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International Conference on Environment and Health March 15 – 17, 2010 (EH&T 2010) Organized by Center for Environmental Science and Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
International Conference on Environment and Health March 15 – 17, 2010
(EH&T 2010)
Organized by Center for Environmental Science and Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
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Our Sponsors
Indo-US Science and Technology Forum
IIT Kanpur Golden Jubilee Committee
Dept. of Science and Technology, Dept. of Biotechnology, Ministry of Environment and Forestry
IIT K Alumni Dr. D.K. Shukla, Mr. Hersh Saluja Dr. B.K. Panigrahi (CEO, BPC Group Inc)
Organizing Team Dr. Mukesh Sharma, CESE and Dept. of Civil Eng., IIT Kanpur Dr. Viney P. Aneja , North Carolina University, USA Dr. Siddhartha Panda, Dept. of Chem Eng, IIT Kanpur Dr. Ashok Kumar. Dept. of BSBE, IIT Kanpur Dr. Nalini Sankararamakrishnan, CESE, IIT Knpur Dr. Tarun Gupta, Dept. of Civil Eng., IIT Kanpur Dr. S. Bhattacharya, Dept. of Mechanical Eng., IIT Kanpur Dr. Arnab Bhattacharya. Dept. of Computer Sc. and Eng., IIT Kanpur Dr. Nishith Verma, Dept. of Chem Eng., IIT Kanpur
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Preface As a part of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, the Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering (CESE) is organizing an international conference with experts engaged in public health research in the areas of medicine, engineering and ecology. The conference will bring together experts from these fields to generate ideas for medicine, environmental technologies, biological sciences and related research development. This synergy will multiply the potential benefits for better human health. This will be accomplished via invited presentations and round table discussions. The final outcome of the conference is expected to usher in a new generation of research in the field of environmental health and technology.
The conference will provide a unique opportunity for international participants to explore and contribute towards environmentally-induced health issues, common in developing countries, often due to high levels of environmental pollution. The need for low-cost effective technology remains high on the agenda for any society and we expect the conference participants to come together to develop solutions. There will be several presentations on new and current technologies. The issue of emerging contaminants, their assessment, fate processes and health impacts is something that experts are grappling with all over the world. Some presentations will focus on these contaminants and will seek ways of handling them. There are several oral and poster presentations on environmental monitoring and modeling that should provide better assessments and diagnostics for future prediction and forewarning. As we rise to the challenge of making a healthier society, the ancillary impact of the economic growth in the country will become more widespread. We must not forget the importance of a good and sustainable environment even as we make economic advancements. The student posters (about 25 in number) also clearly highlight the issues of monitoring, assessment and technology development. This conference will provide an opportunity for the students to share their ideas with some of the leading experts in the profession. We gratefully acknowledge the support provided by all the sponsors; and efforts of all the speakers and student participants for making the conference a success through discussions and syntheses. Viney Aneja Mukesh Sharma NC State University, Raleigh, USA IIT Kanpur, India
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Speakers
W. H. Schlesinger President Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies [email protected]
P.S. Khillare Professor, JNU N. Delhi [email protected]
G.D. Agrawal Former HOD CE, IITK and eminent educationist and social activist
Edward Mcbean Professor, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada [email protected]
Prashant gargava Env. Engineer, Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi [email protected]
Udai P. Singh Vice President CH2M HILL USA [email protected]
V.P. Aneja Professor NC State University, USA [email protected]
Arun Shourie Member Rajya Sabha Former Minister, Government of India [email protected]
H.B. Singh NASA Ames Research Centre [email protected]
Alena Bartonova Centre for Ecological Economics, NILU,Norway [email protected]
S. Pushpavanam Professor, Dept of Chemical Eng., IIT Madras [email protected]
S.N. Singh N.B.R.I. Lucknow [email protected]
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D. Chakraborthi Director School of Env. Studies Jadavpur Univ. Kolkatta [email protected]
B.R. Gurjar Associate Professor Deptof Civil Engg IIT Roorkee [email protected]
B C Raymahashay Ex Professor, IIT Kanpur [email protected]
P. K. Seth Ex-Director ITRC, Lucknow [email protected]
S. Bhattacharya Assistant Professor Dept. of Mechanical Eng. IIT Kanpur [email protected]
Rakesh Kumar Scientist and Head, NEERI Mumbai Center Mumbai [email protected]
S.K. Katiyar Ex Principal GSVM Medical College [email protected]
B.D.Malhotra Scientist F & Head Biomolecular Electronics & Conducting Polymer, NPL New Delhi [email protected]
Samar Chatterjee SAFE Foundation, Washington, DC [email protected]
Massimo Spadoni Researcher ,INRC, Italy [email protected]
Nishith Verma Professor Dept. of Chemical Engg, IIT Kanpur [email protected]
S. Panda Associate Professor Dept. of Chemical Engg, IIT Kanpur [email protected]
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R.R. Sonde Vice President Thermax Pune [email protected]
A. Roychowdhury Centre for Science and Environment [email protected],
S.K. Gupta Envirotech, New Delhi [email protected]
S.K. Choudhury Dept of Mechanical Engg. IIT Kanpur [email protected]
Titia Meuwese Synpec BV Netherlands [email protected]
Mukesh Sharma Professor Dept of Civil Engg IIT Kanpur [email protected]
Virendra Sethi Associate Professor CESE IIT, Bombay [email protected]
Rajasekhar Balasubramanian Associate Professor Env. Science & Engineering NUS [email protected]
Kunwar P. Sing Senior Scientist & Head ITRC, Lucknow [email protected]
A.B.Gupta Professor MNIT Jaipur [email protected]
B. Sengupta Ex Secretary, CPCB, New Delhi [email protected]
K. Shiomori Professor, University of Miyazaki, Japan [email protected]
M. Kleinman University of California, Irvine, USA [email protected]
C.J. Cormier World Bank patsyD'[email protected]
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Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur International Conference on Environmental Health and Technology, March 15-17, 2010, Outreach Auditorium
Programme DAY 1- March 15, 2010
Time, hrs Session Start End
Speaker Institute Title
Registration 0800 0930 Registration
Inaugural 0930 1030 Inauguration
1030 1100 Tea (Outreach Lawns) 1100 1145 William H.
Schlesinger The Cary Institute of Ecosystem, USA
Coupled Biogeochemical Cycles
1145 1230 R. R. Sonde Thermax, Pune Clean technologies and climate change challenge: myths and realities in Indian context
Special Session Chair: Deepak Kunzru
1230 1315 V. P. Aneja
NC State University, USA Farming Air Pollution: Challenges and Opportunities
1315 1415 Lunch ( Visitors Hostel (VH) Lawns)
1415 1445 H. B. Singh NASA , Ames Research Centre
ARCTAS: An International Polar year (IPY) Experiment to Investigate Pollution in the Arctic Atmosphere
1445 1515 S. Pushpavanam
IIT Madras, Chennai Towards a holistic approach for source apportionment: combining Factor Analysis. Positive Matrix Factorization and CMBe Modeling
1515 1545 P.S. Khillare J.N.U. , New Delhi Assessment of Particulate PAHs in pre- and post-CNG periods in Delhi
Atmospheric processes and Air Quality Chair: M. Sharma 1545 1615 B Sengupta Ex. Secretary CPCB, N.
