Research Publications (Food Safety)

Heavy metal contamination from landfills has become a worldwide problem. Concerns have been raised over their impacts on human health and the environment. Soil amendment-assisted phytoremediation is rapidly gaining attention as a biotechnology to accelerate heavy metal (HM) removal from contaminated soils or immobilize the HMs. How different amendments influence this process is still an important research question.

Levels of amphetamine, methamphetamine, cocaine, and benzoylecgonine (BE), the metabolite of cocaine, were quantitated by solid phase extraction and liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) in Forester Creek in San Diego County, CA, and in raw wastewater from the region’s sewage treatment plant. Drug residues in these surface waters were detected with 100% frequency.

Sewage effluent has been identified as a potential source of metal(loid) contamination in the aquatic environment. The Sydney rock oyster, Saccostrea glomerata, can accumulate most metals and is well established as a biomonitor of metals in the marine environment. To determine if Burwood Beach wastewater treatment works (WWTW) is a source of metal(loid) contamination, S.

Manure compost has emerged as a method of soil amendment for phytoremediation of polluted soil by heavy metals. Pot experiments were carried out to study the effects of different dosages of manure compost (0, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 g/kg compost to soil) on the distribution of Cu and Zn in the rhizosphere soil and the accumulation of them by Brassica juncea during the phytoremediation process.

Contamination of water sources with lead has been a problem because it is a toxic heavy metal. Detection and monitoring are important for both the environment and human health. In this paper, we present an application of cantilever nanobiosensors that can detect contamination traces of lead (Pb) in real river water samples. The urease and alkaline phosphatase enzymes are used in the device as a biological element with high sensitivity in Pb detection.

Bisphenol A (BPA) can potentially trigger hormonal imbalances and affect aquatic species when discharged untreated into the ecosystems. This study explored the influencing factors, mechanism, and pathways of BPA degradation process in aqueous solution applying strong ionization discharge (SID) method. The results elaborate that 99.5% degradation rate was achieved in 60 min when 15 mg L−1 BPA solution was treated applying 3.74 kW of input power.

In this study, nine fulvic acid fractions (FAs) were obtained by a progressively extracting method from lake sediment and used as adsorbent for binding metal ions. The characterization indicated that former FA fractions had stronger polarity, more O-bearing functional groups, and less aliphaticity. And the results of EEM-PARAFAC indicated that there were four components in FAs, i.e., two humic-like components and two fulvic-like ones.

Several studies were carried out and drought coexistence technologies were developed to deal with the problem of drought in semiarid regions, such as the construction of underground dams, which became a tool for rural development, mainly for family agriculture.

Heavy metal contamination comes from the air, soil, and water, which affect the animals, plants, and humans in the food chain loop. Duck meat is one of the protein sources for humans and can be used as an indicator of heavy metal pollution. In this research, cross-sectional analytic research was carried out to analyze heavy metal contamination in duck meat. The water, feed, and duck meat (thigh and chest) samples from in intensive duck farming in Central Java, Indonesia, were taken randomly.

Lead is a toxic metal, and its characterization in contaminated soils is crucial to the success of a remediation, especially for the soil washing, one of most commonly used technologies. In this study, we propose a convenient approach that combines sedimentary hydro-classification with semi-quantitative powder X-ray diffraction analysis for characterizing the Pb-bearing minerals in soils.

The concentrations and fractions of heavy metal in sediments at different altitudes in the water-level fluctuation zone (WLFZ) of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) were determined. The Pearson correlation analysis was used to determine the differences between heavy metal fractions and physicochemical properties. The results showed that Cr and Cu were mainly horizontally and vertically distributed in the residual (RE) fractions with the highest stability and relatively low ecological risk.

In this paper, RE-CHAR® biochar, produced by a wood biomass pyrolysis process, which is usually applied as a soil fertilizer, was investigated for a novel use, that was as adsorbent for remediating a lead-contaminated solution. Firstly, a deep physical and chemical characterization of RE-CHAR® biochar was carried out. Then, the adsorption capacity of lead from 50 to 100 mg/L solutions was determined under batch and continuous flow conditions.

