Research Publications (Food Safety)

In this paper, nutrient recovery from sewage sludge as struvite using pulsed electric field (PEF) technique was performed. Box-Behnken response surface methodology (BBD) was used to determine the best struvite formation conditions. NH4-N removal efficiency (Y1) and PO4-P removal efficiency (Y2) were considered response functions, while the pH (X1), magnesium concentration (X2, mM), and phosphate concentration (X3, mM) were considered independent variables in the BBD.

Mercury is a potential contaminant of the aqueous systems that needs to be removed from wastewaters even in trace concentrations due to its hazardous effects on environment and human health. Agricultural and industrial wastes are produced in abundance in many agro-industrial activities and have no commercial costs associated with them.

Pesticide use generates wastewaters from its handling and from washing of spraying equipment, bringing concern about punctual discharge. Biobeds are biopurification systems for pesticide residues disposal, representing safe alternatives to avoid soil contamination. Peat that composes the original biomixture is not available all around Brazil.

Climatic changes have altered the water cycle, leading to more frequent occurrences of natural disasters, such as floods. In such events, quality of life is compromised due to environmental changes and widespread of pathogens. Unfortunately, scientific knowledge on bacteria behavior during different hydrological events is still scarce, and such knowledge is essential for the decision-making process regarding flood prevention and mitigation measures.

Lead (Pb) is one of the greatly toxic heavy metals that can enter into the biological system through food chain and induce serious health impairments. Lead ion (Pb (II)) can be released in the environment through natural and anthropogenic sources. Among different types of remediation techniques, adsorption is one of the most well-accepted techniques due to its economic feasibility and versatility as well.

This study was conducted to understand the effect of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) on soil mobility and plant uptake of heavy metals present in wastewater irrigation systems. Radish (Raphanus sativus) was grown in pots under controlled environment, irrigated with synthesized wastewater containing various heavy metals, with and without silver nanoparticles. Soil samples were collected at 30, 45, 51, and 56 days after seeding.

Heavy metal pollution in soil and water has been of worldwide concern due to their biotoxicity/ecotoxicity in the ecosystem, accumulation in the food chain, and persistence in the environment. Microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) is known as an efficient and cost-effective biogeochemical process for the remediation of heavy metals in contaminated environment.

Today, various methods such as bioleaching are increasingly used to remove toxic and reuse useful metals from low-grade ores and tailings. Bioleaching is an ecologically based technique carried by iron or sulfur-oxidizing bacteria, which convert insoluble metal sulfide to soluble metal sulfate. The purpose of this study was to test and compare two different methods, including Flask and Column experiments, to remove Zinc, Copper, Arsenic, and Iron.

Mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant affecting ecosystems and posing risks to wildlife and human health. Mercury in soil represents a major indicator of its availability to enter both the terrestrial (agriculture) and aquatic food chain (fish and seafood) and contaminate consumers. Therefore, interest in soil Hg concentrations is useful for environmental Hg monitoring and remediation of contamined areas.

The quality of water resources can be altered by human activities carried out in watersheds. These changes can lead to the occurrence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and compromise public health. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the presence and concentration of total coliforms and Escherichia coli in the water at the Ecological Park Tietê in São Paulo, the antibiotics resistance of isolated E.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and mercury were investigated in smoked catfish illegally sold and confiscated by Italian authorities in Turin (North-western Italy). The mean benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) concentration was 73 ± 11 μg kg−1 and the total mean PAH concentration (ΣPAH) was 243 ± 38 μg kg−1, both exceeding the EU maximum limits (2.0 and 12 μg/kg) set in muscle of smoked fish and fishery products. Mercury was recovered at 0.59 ± 0.09 mg kg−1 d.w.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the status of heavy metal contamination in the samples of soil, water, vegetables, and vital organs (liver and kidney) of predominant species of rat i.e. Bandicota bengalensis, collected from the vegetable fields near Buddha Nullah (a seasonal water stream highly contaminated with domestic and industrial waste), Ludhiana, Punjab, India.