Delhi Current Status of Air Pollution Control in India
1615 1630 Tea (Outreach Lawns)
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Time, hrs Speaker Institute Title Session Start End 1630 1700 Edward
McBean University of Guelph, Guelph, Ont., Canada
Risk Management of As in drinking water for the rural poor in a climate changing world
1700 1730 K. Shiomori Univ. of Miyazaki Japan Findings from Arsenic Mitigation Project in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, India
Water & Waste Management Chair: Nishit Verma
1730 1800 Udai Singh CH2M Hill, USA Some Challenges in Hazardous Waste Management
Pre-banquet Talk*
1915 2000 Arun Shourie Member Rajya Sabha and Former Minister, Govt. of India
DAY 2- March 16, 2010
Time, hrs Session Start End
Speaker
Institute
Title
0800 0825 S N Singh N.B.R.I., Lucknow Climate Change and Ecology
0825 0850 D. Chakraborthy
Jadavpur University, Kolkata
Groundwater Arsenic Contamination in Ganga-Meghna-Brahmaputra (GMB) Plain and its Health Effects
0850 0915 B C Raymahashay
Ex. Professor, IIT Kanpur
Rocks, Soils and Environmental pollution
Climate Change and Environmental Chemistry Chair: Nalini Shankar
0915 0940 C. J. Cormier World Bank Energy Intensive Sectors of the Indian Economy - Options for Low Carbon Development
0940 0955 Tea (Outreach Lawns) 0955 1020 Shantanu
Bhattacharya IIT Kanpur BioMEMS and micro fluidics for clinical diagnostics and detection
Environmental Health Chair: Ashok Kumar
1020 1045 S. K . Katiyar Ex. Principal, GSVM Medical College, Kanpur
Delivery of anti-tubercular drugs through inhaled route – a novel approach in management of pulmonary tuberculosis
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Time, hrs Session Start End
Speaker
Institute
Title
1045 1110 M. Kleinman Univ. of California, Irvine, USA
Inhaled Particulate Matter and Cardiovascular Disease
1110 1135 Alena Bartonova
NILU, Norway Approaching complexity in Environment and Health: bringing science nearer decision making
1135 1200 BR Gurjar IIT Roorkee Air Pollution and Health Risk in Mega cities
Environmental Health contd.. Chair: Ashok Kumar 1200 1245 Poster Sessions (Outreach Auditorium) 1245 1330 Lunch (VH Lawns)
1330 1355 Samar Chatarjee
Safe Foundation, Washington, DC
Nanotechnology facilitating waste minimization
1355 1420 Nishit Verma IIT Kanpur Development of Chemical nanofibers and nanoparticles as adsorbents for mitigation of gaseous, aqueous and biosystem
1420 1445 P. Gargava Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi
Source Apportionment Studies and Action Plan for Attainment of Air Quality Standards in Six Indian Cities
Technology and Action Plans Chair: S. Panda
1445 1510 S. K. Gupta Envirotech, NewDelhi Indigenous Air Monitoring System 1510 1530 Tea (Outreach Lawns)
1530 1555 Titia Meuwese Synspec BV, The Netherlands
Advancements in Continuous Air Quality Monitoring
1555 1620 Virendra Sethi IIT Bombay Development of Metal-Oxide/Polymer Nano-composite Sensors for Detection of Gas Pollutants
1620 1645 KP Singh ITRC, Lucknow Partial Least Squares and Artificial Neural Network Modeling of the Environmental Processes-Some Case Studies
1645 1710 S. Panda IIT Kanpur Electrolyte Insulator Semiconductor based Microfluidic Biosensor for Early Disease Detection
1710 1735 Rakesh Kumar NEERI, Mumbai Cleaning of our Lakes and Rivers of India using Sustainable Treatment Systems
Environmental Monitoring and Management Chair: Mukesh Sharma
1735 1800 A. Roychowdhury
CSE, N. Delhi Seeking solutions to air pollution, congestion, and health
2015 2200 Dinner (VH Lawns)
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DAY 3: March 17, 2010
Time, hrs Session Start End
Speaker Institute Title
0800 0825 SK Choudhury IIT Kanpur Economic and Eco-friendly Machining : A boon for Machine Industry
0825 0850 Mukesh Sharma
IIT Kanpur Estimation of Metabolic Parameters for Lead Discharge through Liver and Kidney: Application of Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Model
Exposure and Health Chair: S. Bhattacharya
0850 0915 Rajasekhar Bala
NUS, Singapore Emissions of Ultrafine Particles from Laser Printers: Characterization and Health Impacts
0915 0930 Tea 0930 0955 AB Gupta MNIT, Jaipur Presence of Fluorides and nitrates in drinking water and human
health 0955 1020 Massimo
Spadoni Italian National Research Council
Environmental geochemistry and geochemical mapping as support to land planning and public health protection: case histories in Italy
1020 1045 B D Melhotra NPL, New Delhi Opportunities in nanostructured metal oxides based biosensors for clinical diagnostics'
Environmental Health – Case Studies Chair: A. Ghatak
1045 1110 P.K. Seth Ex Director, ITRC Challenges and Opportunity in Environmental Health Concluding Session
1110 1215 Integration and Synthesis – Panel Discussion
1215 1315 Lunch (VH Lawns)
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Table of Contents Special Session Coupled Biogeochemical Cycles- W.H. Schlesinger 1 Farming Air Pollution: challenges and Opportunities- V.P. Aneja 3 Atmospheric processes and Air Quality Arctas: An international polar year (IPY) Experiment to investigate pollution in the arctic atmosphere- H. B. Singh 7 Towards an holistic approach for source apportionment: Combining Factor analysis, positive matrix factorization and chemical balance modeling- S.Pushpavanam and N. Selvaraju 9 Assessment of Particulate PAHS in the Pre and Post CNG Periods in Delhi- P.S. Khillare 10 Current Status of air pollution control in India- B Sengupta 16 Water & Waste Management Risk management of Arsenic in drinking water for the rural poor in a climate changing world- Ed. A. McBean 17 Findings from arsenic mitigation project in Bahraich District, Uttar Pradesh State, India- Y. Yano, A. Kodama, K. Ito, K.Shiomori , M. Sezaki , K. Tanabe , R.Jaiswal, P. Jaiswal , R. M. Tripathi , M. Z.Idris , and H.Yokota 19 Some challenges in Hazardous waste management- Udai. P. Singh 24 Climate Change and Environmental Chemistry Climate Change and crops- S.N. Singh 27 Groundwater Arsenic Contamination in Ganga-Megna-Brahmaputra (GMB) plain and its Health effects- D.Chakraborti 29 Rocks, Soils and Environmental Pollution- B.C.Raymahashay 35 Energy Intensive Sectors of the Indian Economy - Options for Low Carbon Development- K. M. Gaba and C. J. Cormier 36 Environmental Health BioMems and Microfluids for Clinical Diagnostics and Detection- S. Bhattacharya 38
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Delivery of Anti-Tubercular Drugs through Inhaled Route – A novel approach in management of Pulmonary Tuberculosis- S. K. Katiyar 39 The Health Effects of Air Pollution from Traffic and Other Sources- D. Greenbaum, and Bob O'Keefe 41 Inhaled Particulate Matter and Cardiovascular Disease- M. Kleinman 42 Approaching Complexity in Health and Environment- A.Bartonova 45 Emissions, Air quality and Health Risk in Mega Cities- B. R. Gurjar 48 Technology Nanotechnology to facilitate waste minimization- S. Chatterjee and S. Maru 50 Development of carbon nano fibers and nanoparticles as adsorbents for mitigation of gaseous, aqueous and biosystems- N. Verma 64 Clean technologies and climate change challenge: Myths and realities in Indian context- R.R.Sonde 67 Indigenous Air monitoring Systems- S.K. Gupta 69 Environmental Monitoring and Management Online monitoring of toxic and carcinogenic hydrocarbons in air: Theory and results worldwide- T. Meuwese 70 Development of metal-oxide/polymer nano composite sensors for detection of gas pollutants- V. Sethi 72 Partial least squares and artificial neural network modeling of the environmental processes – some case studies- K. P. Singh 73 Electrolyte Insulator Semiconductor based Microfluidic Biosensor for Early Disease Detection- S Panda 76 Cleaning up of lakes and rivers of India using sustainable treatment system- R. Kumar 77 Seeking solutions to air pollution, congestion, and health - A. RoyChowdhury 83 Exposure and Health Economic and Ecofriendly Machinery – A Boon for machining industry- M. Ravi Sankar and S.K. Choudhury 84 Estimation of lead elimination rate for liver and kidney using physiologically 88
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based pharmacokinetic model for improved human risk analyses - Mukesh Sharma and S.U. Reddy Emission of Ultra-Fine Particles and VOCs from laser Printers: Characterization and health Impacts- R.Balasubramanian 90 Environmental Health – Case Studies Presence of Fluorides and Nitrates in Drinking Water and Human Health a case study of Rajasthan- A. B. Gupta and S. K. Gupta 93 Environmental geochemistry and geochemical sampling as support to land planning and public health protection: Case histories in Italy- M.Spadoni and M.Voltaggio 97 Opportunities in nanostructures metal oxides based biosensors for clinical diagnostics- B. D Malhotra 100 Challenges and opportunities in Environmental Health- P.K. Seth 103 Poster Abstracts Trimesic acid coated alumina: a potent adsorbent for both cationic and anionic pollutants from aqueous solution- B.Saha, S,Chakraborty and G, Das 105 16S rRNA based identification of a bioactive dextran producing Pediococcus pentosaceus isolated from soil of biodiversity hotspot Assam- S,Patel, A, Ghosh and A,Goyal 107 REVIEW ON Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs): Remedial Options- G,Singh, A, Sinha and R, Kr. Srivastava 109 Indoor air quality using biomass fuels and its impact on human respiratory health – a case study- A.Yadav, G. Singh, N. Sharma, S. Chakraborty, P. Chandilya, N Kaul, A B Gupta 110 Effect on Pulmonary functions of the healthy subjects during wheat-rice residue burning in and around Patiala city- A. Awasthi, N,Singh, S, Mittal, P,K Gupta* and R,Agarwal 112 Ammonia Emissions in the US: Assessing the role of bi-directional ammonia transport within vegetation canopies using the Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) model- M. L. Gore and V, P. Aneja, E. J. Cooter, R. L. Dennis, and J. Pleim 114 Activated Carbon Micro and Nanofibers in Environmental Remediation Application- A.Chakraborty, R.Naik, P. Haldar, Mekala B., A.Sharma, N.Verma 115
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Preparation of Micro-Nano Carbonized Polymeric Beads for Environmental and Pharmaceutical Applications- R.Saraswat, V.Kumar, K Karthiga., N.Sankararamakrishnan, A. Sharma, N.Verma 116 Fine Particle Concentrations and its Chemical Characterization in Residential homes Located in Different Microenvironments of Agra, India- M. Habil and A.Taneja 117 Equilibrium Studies on the Treatment of Arsenic Contaminated Water using Iron-Chitosan Spacer Granules- A.Gupta and N.Sankararamakrishnan 118 Ground water geochemistry of Kanpur district along the alluvial gangetic plain, UP, India and mechanism of arsenic release- V. S.Chauhan and N.Sankararamakrishnan 119 Enhanced performance of an EIS sensor using textured dielectric silica surface- Subham Dastidar, Abhishek Agarwal, Ravi Chahar, Siddhartha Panda 120 Densities and Orientations of Antibodies on Nano-textured Silicon Surfaces- S.Kumar, N.Rathor, Ramchander Ch, D.Rath, S.Panda 121 Temperature and Humidity sensing studies with nanostructured polyaniline thin films- P. Ghosh , H.A.Ahmad, S. Panda 122 Development of a Continuous Annular Photocatalytic Reactor for the Control of Volatile Organic Compounds using TiO2 Nanoparticles- R. Mohanan, P.K. Nagar, S.Agarwal, M. Sharma and Tarun Gupta 124 Kinetics of degradation of 4-chlorophenol by Fenton’s process- P. Kelapure, P. Ghosh, A.N.Samanta and S.Ray 126 Kinetics of growth and biodegradation of p-bromophenol and p-nitrophenol by Arthrobacter chlorophenolicus A6 - N. K. Sahoo, K. Pakshirajan, P. K. Ghosh 128 Adsorption of Methylene Blue on used tea leaves: Two Stage Batch adsorber design- A. Singh*, S.P. Shukla, N.B.Singh 130 Regional Scale Chemical Transport Modeling: Development of GIS-based Emission Inventory and Application of WRF and CAMx Models- V.Bhatt, S.Sanyal, G.Singh, and M.Sharma 132 Detection and Quantification of Airborne Endotoxins from Occupational Environment- V.Katiyar 134 Design of novel materials for the separation of organic impurities from aqueous medium- S.K. Singh, M. V. P. Srinivas, J.K. Singh 136
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Development and Field Evaluation of a PM2.5 Sampler- T. Gupta and Jaiprakash 137 Indoor Air Pollution Measured in the Different Microenvironments at IIT Kanpur- R. Jat, J. Parfait, A.Peuch and T.Gupta 141
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COUPLED BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES
W. H. Schlesinger
The Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY, 12545, USA
Since the beginning of time, the atmosphere has reacted with the land
surface, and rivers carry the eroded materials which are eventually buried in ocean
sediments. These processes are not unique to Earth; we also see evidence of past
fluvial movements of materials on the lifeless surface of Mars. On Earth, the
biosphere extends roughly 10 km above and 10 km into the crust, defining a thin 20-
km peel where life exists on the surface of our planet. Each year, geologic processes
move a huge volume of material from one place to another in this arena, modifying
the surface environment for life and supplying the elements for biochemistry.
