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The presence of heavy metals in milk causes many acute and chronic physiological dysfunctions in human organs. The present study aims to investigate the heavy metals in cow's and buffalo's milk of two major cities, Karachi and Gujranwala, Pakistan to estimate metal intake by humans from this source.

In total, 48 milk samples from 2 cities were drawn from animals' udder to avoid contamination. Each sample was digested with nitric acid at 105 ^oC (degree Celsius) on a pre-heated electric hot plate to investigate the metals by atomic absorption spectroscopy (flame type). Air-acetylene technique analyzed chromium, cadmium and lead, and the hydride method analyzed arsenic in the milk samples.

The results revealed the highest mean lead concentration (19.65 ± 43.86 ppb) in the milk samples, followed by chromium (2.10 ± 2.33 ppb) and arsenic (0.48 ± 0.73 ppb). Cadmium was not detected in any sample, assuming cadmium's occurrence was below the detection level. The concentrations of all the metals in the samples of the two cities do not differ statistically. Lead concentrations in the buffalo's milk were higher than in cow's milk (p < 0.05). However, the concentrations of arsenic and chromium between buffalo's and cow's milk do not differ statistically. The present study reveals a lower level of metals in the milk than those conducted elsewhere. The mean concentrations of all the metals met the World Health Organization's (WHO) safety guidelines (1993).

Although cadmium causes toxicity in the human body, cadmium could not be measured because cadmium's concentration was below the detection level, which is 1 ppb.

This study will help reduce the toxic metals in our environment, and the sources of heavy metals, particularly from the industrial sector could be identified. The feed and water consumed by the milking animals could be carefully used for feeding them.

This study will help reduce the diseases and malfunction of human organs and organ systems since these heavy metals cause toxicity and carcinogenicity in humans. Arsenic and chromium cause cancer while lead causes encephalopathy (a brain disease).

The study reports heavy metal concentrations in the two attributes of four independent variables of raw milk samples that were scarcely reported from Pakistan.

Environmental pollution has increased as a result of modern settlements' expanding demand and rapid population growth. In Ebonyi State, Nigeria, quarrying is one of the activities that has an impact on the environment and ecosystem. The aim of the study is to assess stream water’s quality in order to ascertain how quarry operations affect the streams’ water quality. The present study investigated the environmental impact of quarrying on the physicochemical properties of surface water in Ebonyi State, Nigeria.

A total of 288 surface water samples were taken in 2018, 2019 and 2020 from quarry locations and a Control location for the determination of physicochemical properties and heavy metal contents using standard analytical methods. Datasets were analysed using Fisher’s significance least difference (F-LSD) at the 0.05 probability level.

This study discovered that surface waters around quarries are severely polluted, according to the results of the physico-chemical and heavy metal contents of the surface waters. Most of the physical and chemical properties of the water downstream of the Ishiagu, Umuoghara and Ngbo did not meet World Health Organisation (WHO) standards, such as colour and pH. The heavy metal levels in the Ishiagu, Umuoghara and Ngbo streams were above WHO criteria for Pb, Cd and Fe. The results point to the obvious conclusion, without prejudice to other unexplained factors that the pollution is most likely the result of quarry contamination. Strict measures should be taken to regularly monitor the water quality of the streams.

This study focused on the assessment of physicochemical properties using standard analytical methods to evaluate the environmental impact of quarrying on surface water qualities. The study used the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2011) water guideline as a standard to compare with the study dataset and control measures.

This study aims to better understand the morphological characteristics of single particle and the health risk characteristics of heavy metals in PM_2.5 in different functional areas of Handan City.

High resolution transmission electron microscopy was used to observe the aerosol samples collected from different functional areas of Handan City. The morphology and size distribution of the particles collected on hazy and clear days were compared. The health risk evaluation model was applied to evaluate the hazardous effects of particles on human health in different functional areas on hazy days.

The results show that the particulate matter in different functional areas is dominated by spherical particles in different weather conditions. In particular, the proportion of spherical particles exceeds 70% on the haze day, and the percentage of soot aggregates increases significantly on the clear day. The percentage of each type of particle in the teaching and living areas varied less under different weather conditions. Except for the industrial area, the size distribution of each type of particle in haze samples is larger than that on the clear day. Spherical particles contribute more to the small particle size segment. Soot aggregate and other shaped particles contribute more to the large size segment. The mass concentrations of hazardous elements (HEs) in PM_2.5 in different functional areas on consecutive haze pollution days were illustrated as industrial area > traffic area > living area > teaching area. Compared with the other functional areas, the teaching area had the lowest noncarcinogenic risk of HEs. The lifetime carcinogenic risk values of Cr and As elements in each functional area have exceeded residents’ threshold levels and are at high risk of carcinogenicity. Among the four functional areas, the industrial area has the highest carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic risks. But the effects of HEs on human health in the other functional areas should also be taken seriously and continuously controlled.

