution materials. Although GO was most effective for the cationic dyes, CuO-rGO efficiently removed anionic antibiotics.

The use of various aspects of food processing, including the direct inclusion of nano-additives, are rapidly increasing in the field of nanotechnology to enhance the desired qualities in food production, use and storage. The important role of the human gut microbiota is well understood, including its influence on many physiological functions and its alterations, which play an essential role in various human diseases. Research exploring the effect of engineered and naturally occurring nanoparticles (NPs) in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of humans on commensal and pathogenic microorganisms is lacking and scarce. Studies should focus on the complex human gut microbiome when investigating the influence of NPs within a human body. Various materials, such as titanium dioxide, silver, silicon dioxide, iron dioxide and zinc oxide, show great potential in affecting the microbiota and causing clinical disorders including colitis, obesity, and immunological dysfunction. This review reports the influence of such nano- food additives towards the gut microbiota (GM), as well as methods to track and monitor the NPs in vivo using techniques such as electron microscopy after interaction with NPs and in vitro gut models currently used to examine the influence of NPs with GM, as well as their limitations.

The resistance of pathogenic bacteria toward traditional biocidal treatment methods is a growing concern in various settings, including that of water treatment and in the medical industry. As such, advanced antibacterial technologies are needed to prevent infections, against which current antibiotics are failing. This study introduces copper oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs) doped in graphene oxide (GO) as a potential pathogenic bacterial treatment. The aim of the study was to evaluate the antibacterial properties of the GO-CuONP hybridized material against pathogenic Escherichia coli ATCC 8739 (E. coli) and Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 14028 (S. typhimurium). GO was synthesized using a modified Hummer's method and doped with 40% w/w CuONPs using a series of thermal chemical reactions. The resulting hybrids were then characterized using scanning electron microscopic (SEM) and spectroscopic studies. These studies revealed that the hybrid material was considerably altered by the inclusion of CuONPs. The live and dead bacteria attached to the GO-CuONP material were detected using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). The antibacterial activity assay of the GO-CuONP material was conducted using a standard plate count method. Importantly, the GO-CuONP nanocomposite was determined to be an effective antibacterial nanomaterial, significantly inhibiting the growth of both E. coli and S. typhimurium bacteria compared to that observed on the pristine GO material. This study suggests that GO-CuONP composites are a promising high-efficacy antibacterial nanomaterial.

Gastrointestinal (GIT) diseases have risen globally in recent years, and early detection of the host’s gut microbiota, typically through fecal material, has become a crucial component for rapid diagnosis of such diseases. Human fecal material is a complex substance composed of undigested macromolecules and particles, and the processing of such matter is a challenge due to the unstable nature of its products and the complexity of the matrix. The identification of these products can be used as an indication for present and future diseases; however, many researchers focus on one variable or marker looking for specific biomarkers of disease. Therefore, the combination of genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabonomics can give a detailed and complete insight into the gut environment. The proper sample collection, sample preparation and accurate analytical methods play a crucial role in generating precise microbial data and hypotheses in gut microbiome research, as well as multivariate data analysis in determining the gut microbiome functionality in regard to diseases. This review summarizes fecal sample protocols involved in profiling coeliac disease.

For many years, an extensive array of chemometric methods have provided a platform upon which a quantitative description of environmental conditions can be obtained. Applying chemometric methods to environmental data allows us to identify and describe the interrelations between certain environmental drivers. They also provide an insight into the interrelationships between these drivers and afford us a greater understanding of the potential impact that these drivers can place upon the environment. However, an effective marriage of these two systems has not been performed. Therefore, it is the aim of this review to highlight the advantages of using chemometrics and sensors to identify hidden trends in environmental parameters, which allow the state of the environment to be effectively monitored. Despite the combination of chemometrics and sensors, to capture new developments and applications in the field of environmental sciences, these methods have not been extensively used. Importantly, although different parameters and monitoring procedures are required for different environments (e.g., air, water, soil), they are not distinct, separate entities. Contemporary developments in the use of chemometrics afford us the ability to predict changes in different aspects of the environment using instrumental methods. This review also provides an insight into the prevailing trends and the future of environmental sensing, highlighting that chemometrics can be used to enhance our ability to monitor the environment. This enhanced ability to monitor environmental conditions and to predict trends would be beneficial to government and research agencies in their ability to develop environmental policies and analysis procedures.

The testing and rapid detection of pathogenic organisms is a crucial protocol in the prevention and identification of crises related to health, safety and wellbeing. Pathogen detection has become one of the most challenging aspects in the food and water industries, because of the rapid spread of waterborne and foodborne diseases in the community and at significant costs. With the prospect of inevitable population growth, and an influx of tourism to certain water bodies testing will become a requirement to control and prevent possible outbreaks of potentially fatal illnesses. The legislation is already particularly rigorous in the food industry, where failure to detect pathogenic materials represents a catastrophic event, particularly for the elderly, very young or immune-compromised population types. In spite of the need and requirement for rapid analytical testing, conventional and standard bacterial detection assays may take up to seven days to yield a result. Given the advent of new technologies, biosensors, chemical knowledge and miniaturisation of instrumentation this timescale is not acceptable. This review presents an opportunity to fill a knowledge gap for an extremely important research area; discussing the main techniques, biology, chemistry, miniaturisation, sensing and the emerging state-of-the-art research and developments for detection of pathogens in food, water, blood and faecal samples.

Disused mines and mining legacy require significant manpower to ameliorate the contaminated environmental surroundings following their disbanding coupled with extraordinary funding to manage these issues. Water (pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductance, metals, sulphate) and total suspended solids (TSS) quality are environmental parameters that are affected by legacy mining activity and often require monitoring and rapid response if events (e.g. rainfall) occur which might affect the surrounding areas. In this study, we have monitored a famous mine site in Queensland, Australia for a number of water and sediment parameters known to be associated with acid mine drainage. This study performed analysis of water and sediment over three years, as well as rainfall data. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares (PLS) regression was undertaken to investigate the data obtained. It was found that the use of PCA can predict the effect of year and site on the environmental influence of the abandoned mine site, based on the combination of chemical properties and meteorological data.

Polymer contamination is a major pollutant in all waterways and a significant concern of the 21st Century, gaining extensive research, media, and public attention. The polymer pollution problem is so vast; plastics are now observed in some of the Earth's most remote regions such as the Mariana trench. These polymers enter the waterways, migrate, breakdown; albeit slowly, and then interact with the environment and the surrounding biodiversity. It is these biodiversity and ecosystem interactions that are causing the most nervousness, where health researchers have demonstrated that plastics have entered the human food chain, also showing that plastics are damaging organisms, animals, and plants. Many researchers have focused on reviewing the macro and micro-forms of these polymer contaminants, demonstrating a lack of scientific data and also a lack of investigation regarding nano-sized polymers. It is these nano-polymers that have the greatest potential to cause the most harm to our oceans, waterways, and wildlife. This review has been especially ruthless in discussing nano-sized polymers, their ability to interact with organisms, and the potential for these nano-polymers to cause environmental damage in the marine environment. This review details the breakdown of macro-, micro-, and nano-polymer contamination, examining the sources, the interactions, and the fates of all of these polymer sizes in the environment. The main focus of this review is to perform a comprehensive examination of the literature of the interaction of nanoplastics with organisms, soils, and waters; followed by the discussion of toxicological issues. A significant focus of the review is also on current analytical characterisation techniques for nanoplastics, which will enable researchers to develop protocols for nanopolymer analysis and enhance understanding of nanoplastics in the marine environment.