Biogeochemistry recognizes that there is no pure geochemistry at the Earth's
surface; everywhere biology has left its imprint on the chemistry of our planetary
home. Based on the current burial of carbon (organic and carbonate) in ocean
sediments, most of the Earth's inventory of carbon in the crust and upper mantle,
estimated at 22 x 1022 gC, has spent at least some time in the biosphere. If it were
not for the return of carbon to the Earth's surface by tectonic activities, one might
find the entire pool of carbon buried and unavailable to the current needs of life on
Earth.
Science that sees connections between the chemical elements of life has a
long history, perhaps beginning with Liebig's (1840) early observations of the
nutrient limitations of agricultural crops. Many forms of organic matter have
predictable stoichiometry of elemental composition. Coupled biogeochemistry asks
that we view chemical cycles in multiple dimensions-in space, in time, and in the
context of all 92 natural elements of the periodic table. Coupled biogeochemistry in
metabolism stems from the flow of electrons in oxidation/reduction reactions that
power all of life. Chelation also couples the biogeochemistry of carbon to many
elements, which have a greater affinity to bind with organic compounds than to
remain dissolved in water.
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Coupled element biogeochemistry-in biomass, in metabolism and in
chelation-underlies many proposed schemes to "geoengineer" our planet to human
benefit. Plans to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by stimulating an
enhanced carbon uptake when marine phytoplankton are fertilized with iron are
based on the observation of iron limitation to marine primary production and
predictable Fe/C ratios in phytoplankton biomass. A similar approach can be
applied to estimate the efficacy of incremental carbon storage by fertilizing
agricultural soils. Coupled biogeochemistry will play an increasing role as a tool to
evaluate policy options for our planet's future. In a very real sense, biogeochemistry
has come of age, and its practitioners have a bright future.
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FARMING AIR POLLUTION: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
V. P. Aneja
Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State
University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8208, U.S.A.
Email: [email protected]
Emissions of gases and particulate matter from agricultural operations can
impact human and ecological health and can contribute to global atmospheric
greenhouse gas accumulation. As farmers respond to increasing demands for food,
feed, fiber, and fuel, the potential environmental and health risks increase.
Agricultural air quality is an important emerging area of environmental science,
which offers significant challenges to many aspects of policy and regulatory
authorities; and opportunities. Improvements are needed in measurements,
modeling, emission controls, and farm operation management, apart from socio-
economic aspects of food production. Controlling emissions of gases and
particulate matter from agriculture is notoriously difficult as this sector affects the
most basic need of humans, i.e. food, and policies combine an inadequately known
science covering a very disparate range of activities in a complex industry with
social and political overlays. Moreover, agricultural emissions derive from both area
and point sources. Given the serious concerns raised regarding the amount and the
impacts of agricultural air emissions, ways must be found to make real progress in
reducing these environmental impacts.
Agricultural emissions produce significant local and regional impacts, such
as odor, Particulate Matter (PM) exposure, eutrophication, acidification, and
exposure to toxics, and pathogens. Agricultural emissions also contribute to the
global problems caused by greenhouse gas emissions. Agricultural emissions are
variable in space and time and in how they interact within the various processes and
media effected. Most important in the US are ammonia (where agriculture accounts
for ~90% of total emissions), reduced sulfur (unquantified), PM2.5 (~16%), PM10
(~18%), methane (29%), nitrous oxide (72%); and odor and emissions of pathogens
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(both unquantified). Agriculture also consumes fossil fuels for fertilizer production
and farm operations, thus emitting carbon dioxide (CO2), oxides of nitrogen (NOx),
sulfur oxides (SOx) and particulates. Current research priorities include the
quantification of point and non-point sources, the biosphere-atmosphere exchange
of ammonia, reduced sulfur compounds, volatile organic compounds, greenhouse
gases, odor and pathogens, the quantification of landscape processes, and the
primary and secondary emissions of PM. Although European policymakers have
made progress in controlling these emissions, regulations in the United States,
Mexico, and Asia remain inadequate.
Introduction
US agriculture is extremely diverse, ranging from large, highly intensive
and specialized commercial holdings to subsistence farming using mainly
traditional practices. Consequently impacts on the environment vary in scale and
intensity and may be positive or negative (Aneja et al., 2008). A common policy
objective throughout US and Europe for several decades was to increase food
production. Farmers increased agricultural output significantly between the 1940s
and the 2000s in response to such policies. Supported by public investment, this
resulted in mechanization combined with the abandonment of traditional practices,
reliance on non-renewable inputs such as inorganic fertilizers and pesticides, the
cultivation of marginal land and improvements in production efficiency.
In the US and Western Europe (WE), the agricultural policies encouraged
intensification. This took various forms, including the sustained use of chemical
inputs, increasing field size and higher stocking densities. Intensified farm
management led to discontinuation of traditional fallowing practices and crop
rotations resulting in a displacement of leguminous fodder crops with increased use
of silage and maize. Specialization and intensification have resulted in a decrease in
the number of farm holdings and numbers employed, as well as a rationalization of
production leading to less diversity of local agricultural habitats.
Agriculture is an important sector contributing to environmental effects and
more specifically air quality related issues (Aneja et al., 2009). Air quality
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contributes to human health through exposure of ammonia, toxic organic
compounds, pesticides and particulates. Air quality also contributes to climate
change in the form of greenhouse gaseous emissions and as cooling aerosols. After
deposition, eutrophication and acidification might occur and, in combination with
climate change biodiversity is endangered and the net-greenhouse gas exchange is
affected. There are two ways to assess the contribution of agriculture to air quality,
that is the share of agricultural emissions to the total emissions in the US, or through
the contribution of agriculture to the observed effects. The latter is less uncertain
and not followed here.
In 2002 agriculture contributed 10.1% to the total greenhouse gas emissions
in CO2 equivalents in the EU15 (EEA, 2005). The greenhouse gases emitted by
agriculture are nitrous oxide and methane, both of which have a far greater global
warming potential than carbon dioxide. Agriculture also consumes fossil fuels for
farm operations, thus emitting carbon dioxide.
The contribution of agriculture to the PM2.5 emissions is about 5%, and
25% for the PM10 emissions in the US. Current investigations show that PM
emissions from agriculture in intensive emission areas might contribute more than
currently estimated. The gap between modeled and measured PM concentrations
might for a large part be explained by an underestimate of the agricultural sources.
The reactions between sulfuric acid (H2SO4), nitric acid (HNO3), and
hydrochloric acid (HCl), and water (H2O) are the most important equilibrium
reactions for gas/particle partitioning and the formation of ammonium (NH4+) salts
in the atmosphere. Once formed, these particles can be activated by cloud droplets
to form cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), which will affect the earth radiation
budget, and climate through cloud formation, lifetime, and precipitation. Major
reduced sulfur compounds can also be oxidized by atmospheric oxidants such as
hydroxyl radicals (OH) and oxygen radical (O) to form sulfur dioxide. Aqueous
phase chemistry of ammonia may also provide a mechanism for reduced nitrogen to
repartition from larger particles to small particles thus forming new particles in
ultra-fine mode.
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Conclusions
Insufficient scientific knowledge of nitrogen, volatile organic compounds,
sulfur, and particulate matter emissions from intensively managed agriculture and of
the ultimate fate of these compounds are directly comparable to the situation in the
1980s with regard to agricultural non-point sources of nutrient contamination of
water. There is just enough information for researchers and policy makers to
recognize a serious problem, but not enough information for them to understand the
extent of the problem to make scientifically credible recommendations about
potential solutions. Scientists, industry, policy makers, and regulators need to make
optimal choices about issues confronting agriculture in order to maximize the
benefits and reduce the detrimental effects of food production activities.
Improvements are needed in agricultural air pollutant inventories, measurement and
monitoring methodologies, transport/transformation modeling, and best
management/production practices to mitigate air pollutant emissions from
agricultural sources.
References
Aneja, V.P., W.H. Schlesinger, and J.W. Erisman, 2008, “Farming pollution”,
Nature Geoscience, vol. 1, pp. 409-411.
Aneja, V.P., W.H. Schlesinger, and J.W. Erisman, 2009, “Effects of Agriculture
upon the Air Quality and Climate: Research, Policy and Regulations”,
Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 43, pp. 4234-4240.
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AN INTERNATIONAL POLAR YEAR (IPY) EXPERIMENT TO INVESTIGATE POLLUTION IN THE ARCTIC ATMOSPHERE
H. B. Singh1, D. J. Jacob2, J. H. Crawford3 and the ARCTAS Science Team
1. NASA Ames Research Center, CA; 2. Harvard University, MA; 3. NASA Langley Research Center, VA
The 2008 NASA ARCTAS (Arctic Research of the Composition of the
Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites) mission was conducted in three phases
from bases in Alaska (April), California (June) and western Canada (June-July)
(Figure 1). The main goal of ARCTAS was to better understand the factors driving
current changes in Arctic atmospheric composition and climate, including (1)
transport of mid-latitude pollution, (2) boreal forest fires, (3) aerosol radiative
forcing, and (4) chemical processes. ARCTAS involved three aircraft: a DC-8 with
detailed gas/aerosol payload, a P-3 with aerosol/radiation payload, and a B-200 with
remote aerosol instrumentation. An airborne lidar on the DC-8 remotely sensed
aerosol and ozone in the zenith and nadir. High frequency (1-10s) in-situ
measurements of important greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, CO2, N2O), O3 and key
precursors (NOy, HOx, HCHO), aerosol composition (SO4--, NO3
-, OA, BC), key
tracers (CH3CN, HCN, CO, acetone, methanol, SO2) and aerosol radiative
properties were available. Complementing these were an array of lower frequency
measurements (e. g. NMHC, halocarbons, alkyl nitrates, bulk aerosol). The
extensive chemical composition payload sampled forest fire plumes as well as
anthropogenic pollution plumes of varying ages transported from Asia, Europe, and
North America in all three phases of ARCTAS. Tracer measurements together with
meteorological analysis permitted identification of pollution influences and their
stratification by source types (Figure 2). In this study we analyze ARCTAS data,
using observations and models, to compare the characteristics of a variety of plumes
originating from Boreal and California fires and evaluate the impact of these
emissions on the composition of the atmosphere especially as it relates to ozone
formation and radiative effects.