The significance of the study is to further understand the morphological characteristics of single particles and the health risks of heavy metals in different functional areas of Handan City. the authors hope to provide a reference for other coal-burning industrial cities to develop plans to improve air quality and human respiratory health.

The host–guest molecules are often used in various fields and applications. This paper aims to discuss the role of host–guest complexes in the textile industry, focusing on calixarenes as a potential adsorbent for hazardous dyes. The paper begins with an introduction to nanotechnology and its many uses, including textiles.

The risks associated with the utilisation of dyes and its adverse effects on the environment are then also highlighted. This paper also discusses the structure and characteristics of calixarenes and their potential use as an adsorbent to extract toxic metals from aqueous solutions. The paper also explains the molecular structure of calixarenes, especially the ability of its upper and lower rims, which can be altered to yield derivatives with various selectivities for diverse guest ions and small molecules. In addition, the application of various host–guest molecules in the textiles industry to extract dyes also had been discussed.

In conclusion, the paper highlights the essential in establishing a systematic review on the significance of selective adsorbents, such as calixarenes, to isolate particular targets from diverse matrices in the textile industry.

Only discussing several applications for several host–guest molecules.

The paper concisely describes various host–guest molecule applications in the textile industry, with each molecule being elaborated upon in detail.

Herein, this study aims to use our recently tailored and fully characterized poly acrylonitrile (AN)-starch nanoparticle graft copolymer having 60.1 graft yield percentage as a starting substrate for copper ions removal from wastewater effluent after chemical modification with hydroxyl amine via oximation reaction as a calorimetric sensor.

The calorimetric sensor batch technique was used to determine the resin's adsorption capacity, while atomic adsorption spectrometry was used to determine the residual copper ions concentration in the filtrate before and after adsorption. This was done to convert the copolymer's abundant nitrile groups into amidoxime groups, and the resulting poly (amidoxime) resin was used as a copper ion adsorbent. To validate the existence of amidoxime groups, the resin was qualitatively characterized using a rapid vanadium ion test and instrumentally using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectra and scanning electron microscopy morphological analysis.

At pH 7, 400 ppm copper ions concentration and 0.25 g adsorbent at room temperature, the overall adsorption potential of poly (amidoxime) resin was found to be 115.2 mg/g. The process's adsorption, kinetics and isothermal analysis were examined using various variables such as pH, contact time, copper ion concentration and adsorbent dose. To pretend the adsorption kinetics, various kinetics models, including pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order, were applied to the experimental results. The kinetic analysis indicated that the pseudo-second-order rate equation promoted the development of the chemisorption phase better than the pseudo-first-order rate equation. In the case of isothermal investigations, a study of observed correlation coefficient (R²) values indicated that the Langmuir model outperformed the Freundlich model in terms of matching experimental data.

To the best of the author's information, there is no comprehensive study for copper ions removal from waste water effluent using the recently tailored and fully characterized poly (AN)-starch nanoparticle graft copolymer having 60.1 graft yield percentage as a starting substrate after chemical modification with hydroxyl amine via oximation reaction as a calorimetric sensor.

The present study focused on examining the effect of treated wastewater (TWW) on soil chemical properties. Also, efforts were made to compare the soil chemical properties under TWW irrigation with that under groundwater (GW).

During the years 2021 and 2022, surface and subsurface soil samples were randomly collected in triplicate by using an auger fortnightly at two depths (20 and 40 cm) from the selected spot areas to represent the different types of irrigation water sources: TWW and GW. Samples of the GW and the TWW were collected for analysis.

This study examines the impact of TWW on soil characteristics and the surrounding environment. TWW use enhances soil organic matter, nutrient availability and salt redistribution, while reducing calcium carbonate accumulation in the topsoil. However, it negatively affects soil pH, electrical conductivity and sodium adsorption ratio, although remaining within acceptable limits. Generally, irrigating with TWW improves most soil chemical properties compared to GW.

In general, almost all of the soil’s chemical properties were improved by irrigating with TWW rather than GW. Following that, wastewater is used to irrigate the soil. Additionally, the application of gypsum to control the K/Na and Ca/Na ratios should be considered under long-term TWW and GW usage in this study area in order to control the salt accumulation as well as prevent soil conversion to saline-sodic soil in the future. However, more research is needed to thoroughly investigate the long-term effects of using TWW on soil properties as well as heavy metal accumulation in soil.

This study aims to investigate the efficacy of Ag@GO/Na₂SiO₃ nanocomposite in eliminating As from aqueous solutions. Employing response surface methodology, the research systematically examines the adsorption process.

Various experimental parameters including sample pH, contact time, As concentration and adsorbent dosage are optimized to enhance the As removal process.