Plants evolved a number of coping mechanisms wherewith they overcome negative environmental influences. Secondary metabolites are essential in plants’ stress management toolbox. One of the crucial environmental problems is contamination of soil with toxic heavy metals by different human activities. Serpentine soils are naturally burdened with heavy metals, thus presenting a great model for studying heavy metal tolerance in plants and their mechanisms of adapting to metalliferous soils.

To determine the leaching behavior and mechanism of cadmium (Cd) from contaminated soil by nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), batch leaching experiments and chemical extraction in combination with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses were conducted to investigate the changes of Cd species, the organic matter content, the functional groups of soil particles in the course of leaching.

Since 2016, the impact of the best available techniques (BAT) on air quality in Bor is significant. Its performance is presented by the air quality assessment with respect to the average annual sulfur dioxide (SO2) emitted concentrations and the total SO2 volume emitted per year from the smelter and sulfuric acid plant, relative to the quantity of processed concentrate in the period when production was conducted with the old technology, in 2013.

Diclofenac has been detected in water and terrestrial matrices, causing severe changes in the environment. This is due to the fact that it is one of the most widely used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in the world. The advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) of photo-peroxidation and heterogeneous photocatalysis were tested in this work using UV-C and solar radiation to degrade diclofenac in aqueous solutions.

Clayey soils have been used as liners at the base of waste deposits due to their geotechnical characteristics and capacity to adsorb metallic cations. However, a number of soils may not possess all required properties to ensure contaminant retention and therefore require additives.

Parabens, triclosan, and lipid regulators are frequently used in pharmaceuticals, personal care, hygiene, food, and other products. The final destination of these compounds frequently is domestic sewage. In many cases, collection and treatment systems are not completely efficient, and these compounds reach the environment. However, many of these substances are toxic, and their presence poses risks to several organisms.

Revegetation is an alternative of recovery for contaminated areas by mining tailings. The objective of this study was to evaluate the physiological responses of Cassia grandis growing in iron mining tailings and the implications for revegetation purposes. Plants of C. grandis were grown for 4 months in substrate collected in affected areas by residues from Fundão dam, and commercial substrate was used as control.

The effect of plantain peel biochar on the uptake of six heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb and Zn) in spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) irrigated with untreated wastewater was investigated in nine outdoor lysimeters (0.45 m diameter × 1.0 m height) arranged in a completely randomised design with three replicates. The lysimeters were packed with sandy soil (bulk density 1.35 Mg m−3) and brought to field capacity 1 day before starting the experiment.

Microbiological, physical, chemical, cytotoxic, and genotoxic analyses of waters from ten tubular wells intended for irrigation of a community garden complex in the state of Piaui, northeastern Brazil, were carried out in two periods of 2018 (rainy and drought). All wells in both periods were contaminated with total coliforms, and wells P1, P3, P5, and P10 also had fecal coliforms.

The levels of persistent organic pollutants, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), were investigated in influent, effluent, and sludge of five wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Jordan. Concentrations of 12 dioxin-like PCBs were determined. The extraction of PCBs from wastewater samples was done by solvent extraction using dichloromethane/hexane 1:1 mixture.

Zinc (Zn) and lead (Pb) concentrations were measured in 173 samples collected in soils under forest, wetland, and arable land around a Zn smelter plant that stopped activity in the 1960s. The adopted sampling strategy consisted in collecting 0–30-cm-depth samples from all soils, tilled or not, in order to harmonize the analyzed soil volume to that of plowed soils. Airborne deposition was modeled as a function of the distance from the pollution source and of land use.

Salmonella is a common zoonotic pathogen. Few studies have explored the effects of biochar on the survival of Salmonella in soil. Biochar made by pig manure at different temperatures were applied to four typical vegetable soils to investigate the survival dynamics of Salmonella. The results showed that the survival of Salmonella in latosol, red soil, and black soil was significantly promoted after biochar addition, but not in brown soil.

Surface waters are exposed during their journey to various types of pollutants plus the contribution they receive from different effluents. The objective of this investigation was to evaluate the concentration of Pb, Cd, and Cu in surface waters of the Cotaxtla-Jamapa basin in Veracruz, Mexico. Analyzes were carried out in triplicate in six sampling sites, during three seasons, in morning, and night hours.