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Figure 1: ARCTAS Platforms and Flights
Figure 2: Greenhouse gas sources and influences in the Arctic
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TOWARDS AN HOLISTIC APPROACH FOR SOURCE APPORTIONMENT: COMBINING FACTOR ANALYSIS, POSITIVE MATRIX FACTORISATION
AND CHEMICAL MASS BALANCE MODELING
S.Pushpavanam (Email: [email protected]) and N. Selvaraju Department of Chemical Engineering IIT Madras, 600036
Source apportionment in the context of air pollution modeling and air
quality management involves identifying the contributions of various sources to the
pollution levels at a point. Here a speciation analysis is carried out of the Particulate
matter collected in a field study. This helps determine the composition of elements,
ions and various carbon fractions in the PM fraction collected. Data collected over a
period of time at a fixed sampling rate, usually 8 hrs or 24 hrs depending on the
levels of pollution are analysed experimentally.
Several methods exist to determine the sources which contribute to the
pollution levels. However each of them has limitations. Factor analysis uses the
experimental data collected over a period of time and identifies a reduced number of
non observable variables which can capture the variations in the data set obtained.
However it cannot quantitatively identify the contributions of the various sources.
There is a lot of subjectivity in the analysis of the results generated. In PMF the
data is used to identify both sources through source profiles as well as their
contributions. Here we do not use the information from source profiles. While a
quantitative estimate of the contributions is possible here one of the drawbacks is
the method generates multiple solutions. It is hence difficult to distinguish between
the solutions. In Chemical Mass Balance approach the information of source
profiles is used in addition to the information of the receptor data and quantitative
contributions of the sources are obtained. Here the source profiles have to be
determined and an apriori knowledge of the sources prevailing in a region has to be
known. The latter comes from a primary emission inventory survey.
In this talk we focus on how the information of each of the above methods
can be fed into each other to evolve and generate consistent non-contradictory
results. An application will be discussed to highlight the features of the method
proposed.
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ASSESSMENT OF PARTICULATE PAHS IN THE PRE- AND POST-CNG
PERIODS IN DELHI
P.S. Khillare
School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi-110067
INTRODUCTION
With emissions from nearly 6.1 million vehicles, three coal-fired power
plants and more than 129,000 industrial units, the pollution scenario in Delhi
appears grim. An estimated 30% of Delhi’s population suffers from air pollution,
and the incidence of respiratory ailments in the city is 12 times the national average
(Pandey et al., 2005). Levels of PM10 and associated Polycyclic Aromatic
Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Delhi are often more than an order of magnitude greater
than its European or US counterparts. PAHs, especially when associated with
inhalable fine particles, are particularly of concern due to their carcinogenic and
mutagenic properties. Receptor modelling studies dealing with atmospheric PAHs
in Delhi are recent and small in number (Sharma et al., 2007, 2008; Khillare et al.,
2008); however, there seems to be a consensus that vehicular emission is the major
culprit.
Acknowledging the need to curb vehicular pollution, a number of policy
measures have been implemented since 1995, such as, banning/phase-out of old
commercial vehicles, mandatory catalytic converters, stricter emission norms,
reducing sulfur and benzene content in fuel, and the conversion of public transport
vehicles in Delhi to CNG mode in 2001. This paper aims to study the effectiveness
of these policy changes, especially CNG, in improving the air quality of Delhi by
analyzing data of PM10 and particulate-PAHs collected in three separate sampling
campaigns covering 10 years.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Twenty-four hour PM10 samplings were carried out in 1998 (pre-CNG),
2004 (2 years post-CNG) and in 2008-09 (7 years post-CNG) at various sites in
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Delhi (Fig. 1). Sampling was done for a period of one year each time; however this
paper reports yearly averaged data for 1998 and 2004 along with data for only the
winter months (December, January and February) in 2008-09. PM10 was collected
by 8-stage Andersen impactors in 1998 and 2004 and 11 PAHs were quantified by
GC-FID, whereas in 2008-09, high-volume samplers were used to collect PM10 that
were subsequently analyzed for 11 PAHs by HPLC-UV.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
It is seen that PM10 and PAH concentrations were extremely high in the pre-
CNG period (454.8 – 658.5 µg m-3 for PM10 and 66.4 – 202 ng m-3 for total PAHs)
(Table 1); however, a drastic reduction was observed in the 2004 sampling
campaign. PM10 levels decreased by 51 – 74% at the sites while PAH levels reduced
by 58 – 68%. This marked reduction can be largely attributed to the shift of public
transport vehicles from diesel to CNG in 2001, along with concomitant policy
changes such as reduction of aromatic and sulfur content of fuel. Natural gas is
known to produce around 90% less particulate matter than conventional diesel. A
recent study (Turrio-Baldassarri et al., 2006) has reported that a CNG engine can
cause around 98% reduction in PAH levels as compared to a pure diesel engine.
Analyses of molecular diagnostic ratios (Table 2) for the 1998 and 2004
sampling campaigns show that the IP/IP+B[ghi]P and B[a]P/B[a]P+Chry ratios
came down markedly from the diesel combustion domain to gasoline combustion
domain between 1998 and 2004, which is in line with the changeover of public
transport vehicles from diesel to CNG.
However, the situation has evolved greatly during 2004 – 2008, as is
evident from the high concentrations of PM10 and PAHs in the last sampling
campaign. At JNU, the site common for all three campaigns, PAH levels rose by a
factor of 4.5 over 2004 values. At MV and MP (both residential areas), the PAH
levels in 2008-09 were higher than even those of industrial and commercial areas
(MN and DG) in 2004. A considerable fraction (50 – 60%) of total PAHs was
comprised of carcinogenic species, implying potential health risk to the exposed
population. Ratios of IP/IP+B[ghi]P and B[a]P/B[a]P+Chry also increased notably
from gasoline to diesel combustion domain in the last campaign.
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The observed rise in PM10 and PAH levels over the last 5 years is directly
correlated to the pattern of vehicular population growth in Delhi (Fig. 2). Mean
annual growth rate of vehicles in Delhi between 2004 and 2009 was 7.8%,
compared to 5.5% between 1998 and 2004 whereas the total vehicular population
doubled from 3 million in 1997-98 to 6.1 million in 2008-09. Majority of these
vehicles are privately-owned and are gasoline or diesel fuelled while CNG driven
vehicles comprise a miniscule 4.8%. The share of buses (CNG driven after 2001)
has fallen from 1.07% in 1998 to 0.75% in 2009. The massive rise in the number of
privately-owned vehicles in the past few years seems to be the major cause for the
observed increases in PM10 and PAH levels in our study.
CONCLUSION
The findings of this paper indicate that although the air quality of Delhi
(with respect to PM10 and PAHs) improved significantly after the introduction of
CNG in the public transport system in 2001, it has declined considerably since
2004. PM10 and PAH levels in 2008-09 were significantly higher than 2004 values,
and as such, imply considerable health effects in the exposed population. The
findings also indicate that along with fuel-switching and fuel-quality improvement,
there is a strong need to control the tremendous growth of vehicles in Delhi in order
to tackle the air pollution problem effectively.
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Fig. 1. Map of Delhi showing the sampling sites. Motinagar: Industrial area;
Daryaganj: Commercial area; Mayur Vihar: Urban residential area; Mithapur: Sub-
urban residential area; Jawaharlal Nehru University: Institutional cum residential
area
Fig. 2. Growth in vehicular population of Delhi from 1997-98 to 2008-09 along
with annual growth rates in % (secondary axis).
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Table 1. Mean concentrations of PM10 (µg m-3) and total PAHs (Σ11PAHs) (ng m-3)
at the sites observed during the three sampling campaigns.
MN DG JNU MV MP
PM10
1998 552.8 658.5 454.8
2004 270.9 171.2 122.8
2008-09 133.9 183.1 189.3
Σ11PAHs
1998 202 174.5 66.4
2004 74.9 72.8 21.1
2008-09 94.4 126.5 158.3
Table 2. Selected molecular diagnostic ratios at the study sites during the three
sampling campaigns.
Sampling
sites
IP/IP+B[ghi]P B[a]P/B[a]P+Chry
1998 2004 2008-
09
1998 2004 2008-
09
MN 0.45 0.31 0.67 0.33
DG 0.44 0.37 0.56 0.34
JNU 0.46 0.30 0.43 0.55 0.50 0.58
MV 0.42 0.61
MP 0.42 0.63
REFERENCES
Khillare, P.S., Agarwarl, T., Shridhar, V., 2008. Impact of CNG implementation on
PAHs concentration in the ambient air of Delhi: A comparative assessment of pre-
and post-CNG scenario. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 147, 223-233.
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Pandey, J.S., Kumar, R., Devotta, S., 2005. Health risks of NO2, SPM and SO2 in
Delhi (India). Atmospheric Environment 39, 6868-6874.
Sharma, H., Jain, V.K., Khan, Z.H., 2007. Characterization and source identification
of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the urban environment of Delhi.
Chemosphere 66, 302-310.
Sharma, H., Jain, V.K., Khan, Z.H., 2008. Atmospheric polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the urban air of Delhi during 2003. Environmental
Monitoring and Assessment 147, 43-55.
Turrio-Baldassarri, L., Battistelli, C.L., Conti, L., Crebelli, R., Berardis, B.D.,
Iamiceli, A.L., 2006. Evaluation of emission toxicity of urban bus engines:
Compressed natural gas and comparison with liquid fuels. Science of the Total
Environment 355, 64-77
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CURRENT STATUS OF AIR POLLUTION CONTROL IN INDIA
B Sengupta
Central Pollution Control board Ministry of Environments and Forest, New Delhi
Email: [email protected]
In this presentation following initiatives taken for air pollution control in India have
been discussed.
New Ambient air quality standards and its relevance in Indian context
Source appoirnment studies for fine particulate matter (PM 10 an d PM2.5)
Air quality monitoring network including continuous air quality monitoring
stations and data in publc domain/
Toxic and hazardous air pollutants assessment and control
Declaration of new critically polluted areas.
Emission standard for air quality industry and its implementation.