Under optimized conditions, the initial As concentration, contact time, pH and adsorbent dosage are determined to be 32 ppm, 50 mins, 6.5 and 0.4 grams, respectively. While the projected removal of As stands at 97.6% under these conditions, practical application achieves a 93% removal rate. Pareto analysis identifies the order of significance among factors as follows: adsorbent dosage > contact time > pH > As concentration.

This study highlights the potential Ag@GO/Na₂SiO₃ as a promising adsorbent for efficiently removing industrial As from aqueous solutions, and it is likely to have a good sufficiency in the filtration of water and wastewater treatment plans to remove some chemical pollution, including paints and heavy metals.

The simplicity of the nanocomposite preparation method without the need for advanced equipment and the cheapness of the raw materials and its potential ability to remove As are the prominent advantages of this research.

In addition to agriculture, energy production, and industries, potable water plays a significant role in many fields, further increasing the demand for potable water. Purification and desalination play a major role in meeting the need for clean drinking water. Clean water is necessary in different areas, such as agriculture, industry, food industries, energy generation and in everyday chores.

The authors have used the different search engines like Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus and PubMed to find the relevant articles and prepared this mini review.

The various stages of water purification include coagulation and flocculation, coagulation, sedimentation and disinfection, which have been discussed in this mini review. Using nanotechnology in wastewater purification plants can minimize the cost of wastewater treatment plants by combining several conventional procedures into a single package.

In society, we need to avail clean water to meet our everyday, industrial and agricultural needs. Purification of grey water can meet the clean water scarcity and make the environment sustainable.

This mini review will encourage the researchers to find out ways in water remediation to meet the need of pure water in our planet and maintain sustainability.

This study aims to quantify and compare the environmental impacts of Marble-stone and Kota-stone flooring options widely used for buildings in India. The study discusses the possibility of carbon sequestration through Bamboo cultivation in India.

The study has followed a standard life cycle assessment (LCA) framework based on ISO 14040 guidelines. Three distinct phases have been compared on midpoint and endpoint assessment categories – raw material, polishing and disposal. Primary data has been collected from the construction site in India, and secondary data has been collected from the Ecoinvent 3.0 database. Previous studies have been referred to discuss and calculate the area of bamboo cultivation required to sequestrate the generated carbon from the flooring.

The study has found that endpoint category damage to resources, and midpoint categories of climate change, metal depletion and agricultural land use are highly impacted in building floorings. The study has also found that the Marble-stone floor generates higher environmental impacts than the Kota-stone floor in most of the midpoint and endpoint impact categories. This difference is significant in the raw material phase due to the different compositions of stones. The study also found that Bamboo has excellent potential to act as a carbon sink and mitigate the generated carbon.

This study excludes human labour, cutting and distribution of floor tiles made of Marble-stone and Kota-stone. The researcher can use the study to evaluate, compare and benchmark the various building flooring options from the environmental perspective. The study aids to the body of knowledge available on the various building flooring options by presenting the LCA or the environmental impacts generated by two flooring options. It is expected that the architects and builders can use these results to develop carbon-neutral buildings. This study provides a methodology for governments, constructors, builders and individuals to evaluate, compare and benchmark the various construction materials from the environmental perspective by computing the environmental impacts throughout the life cycle of the materials.

This study compares two widely used building flooring options using the LCA methodology and evaluates the potential of bamboo cultivation near the buildings for carbon sinks. The study is unique because it shows the environmental impacts of two flooring options and the carbon sequestration method to mitigate/absorb the generated environmental impacts in or around the building itself through bamboo cultivation. This study may set the foundation for carbon-neutral buildings.

Welding is a widely used manufacturing process in many industries. The process consumes a lot of energy and resources, pollutes the environment, and emits gases and fumes into the atmosphere that are dangerous to human health. There are various welding processes, and the suitable welding process is usually chosen based on cost, material, and conditions. Subjectivity is the most significant impediment to selecting an optimal process. As a result, it is critical to develop the appropriate set of criteria, use the best tool and methodology, and collect sufficient data. This study examines the sustainability of welding processes and their environmental impact.

The welding process’s sustainability was examined and discussed in general, considering the technological specifics of each welding process, physical performance, and environmental, economic, and social effects. The study investigates the environmental impact of MMAW, GMAW, and GTAW/GMAW processes through experimental work and LCA methodology.

MMAW is the most environmentally harmful technology, whereas GMAW has the least impact. The GTAW/GMAW process outperformed the other processes in terms of yield stress, but the analyses revealed that it had a greater environmental impact than GMAW.

The study provides an environmental impact summary and demonstrates the effects of welding parameters and processes. This gives users an understanding of choosing the best welding technique or making the process more environmentally friendly. These recommendations help policymakers identify hot spots and implement the right plans to achieve more sustainable manufacturing.