A wide range solubility of water is the main cause of its contamination by variety of inorganic/organic pollutants and hence needs decontamination using various porous materials. It is needed and still is a challenging task of time to develop porous materials like metal organic frameworks for the said purpose.

Biochar-immobilized microorganism technology is an effective way to remove antibiotic contamination in aqueous solutions. In this study, the effect and mechanism of immobilization of Bacillus subtilis by honeysuckle residue–derived biochar for the removal of chlortetracycline (CTC) were investigated using corn straw biochar as a comparison.

Soils containing high concentrations of metals were treated using a soil washing process. The hypothesis was that metals could be concentrated in a single or small number of fine fractions which could be removed and disposed of to treat the contaminated soil. Lead and zinc were shown to be distributed over the > 4000, 2000–4000, 600–2000, 180–600, 38–180, 38–23, and < 9 µm soil size fractions.

Activities associated with mining operations including smelting, ore handling, and mine tailings management have been identified as sources of dust and aerosol that may contain metal and metalloid contaminants, such as lead (Pb) and arsenic (As). Previous studies on contaminant transport have concentrated on the potential impact of these particulate emissions in outdoor environments.

Abstract

Phthalic acid ester (PAE), a plasticizer, is increasingly being detected in different environments. These compounds can gravely affect the human endocrine system. The present study aims to prepare adsorbents that can effectively adsorb PAE pollutants. To fabricate a better carbon structure than conventional biochar, the sodium hydroxide solution was used as a hydrolyzing agent to pretreat the biomass in order to weaken the bonds in lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose.

Antibiotics are among the prominent class of pharmaceuticals considered emerging pollutants. This class of compounds has found its way into diverse arrays of water bodies in the environment due to their incomplete decomposition, and also the indiscriminate disposal of pharmaceutical waste from industries, farms, and medical centers. This is often through soluble reactive effluent, water run-offs due to rainfall on agricultural facilities and untreated sewages.

A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the phytoremediation efficacies of seven weed plant species, viz., Bidens pilosa L., Chenopodium album L., Malvastrum coromandelianum L., Garcke, Oxalis corniculata L., Parthenium hysterophorus L. (an invasive species), Polypogon monspeliensis L., and Rumex dentatus L., against heavy metals like chromium (Cr) and Nickel (Ni).

The level of pollution and the variability of rainwater runoff quality collected in reservoirs next to the new Lublin bypass (south-eastern Poland) were assessed in this scientific paper. In the rainwater harvesting and treatment system, two types of reservoirs with different construction, size and presence of pre-treatment devices were used. Laboratory tests involved selected physical, oxygen, biogenic, salinity indicators, heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Soil amendments can be an effective and low-cost treatment to reduce metal bioavailability of contaminated dredged sediments disposed on land. The effect of green waste compost addition on Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, and Zn extractability and bioaccumulation in lettuce was studied in a greenhouse experiment, using dredged sediments from different sites of the Matanza-Riachuelo River (Argentina). Moreover, the effect of compost addition in lettuce morphological and biochemical variables was analyzed.

The potential of two aquatic plants, e.g., Typha angustifolia and Acorus calamus, and a terrestrial plant, e.g., Pandanus amaryllifolius, was evaluated in hydroponic experiments for rhizofiltration of cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn). Of the three species, T.

Fish are an important food and economic source in the Amazon region. However, several researches report high levels of mercury, mainly methylmercury (MeHg), in these animals. MeHg is capable of biomagnifying in the ecosystem and negatively affect human health. Amazon region is recognized for its great diversity of fish species and high daily consumption of fish, extremely vulnerable to the toxic effects of MeHg.

Metal mining extraction and concentration need water. The recycling of liquid effluents reduces its consumption. This recycled water must contain low concentrations of metals. This project’s first objective was to start up a laboratory-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor for biotransforming metal sulfates into metal sulfides of effluent from flotation units of a mining plant (FE).