Fuel quality improvement for pollution control
Pollution control from large air polluting industry like coal based thermal
power station, iron and steel plants, oil refineries etc.
Clean coal technologies for air pollution control
Fly ash management from power plants.
Besides above current challenges in the field of air pollution control in India has also being discussed.
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RISK MANAGEMENT OF ARSENIC IN DRINKING WATER FOR THE RURAL POOR IN A CLIMATE CHANGING WORLD
Edward A. McBean
Ph.D., P.Eng., P.E., Professor of Water Resources and Canada Research Chair in Water Supply Security, School of Engineering,
University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada Email: [email protected]
Arsenic concentrations in groundwater as a result of natural arsenic deposits
are substantially higher than drinking water guidelines in many countries. As a
consequence, the challenges of water delivery to the rural poor are extremely
difficult due to the costs of sophisticated water treatment. Risk assessment
procedures are described which demonstrate that current interim drinking water
guidelines in use in many developed countries do not meet 'de minimus' levels for
cancer risk.
The successes/failures of some of the technologies relied upon for water
treatment are described, demonstrating the potential for improvements in arsenic
concentrations but still falling very short of desired levels. Some specific examples
of removal effectiveness of these technologies are provided, including indications of
interference arising from other chemicals.
One option is described wherein a combination of water sources including
an arsenic-free source of water is used for a portion of the year which, in
combination with portion sof the year of consumption of arsenic-impacted
groundwater, can meet the same body burden as meeting the interim water
guideline. Specifically, use of a rainwater cistern for periods of approximately 165
days is feasible in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which would allow consumption of
groundwater with arsenic concentrations at higher concentrations to be consumed
for the remainder of the year, thereby equaling the body-burden equal to
consumption of groundwater at an arsenic concentration at the interim guideline, for
365 days within the year.
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The impact of climate change, using the SRES -A2 scenario indicates that
rainwater cisterns will be able to meet the water consumption needs of a household
for a longer period of time, due to increased precipitation patterns projected for
Dhaka, but the impacts are relatively modest. The ramifications of this change are
that there is unlikely to be significant relief from the groundwater-related arsenic
problem, as a result of projected climate change scenarios.
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FINDINGS FROM ARSENIC MITIGATION PROJECT IN BAHRAICH DISTRICT,
UTTAR PRADESH STATE, INDIA Y.Yano i, A. Kodama ii, K. Ito iii, K.Shiomori iii, M. Sezaki iii, K. Tanabe iii, R.Jaiswal
iv, P.Jaiswal iv, R. M. Tripathi v, M. Z. Idris vi, And H.Yokota vii i) Sub-project Manager, Research Associate, ii) Graduate student, Kyoto
University, Japan, iii) Associate Professor, iv) Counterpart of Project, NGO Ecofreinds, v) JalNigam, UP State, vi) CSM Medical Univ., India vii) Project
Manager, Professor: Univ. of Miyazaki, Japan,
INTRODUCTION
The arsenic contamination of tube wells in Bahraich district is highest in
Uttar Pradesh state (UP state)1). University of Miyazaki has performed the arsenic
mitigation project at the Newada village (4 habitations) & Chetra village (3
habitations), Tejwapur Block, Bahraich district from June 2008 under JICA Grass
Root Technical Cooperation Project after the preliminary surveys 2) from 1995. We
have executed the integrated mitigation, such as the raising awareness of villagers,
installing of alternative water supply units and healthcare of arsenocosis patients.
The project will be over at the end of May, 2010 and we already obtain the
successful achievements of the project until now. In this paper, the findings of
project are discussed.
FINDINGS OF PROJECT
(1) Arsenic Contamination of Groundwater
We had measured the arsenic concentration of all tube wells in the 7
habitations. There are 42 of government tube wells (called as GTW hereafter) and
323 of private tube wells (PTW). The arsenic concentration in GTW is only here
shown in Fig.1. GTWs (Depth: about 30m) are almost contaminated with arsenic, in
which 62% of TW shows As>50 ppb and 98% for As>10 ppb. On the other hand,
the arsenic contamination in PTW (Depth: about 10m) is overall low with 8% for
As>50 ppb and 24% for As>10 ppb.
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Fig.1 Arsenic concentrations of government tube wells in Habitations (Total
number:42)
(2) Water Quality Analyses of Tubewells
We had sample tests for water quality of GTWs (20 units) and PTWs (31
units). A part of the results is shown in Figs. 2 and 3. From Fig.2, it is understood
that most of arsenic-safe water in PTWs is in oxidized condition because of positive
values of ORP and zero/little values of Fe2+, and the concentrations between arsenic
and ferrous iron show linear relationship with some scattered data.
Fig.3 shows roughly linear relationship between arsenic concentration and
ammonium concentration. The latter may be caused by fermentation in underground
from feces of cow & human and fertilizer on the ground.
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Fig. 2 Relation between arsenic and ferrous iron
Fig.3 Relation between arsenic and ammonium
(3) Contamination of Ground
We had 4 test borings, depths of which are 10m, 30m, 50m and 80m. The
geological profiles showed the alternation of fine and medium sand until 80m depth
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without any silt and clay layers. Fig.4 shows the arsenic concentrations at the each
depth.
On the other hand, we performed the hand-operated borings (depth:30m)
near to the government tube wells. Fig.5 is a part of data, showing the high arsenic
contents near 30m that is the government tube well depth.
Fig.4 Arsenic concentrations at each depth of boring
Fig.5 Arsenic concentrations of boring core samples
(4) Health Management and arsenic water supply
We had the medical trainings for local doctors to identify the arsenocosis
patients and medical examinations for villagers 3 times until now. And, 42 of
arsenocosis patients are identified in the 7 habitations (morbidity rate>6%) in
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collaboration with these trained local medical doctors. The morbidity rate of 6% is
higher but the symptoms of the arsenocosis patients are not so severe. Their
symptoms will be improved by drinking arsenic–safe water through the arsenic
removal units installed at the each habitation in the project. And, another 23 patients
are detected at the surrounding villages, where the arsenic mitigation project is now
proposed to JICA by us.
CONCLUSION
We have got the following findings in the project:
1) Private tube wells (10m depth) are almost free from arsenic contamination but
government tube wells (30m depth) are mostly contaminated with arsenic.
2) Arsenic is leached out into groundwater under reduced condition.
3) Both of private & government tube wells are highly contaminated with
ammonium, concentration of which is almost linear with arsenic.
4) The concentrations of arsenic and ferrous iron show almost linear relationship.
5) Ground is composed of sand until 80m with high arsenic content of 30mg/kg at
28~30m depth.
6) 42 of arsenocosis patients are identified in the 7 habitations (morbidity rate>6%)
in collaboration with local medical doctors, who has been trained to diagnose the
chronic arsenic poisoning in the project.
7) The morbidity rate of 6% is higher but the symptoms of the arsenocosis patients
are not so severe, and another 23 patients are detected at the surrounding villages.
8) Arsenic-safe water is supplied at the each habitation by installing arsenic removal
unit.
REFERENCES
1) Yasunori Yano, Akihiko Kodama, Koichiro Shiomori, Mitsuhiro Sezaki, Kimiko
Tanabe, Rakesh Jaiswal, Piyush Jaiswal, Raghuvansh Mani Tripathi and Hiroshi
Yokota (2009):Arsenic Contamination of Groundwater at Uttar Pradesh state in
India, International Joint Symposium on Geo-disaster Prevention and Geo-
environment in Asia, JS-Fukuoka 2009,pp.193-198.
2) Sezaki, M., Tanabe, K. and Yokota H. (2008): Arsenic pollution of groundwater
in the Uttar Pradesh state, India, IAH2008Toyama.
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SOME CHALLENGES IN HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT
Udai P. Singh
Vice President, CH2M Hill, 155 Grand Avenue, Suite 1000, Oakland, CA 94612, USA
Hazardous waste management has been practiced in a systematized manner
for a few decades since the enactment of the Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act (RCRA) and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act (CERCLA) legislation in the United States. Although significant
improvements have been made in managing hazardous waste over the years, many
challenges remain. Some of these challenges are presented here, as viewed from a
practitioner’s perspective. These challenges can be grouped into the following
categories: site characterization, risk assessment, remediation, regulatory
compliance, and community relations.
Site characterization is necessary before deciding on a remediation strategy.
Where most or all of the contamination is below the ground surface, the challenge is
in determining the adequate or optimum level of effort needed to select an
appropriate remedy. Uncertainties in site geologic and hydrogeologic
characterization often lead to inaccurate contaminant plume delineation. Improved
fate and transport modeling will lead to better site characterization and remedy
selection.
Much research is being done in the area of risk assessment. However, little
of it is useful in making decisions on remediation strategies. For example, extensive
studies have been performed on the genetic and molecular level effects of
contaminants. What the practitioners need are more whole animal toxicity studies.
More research is needed on the effects of exposure on growth, reproduction, and
survival—the measures used to make remedial decisions. Better information is
needed on how many contaminants are accumulated and transferred among
components in the food web. Nanomaterials recently have been introduced in
remediating hazardous waste sites, with the challenge of evaluating the fate, effects,
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and risks associated with environmental releases of these materials. Risks associated
with the low-level exposures to personal care chemicals and pharmaceuticals in the
environment are also a growing concern.
Recently, more attention is being directed to chemicals thought to be
mutagenic, and their cleanup levels are becoming more conservative. Reliable, up-
to-date, peer-reviewed toxicity values for commonly found chemicals of concern
and emerging contaminants need to be developed. Current research findings need to
be published, linking results from in vitro tests for metals bioavailability to animal
studies. These findings could significantly affect cleanup values for inorganics.
Also, there is significant uncertainty about modeling agricultural pathways using
“rural resident” exposure scenarios. A more-reliable database of uptake factors for
commonly consumed fruits and vegetables from various types of hazardous waste
sites with a range of soil types and weather conditions will be helpful. Vapor
intrusion investigations and risk assessment are likewise still associated with much
uncertainty. There are no widely accepted methods for using soil data to evaluate
the vapor intrusion pathway. Research needs to continue on how various volatile
organic chemicals migrate through the subsurface and contribute to vapor intrusion.
Forecasting the duration of aquifer remediation is another substantial
challenge. How can expensive cleanup decisions be made effectively when there is
great uncertainty about the time needed for remediation and the ability to meet
remedial action objectives in a reasonable time frame? Accurate forecasting of the
duration of remediation will require mathematical formulations that consider the
various scales of contaminant mobility within an aquifer and on the accurate
definition of the parameter values that define the contaminant mobility at all
locations within the aquifer. New mathematical formulations and statistical
descriptions of aquifer properties will likely emerge to support forecasting remedial
processes. Another challenge is to identify the optimal trade-off between costs and
time to clean up a site, as well as the trade-off between site cleanup and avoiding
negative environmental, social, and economic impacts.
Innovative in situ remediation technologies have emerged during the past
decade and are being applied successfully on many sites. However, most present
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challenges in the delivery of sufficient and appropriate reagent to the exact location
of contaminants within an acceptable time period, and some also bring unintended
consequences. Effective aboveground treatment processes have been developed for
more-recent or emerging chemicals of concern, such as hexavalent chromium,
perchlorates, endocrine disrupters, pharmaceuticals, nanoparticles, and flame
retardants. However, treatment costs are usually prohibitive, so more cost-effective
treatment processes need to be developed.
A regulatory challenge is the inefficiency and inconsistency created by
having two federal corrective action programs, RCRA and CERCLA, which also
are frequently modified by the individual states of the U.S. Long-term stewardship
is another challenge. The global economic recession has demonstrated that no
company is immune from failure, so regulators need to look at implications for
long-term stewardship of longer duration remedial actions if a large company goes
out of business. Given the recent impacts of the economic recession, should there be
stricter rules on how reserves are established? Finally, the principal challenge in
community relations continues to be keeping the concerned public informed in an
honest and easily understood manner.
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CLIMATE CHANGE AND CROPS S. N. Singh
Environmental Science Division National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow
Email: [email protected]
Climate change is today viewed as a global alarming threat. Therefore, the
print and electronic media very often highlight evils of global warming in some
parts of the world to attract our attention for immediate remedial measures.
However, this phenomenon is not new; it has been around us since the beginning of
the life on this planet. In natural greenhouse effect, gases like CO2, CH4, N2O, and
water vapor present in the atmosphere, trap the outgoing terrestrial radiations and
thus warm up the earth’s surface. In their absence, we cannot even imagine that the
earth’s average temperature would have been 330C lower than it is now. In such
situation, our survival would have been very difficult on the earth. This indicates
that these gases provide essential warmth for our survival on this planet.
But in recent years, the thermostatic balance of the earth has been disturbed
due to an unabated increase in the atmospheric abundance of greenhouse gases,
such as CO2, CH4, N2O, CFCs, PFC and SF6, emanating from various anthropogenic
sources. Among these sources, agriculture alone accounts for one-fifth of the annual
increase in GHG emission and contributes 20% to enhanced rediative forcing
through emission of CO2, CH4 and N2O gases. Sixty percent of N2O and 50% of
CH4 are emitted from agricultural fields.
According to the fourth assessment report of the IPCC 2007, the earth
surface temperature has already increased by 0.60c in 20th century and is predicted
to further go up in the range of 1.4-5.80c in the 21st century. Therefore, to arrest the
global warming process, Kyoto Protocol was ratified in 2005 by both developing
and developed nations for its implementation. Unfortunately, USA and Australia
remained out of agreement which dampened the global effort in this direction .In
this agreement, while there is no cap on the emission of GHGs for developing
nations, but the developed nations have to cut drastically their emission to bring it
down 6% than 1990 level. If this protocol is scrupulously followed by all the
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nations, the global warming could be halted to save the mankind from miseries. In
Copenhagen summit on climate change, developed and developing nations were
divided on the issue. USA and other developed nations wanted to impose a cap on
GHGs emission for developing nations. However, the developing nations advocated
in favour of voluntary cut in GHGs emission in place of mandatory cap. India
agreed for voluntary 20% cut in GHG emission from their own sources.
It is obvious that a significant change in climate would affect agricultural
production, threatening the food security to burgeoning population of the world. In
the changed scenario with higher CO2 and temperature, CO2 will have the fertilizing
effect on especially C3 crops, but its beneficial effect will be nullified by higher
temperature as reported by the several scientists from the field experiments. Using a
GCM model, Bhaskaran et al. (1995) have predicted a total precipitation increase of
20 % and increase in temperature by 1-40C, but the richness of precipitation would
not enhance the crop production, if it is not timely and not in the region of fertile
soil. In the areas of less precipitation, the water scarcity can badly affect both Kharif
and Rabi production threatening the food supply despite of fertilizing effect of
elevated CO2. Hence, a lot of researches are being carried out around the world to
find out the ways how to sustain crop production in the changed scenario. In India
too, many research institutes like IARI, New Delhi, NBRI and CRRI, Cuttack have
taken initiatives in this direction. The scientists are not only studying the crop
response to elevated CO2 and temperature alone and in combination, but also trying
to develop drought resistant crop cultivars through breeding and biotechnological
approach for the areas where water supply is a major constraint. Hence, we have to
gear up our R & D activities to meet the challenges of global warming which is
looming large over the world and has become a potential threat to our survival on
this planet.
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GROUNDWATER ARSENIC CONTAMINATION IN GANGA-MEGHNA-
BRAHMAPUTRA (GMB) PLAIN AND ITS HEALTH EFFECTS
D. Chakraborti1*, B. Das1, B.Nayak1, A.Pal1, M. M. Rahman1, K.C.Saha2, S. C. Mukherjee3, S. Pati4, R.N. Dutta5, Q.Quamruzzaman6.
1 School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India 2 Retired Professors, Department of Dermatology, School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata,
India 3 Departments of Neurology, Medical College, Kolkata, India 4 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and
Research, SSKM Hospital, Kolkata, India 5 Department of Dermatology, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, SSKM Hospital, Kolkata, India 6
Dhaka Community Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh Corresponding author*, Email: [email protected]
Based on our last 23 years survey on groundwater arsenic contamination in
Ganga-Meghna-Brahmaputra (GMB) plain [an area of 5,69,749 km2, with a
population of over 500 million], we predict a good portion of all the states in
Ganga-Brahmaputra plain in India (Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal,
Assam, Manipur and other North Eastern hill states) and Bangladesh in Padma-
Meghna-Brahmaputra are arsenic affected. In last 23 years we analyzed 1,40,150
hand tubewell water samples for arsenic from West Bengal; 19961 from Bihar,
5044 from Uttar Pradesh, 3354 from Jharkhand, 241 from Assam and 290 from
Manipur from India and, 50808 from Bangladesh so far. The number of affected
villages (As concentration more than 50 µg/L) from West Bengal, Bangladesh,
Bihar, UP, Jharkhand, are 3417, 2000, 240, 73, and 68 respectively. We undertook
medical survey with a group comprising of experienced dermatologists,
neurologists, and gynaecologists in the arsenic affected regions of GMB plain where
we have found arsenic concentrations above 300 µg/L in drinking water and our
field workers had prior information about arsenical patients. So far our medical
team had screened 96000 individuals from West Bengal, 18,991 from Bangladesh,
3100 from Bihar, 989 from UP, 652 from Jharkhand for arsenical health effects and
found 9356, 3762, 450, 154 and 71 of them having arsenical skin lesions.
Dermatological symptoms due to arsenic toxicity included melanosis, keratosis,
ulcer, gangrene and even cases of cancer. The prevalence of clinical neuropathy was
ascertained in cases already showing arsenical dermal effects by diagnosing typical
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neurological items. A probable relation between arsenic exposure and adverse
pregnancy outcome could be established through judging different reproductive end
points including spontaneous abortion, preterm birth, stillbirths, low birth weight
and neonatal and prenatal mortality. So far we have analyzed 40,000 biological
samples (hair, nail, and urine, skin scales) collected from arsenic affected regions of
West Bengal (including 1000 skin scale), 10,000 from Bangladesh, 1860 from
Bihar, 200 from Uttar Pradesh, and 367 samples from Jharkhand. The subclinical
effects thus the body burden of arsenic among the affected population in the states
and countries of the GMB plain was proven through elevated levels of arsenic in
these biomarkers and comparing them with those from unexposed one. Screening
around 19,000 children from, arsenic affected areas of West Bengal, Bangladesh,
Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand we found nearly 1100 affected with arsenical
skin lesions. Our studies show that children are more vulnerable to arsenical toxicity
compared to adults. In these circumstances a successful mitigation strategy should
involve one or more of the options: surface water with proper watershed
management and purification, deep tubewells free from toxins, dugwells, rainwater
harvesting, and arsenic removal plants. Role of better nutrition in combating the
problem should be stressed. Community involvement especially participation of
women should be integral part of any approach. In Bangladesh and West Bengal, at
present less people are drinking arsenic contaminated water due to growing
awareness and access to arsenic safe water.
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Figures 2: Salient dermatological symptoms of arsenical toxicity.
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Table 1: Details survey report of the groundwater samples analysed by SOES from the states of
India and Bangladesh
Parameters West
Bengal
Bangladesh Bihar Uttar
Pradesh
Jharkhand
(only Sahebganj
district)
Area in sq. km. 88,750 147620 94163 238000 1599
Population in million 80.2 122 82.88 166 1
Total number of districts (no. of district
surveyed)
19 (19) 64 (64) 37 (12) 70 (5) 22 (1)
Total number of water samples analyzed 1,40,150 50515 19961 5044 3354
% of samples having arsenic > 10 g L-1 48.1 40.1 32.7 43.1 36.1
% of samples having arsenic > 50 g L-1 23.8 26.2 17.75 27.5 15.4
Maximum arsenic concentration so far
we analyzed (g/L )
3700 4730 2182 3192 1018
Total number of arsenic affected districts 14 50 12 5 1
Total population of severely arsenic
affected districts in million
50.4 104.9 24 16.1 0.9
Total area of severely arsenic affected 38,861 118849 21271 17919 1599
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districts in sq. km.
Total number of blocks/ police station 341 490 534 9
Total number of blocks/ police station
surveyed
241 331 42 12 9
Number of blocks / police station having
arsenic >50gL-1
111 189 36 9 3
Number of blocks / police station having
arsenic >10gL-1
148 39 11 3
Total number of village 37910 45103 1819
Total number of village surveyed 7823 398 123 115
Number of villages/paras having arsenic
above 50 gL-1
3417 2000 235 70 68
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ROCKS, SOILS AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
B.C.Raymahashay
Professor (Retired), Department of Civil Engineering IIT Kanpur
Water pollution by hazardous chemicals like arsenic, fluoride and chromate
can be traced to geologic materials e.g. rocks and soils. This is classified as “Natural
Pollution”. In contrast, pollution by nitrate and phosphate are examples of
“Industrial Pollution”.
The widespread contamination of aquifers in the Ganga delta region
covering parts of West Bengal and Bangladesh is a major challenge to geochemists.
Majority of workers favour the hypothesis that arsenic is derived by reduction of the
iron hydroxide coating on mineral grains which occur in the alluvial sediment. This
reaction is mediated by micro-organisms like iron, sulfate and nitrate bacteria.
Nutrients for the biochemical reactions are supplied by surface water accumulating
in nearby ponds. A dominantly horizontal hydraulic conductivity accelerates the
nutrient flow.
In terms of geographical spread of water pollution, fluoride comes next to
arsenic. In hard rock areas, the source of this pollutant is the mineral fluorite, CaF2
that occurs in the bedrock. But in alluvial terrains like the river deposits of Panjab,
Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, fluoride ion. Occurs in the crystal lattice of mica group
of minerals substituting for the hydroxyl ion.
It is customary to relate chromate pollution to industrial waste. Pollution of the
Ganga water near Kanpur is a well-known example. However, the headwaters of the
Brahmani river in Orissa in locations far away from urban centers, contains
hexavalent chromium above permissible limit. It has been established that natural
weathering of the mineral chromite, FeO.Cr2O3 which is mined from open-pit
quarries in this area is the source of this pollutant.This presentation elaborates these
case histories of Natural Pollution.
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ENERGY INTENSIVE SECTORS OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY - OPTIONS FOR LOW CARBON DEVELOPMENT
Kwawu Mensan Gaba and Charles Joseph Cormier
World Bank
India is at a unique juncture in its development. Prior to the recent global
economic and financial crisis, its GDP grew at more than 9 percent per year over the
period 2003–2007, with high rates of investment and savings and strong export
growth. This rapid economic growth generated substantial potential for public and
private investments in development. As outlined in India’s 11th Five Year Plan, the
government of India is aiming to double per capita GDP over 10 years. Such
dramatic and rapid income growth for a country as populous as India would require
a significant transformation and have a significant effect on India’s energy sector.
The scale of the growth of energy demand in India raises obvious questions
about the time path of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, which has strong
global implications: India’s CO2 emissions from fuel use in 2007 were less than 5
percent of the world total, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA
2009), but its share of the global emissions is likely to increase with economic
development. India currently relies heavily on coal for its commercial energy
demand (53 percent of installed capacity), but it lacks sufficient domestic energy
resources, and is increasingly dependent on imports of fossil fuels to meet demand.
With an expectation of a substantial increase in energy use, reduction in the growth
in total CO2 emissions will depend on the extent to which total growth in energy
use is offset by a combination of (a) further reduction in energy intensity of GDP,
allowing growth and development goals to be met with less growth in energy use
and associated CO2 emissions than anticipated; and (b) further reduction in the CO2
intensity of energy use, through greater increases where possible in the share of
energy demand met by lower-carbon or even carbon-neutral energy resources.
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The findings in the study: Energy Intensive Sectors of the Indian Economy:
Path to Low Carbon Development present India’s potential “carbon futures”—how
total emissions might evolve out to 2031 under different broad assumptions about
energy supply and demand drivers. According to the analysis, carbon intensity is set
to improve by 19 percent by 2020 (and 33 percent by 2031) against a 2005 baseline
with current plans in power generation, energy-intensive industries (like iron and
steel, cement, fertilizer, refining, pulp and paper, and aluminum), road
transportation, commercial buildings and residential housing. With an all out effort
on the technical, financial and institutional fronts (All-Out Stretch Scenario), carbon
intensity would improve by 30 percent by 2020 (and 45 percent by 2031).
A crucial first step towards lower-carbon development over the longer term,
as well as improved energy sector performance in the nearer term, would be for
India to substantially improve upon its past performance in achieving its targets.
Unless India improves the allocation of financial, technical, institutional, and skills-
based resources, achievement rates may continue the roughly 50 percent success
rate experienced for the addition of new generation capacity in the past three Five
Year Plans (19912006).
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BIOMEMS AND MICROFLUIDICS FOR CLINICAL DIAGNOSTICS AND
DETECTION
S. Bhattacharya
Department of Mechanical Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur-208016
BioMEMS or biomicroelectromechanical systems are miniaturized systems
which are able to perform biological detection and diagnostics on an invivo or
invitro basis. Microfluidics is the study of fluids at the microscopic length scale.
The talk would highlight the diagnostics work that we are doing using MEMS
platforms for food and water borne pathogens. The microfluidic device involved
uses antibody based recognition, dielectrophoretic capture and PCR based
identification of bacteria. The chip comprises of two distinct sets of micro-
electrodes. One set is used as a resistance temperature detector to thermally cycle
the micro-chip with precision and accuracy. The microchip is placed over a PCB
board with embedded heaters. We are investigating the thermal cycling capability of
the system and its accuracy.
The talk would also highlight another interesting area of work wherein
DNA mobility studies are made on a energetically patterned substrate. MD
simulations are used to studying the molecular scale interactions. Nanostructured
surfaces would be thus used for studying the differential mobility of the molecules.
The third area that the talk illustrates the ralization of 3-D microchannels
and their use in valving and pumping at the micron-scale for demonstrating 3-D
fluid flow.
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DELIVERY OF ANTI-TUBERCULAR DRUGS THROUGH INHALED ROUTE – A NOVEL APPROACH IN MANAGEMENT OF PULMONARY
TUBERCULOSIS
S. K. Katiyar
Ex. Principal, GSVM Medical College, Kanpur
Tuberculosis remains to be an enormous problem world over and despite
availability of good chemotherapy, still the disease is not under control and the
problem of drug resistance is on rise Unfortunately no new anti-tubercular drug
(ATD) has been developed after the discovery of rifampicin in 1966, nor any
promising drug is in the pipeline. Though the present anti-tubercular chemotherapy
is quite effective still it has certain limitations in form of- toxicity and side effects,
long duration of therapy, drug- interactions, mal-absorption, cost of therapy, and
problem of drug resistance especially multi drug resistance tuberculosis.
Lungs are the primary site of tuberculosis and alveolar macrophages, the
principal cells of defense, phagocytose extra-cellular tubercle bacilli, where the
bacteria are either destroyed or multiply or they may remain dormant indefinitely.
Thus tubercle bacilli, in the lungs, reside both extra-cellular and intra-cellular and
the latter are the ones which are more difficult to be eradicated out
Targeting anti-tubercular drug delivery to the lungs through inhalation route
will not only make the drug available extra-cellular but by the virtue of drug uptake
by macrophages, it would also reach in much higher concentration inside these
cells. If this becomes possible, it will lead to reduction in the drug dosages and
reduction in their unwanted exposure to various other unaffected vital organs
thereby reducing their toxicity and side effects; increase the local therapeutic effect
by attaining higher concentration at the target site.
To explore this possibility, a comparative study on bioavailability of
ATD’s administered through inhaled and oral routes was done on 12 healthy
human volunteers (FEV1 > 60% & with no past history of anti-tubercular
treatment), using Rifampicin ( R ), Isoniazid ( H ), and Pyrazinamide ( Z ).
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Concentrations of H, R & Z achieved in BAL fluid and alveolar macrophages,
obtained through bronchoscopy from the lung, were found to be several times
higher through inhaled route than the oral route and these concentrations were also
found to be much higher than the Minimal Inhibitory Concentrations (MIC) of these
drugs, both for sensitive & resistant tubercle bacilli, thus a possible role in
management of drug resistant tuberculosis besides the newly diagnosed cases of
pulmonary tuberculosis. There also seems to be a possibility of dose, duration and
cost reduction; lesser number of drug interactions, side effects and systemic
toxicity; and usefulness in cases of mal-absorption states e.g. HIV co-infection.
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THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTION FROM TRAFFIC AND OTHER SOURCES
D. Greenbaum, and Bob O'Keefe Health Effects Institute, 120 Second Avenue, Boston, MA 01930 USA
Email: [email protected]
Populations are exposed to a wide range of air pollutants from diverse
sources; exposure which is growing as economies grow and populations increase
and urbanize. Although there are now several decades of extensive studies of the
effects of these exposures in the developed world, there are fewer such studies in
the developing world, especially the rapidly developing countries of South and East
Asia. This presentation will review the state of worldwide science on the effects of
major pollutants, describe the initial results of the extensive Public Health and Air
Pollution in Asia (PAPA) program of HEI, and review the recently published HEI
comprehensive review of the worldwide literature on emissions from, exposure to,
and health effects of traffic.
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INHALED PARTICULATE MATTER AND CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
M. Kleinman1, B.Simkovitch2, G.Gookin1 and R. Kloner2
1University of California, Irvine, Department of Medicine, Irvine
CA 92697-1825 2The Heart Institute, Good Samaritan Hospital, Los Angeles CA
Although the portal of entry of inhaled particulate matter (PM) is the respiratory
system, PM exposure also disrupts cardiac function, interferes with autonomic
control of blood pressure and heart rate and exacerbates atherogenesis. While there
are still many factors that are not well understood about the mechanisms involved,
great progress has been made over the past decade in unraveling signaling pathways
and systemic interactions that improve our ability to identify key components of air
pollution that are able to cause effects in multiple organs and physiological systems.
We have used a mobile exposure system to examine effects of concentrated PM on
cardiac physiology during exposures to real world ambient aerosols to examine four
specific issues:
1. Do components of inhaled pollutants increase the risk or accelerate the progress
of cardiovascular disease (atherosclerosis)?
Mice that were genetically predisposed to have abnormal lipid
metabolism were exposed to purified air or concentrated fine (PM2.5) particles in
Riverside, CA, an area that is documented to have exceptionally high levels of
particulate pollution and ozone. These mice are prone to develop arterial plaques
similar to those seen in humans with atherosclerosis. The mice were exposed for
6 months. The dimensions of their bracheocephalic arteries were measured using
a high resolution ultrasound ‘microscope’ and artery specimens were examined
microscopically after the termination of exposures. The PM-exposed mice
developed arterial plaque at a greater rate than did the air-exposed mice. Plasma
biomarkers that have been associated with cardiovascular disease in humans were
also measured. Concentrations of C-reactive protein, which is a biomarker of
systemic inflammation, were found to increase in proportion to the amount of
plaque measured using the ultrasound device. We interpret the findings of this
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study to suggest that in mice with high levels of circulating lipids and underlying
systemic inflammation, PM exposure acts to exacerbate the ongoing disease
process leading to increased plaque development for the same level of
inflammation. Thus, in these mice while air pollution might not be the root cause
of the vascular plaques, PM exposure worsened the course of the disease
progression,.
2. Are populations with pre-existing cardiac disease more susceptible to
adverse cardiovascular effects?
We have examined rats with preexisting cardiovascular conditions and
also compared effects on young and aged rats using in vivo exposures and also
using excised hearts in a Langendorff preparation. Our results have not
demonstrated major differences in effects between rat hearts with myocardial
infarctions (‘heart attacks’) vs. healthy age matched hearts in terms of physiology.
Similarly, rats with underlying high blood pressure did not respond more than did
rats with normal blood pressure, relative to their initial baseline values.
3. Can some cardiovascular effects be explained by direct effects of PM or
components on the heart and how are effects mediated?
Following inhalation, some of the particulate matter (i.e. ultrafine
particles – UFP, aerodynamic diameter <0.1 m) may enter the vasculature and
initiate endothelial inflammatory responses and also travel to the heart and induce
ROS-related effects directly in the heart muscle. We have demonstrated that direct
instillation of UFPs into the isolated vasculature of excised, beating rat hearts in a
Langendorff preparation caused significant decreases in heart contractility and
coronary flow [49 - 51]. We believe that these effects are mediated by generation
of free radicals because the administration of the free radical scavenger N-(2-
mercaptopropionyl) glycine during the UFP-exposure, significantly attenuated the
deleterious effects on cardiac contractility and completely abolished the UFP-
induced decrease in coronary flow [52].
4. How do real world events affect cardiovascular function?
Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were exposed to ambient PM or
purified air in southern California. Normotensive Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY) were
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simultaneously exposed as controls. A series of wildfires in California provided a
unique opportunity to test the hypothesis that particles generated by mass burning
could adversely affect cardiovascular function. Rats were implanted with
telemetry devices that provided real-time monitoring of heart rhythm and blood
pressure. Air samples were collected during the exposures. Rats were exposed for
5 hr per day, 4 days per week for 4 weeks. Rats were kept under purified air
conditions before and after exposures and on non-exposure days.
Electrocardiographic and blood pressure were continuously monitored. During
the first and last week of the study, meteorological conditions were such that our
exposure site was not impacted by fire-generated smoke. However, during the
second and third weeks the wind direction shifted and our exposure site was
impacted by smoke. Heart rate and blood pressure were significantly depressed
during periods when fire-generated ultrafine particles were present. There was a
progressive decrease in blood pressure suggesting a cumulative effect of the
exposures. Blood pressure and heart rate returned to baseline levels during the 3
day period during which the rats breathed purified air. Effects were seen in both
SHR and WKY rats; there was no evidence that underlying hypertension greatly
increased the susceptibility of the rats to adverse cardiac responses. These
findings demonstrate significant adverse effects of ambient particle exposure on
the heart.
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APPROACHING COMPLEXITY IN HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT
A. Bartonova NILU Norwegian Institute for Air Research,
Kjeller, and the HENVINET consortium, www.henvinet.eu
Human health and the environment are interconnected, even if in practice,
the issues have grown apart during the last half century. Global economic
development speeds up and with it to some extent also the concerns about
environment, health and environment, and environmental justice, The connections
between environment and human health are recognized by scientists, educators,
practitioners, decision makers, activists, other interested professionals and citizens.
Interdisciplinary approaches and the interactions between the environment and
human health are intrinsic to this field, leading to more inter- and trans-disciplinary
research. There is a need for new integrating approaches, methods and tools.
Despite a number of past initiatives and research projects, the coverage by
studies that review, exploit and disseminate knowledge on environmental health
issues, and bring these research results into wider practice and use by relevant
stakeholders also outside the research community, seems insufficient. The Health
and Environment Network HENVINET (www.henvinet.eu) was designed with the
scientific complexities in the field in mind, aiming to shorten the time span between
research results, their wider discussion and policy actions. The network deals with
complexity in the health and environment issues by developing and supporting
methods to communicate the available knowledge through three main channels:
evaluating knowledge for policy actions, making information about decision support
tools available, and providing tools for communication within the scientific
communities, and between the scientific community and the decision makers. The
common methodology for these three issues is based on an operationalization of the
“full chain” or “DPSIR/DPSEEA” framework.
HENVINET has developed knowledge evaluation methodology, and
applied it on issues ranging from policy questions (“What are the effects of climate
change on respiratory health”), risk assessments for chemicals (chlorpyrifos,
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bromiated flame retardands), environmental determinants of disease (cancer
mediated through oestrogen pathway), and other issues (nanoparticles as
environmental health issue). Expert knowledge supported by scientific review
serves as a basis for developing a causal diagram for each issue, and for formulation
of a set of questions to be answered online by experts recruited from the scientific
community. After the evaluation, they are presented with the results, and in a
workshop asked to identify the most important issues and their possible solutions
for policymaking. The expert workshops also focus on policy implications of
limited knowledge, e.g. with respect to the precautionary principle and public health
risks. In the final step, A short report is distributed to policymakers who are also
asked to provide feedback on how well this report answers their needs, with the aim
to discuss the outcomes of the expert assessments.
Main gaps indentified by experts in all evaluations include limited
knowledge about human exposure, and about processes inside the human body.
Concrete actions suggested are e.g. increased monitoring, restrictions on production
and use, or bans. In all cases, the experts agreed that current knowledge is sufficient
to justify policy actions.
HENVINET also considers a direct way to utilize knowledge in decision
making through using decision support tools. We have created a searchable
database, where the tools are classified according to their nature (ranging from
complex air or water management tools, guidebooks and guidelines to simple check
lists), and their content. The user is also provided contact information, and can
provide comments. At the moment, the database comprises over 50 tools, and grows
rapidly.
HENVINET has as its primary goal to support informed policy making by
integrating environment and health issues, for the greater purpose of protecting the
health of populations and individuals. To facilitate this integration, we created a
networking portal which is designed specifically for joining the global environment
and health community. With a range of tools, HENVINET facilitates a multi-
stakeholder approach to addressing the most pressing environment and health issues
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at hand. The HENVINET portal provides environment and health professionals and
stakeholders anywhere in world with the ability to:
Network with peers: Engage with a community of scientists, policymakers
and stakeholders to share expertise, views and information.
Access the experts: Search for and pinpoint specific expertise, and
efficiently communicate and discuss concerns and specific topics
with renowned experts.
Discuss global challenges: Effectively collaborate within self-forming
communities and forums that bring together a relevant portfolio of experts
and stakeholders to address the issues at hand.
Set the agenda: Shape the agenda of the Environment and
Health community by participating in communities and forums discussing
hot-topics of today and tomorrow.
Share opportunities: Advertise conferences, symposia, research calls, job
opportunities and the like to a broad range of professionals.
At the moment, over 300 registered experts have joined the portal, and contribute to
discussions on a range of topics. The community, while having most participants
from Europe, successfully reaches out to professionals around the globe. We invite
all interested professionals to join at www.henvinet.eu.
Contact: [email protected], [email protected]
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EMISSIONS, AIR QUALITY AND HEALTH RISK IN MEGACITIES
B.R. Gurjar
Environmental Engineering Group, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee # 247 667, India
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
Abstract
Because of the increasing industrial activities and energy use, the
burgeoning megacities are growing into huge conglomerates of air pollution sources
with local and global consequences for air quality, public health and climate. A
simple concept and formulation of a multi-pollutant index (MPI) is proposed to
evaluate atmospheric emissions and urban air quality, particularly in megacities.
The proposed index can help monitor air quality changes over time, and relate these
to other indices that provide information about the – often rapidly – changing state
of megacities. The conventional indices based on the concentration of a single
pollutant are limited in their scope, and fail to identify where the overall air quality
is poorest and potentially presents the greatest health risk. The proposed MPI,
referenced to WHO guidelines, thus provides a viable option for evaluating and
ranking megacities in terms of overall air pollution. For instance, of 18 megacities
considered in this study 5 classify as having ‘‘fair’’ air quality, and 13 as ‘‘poor’’.
The megacities with the highest MPI, Dhaka, Beijing, Cairo, and Karachi, most
urgently need reduction of air pollution. Furthermore, an evaluation of megacities in
terms of health risks (e.g., mortality and morbidity) caused by ambient air pollution
has been carried out. By adopting the WHO guideline concentrations for air
pollutants as a reference, megacities like Los Angeles, New York, Osaka Kobe, Sao
Paulo and Tokyo show no excess cases in total mortality. In contrast, the number of
excess cases is highest for Karachi (14,790/yr) followed by Dhaka (14,240/yr),
Cairo (13,497/yr), Beijing (10,589/yr) and Delhi (10,496/yr). The morbidity cases
due to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) illustrate that Dhaka and
Karachi jointly lead the ranking having excess cases of 2,068/yr and 2,056/yr,
respectively. South Asian megacities urgently need to improve air quality to help
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prevent excess mortality and morbidity on account of exceptionally high levels of
air pollution. The results could be useful to attract funding from organizations such
as the World Bank and the UN to support the introduction of specific mitigation
strategies, which could also have the benefit of reducing transboundary transport of
air pollution from megacities to other regions.
Significance of the work:
The above abstract pertains to a study of emissions, air quality and health
risk in megacities. Since megacities are characterized by very large population,
rapid industrial growth and high energy use, they not only influence local ambient
air quality but also act as large point sources of air pollution plumes with respect to
regional and global scale. It is therefore important to study their impact through
local-to-regional-to-global scales. The present study centers on an evaluation and
assessment of overall air pollution intensity and resulting health risk in different
megacities. Results and findings can be used to rank megacities in terms of levels of
air pollution and health risk to judge which of them need urgent attention and
suitable action.
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NANOTECHNOLOGY TO FACILITATE WASTE MINIMIZATION
S. Chatterjee and S. Maru
Executive Director and Research Associate, SAFE Foundation
Washington, DC
The USEPA is currently developing a systematic research strategy devoted
to a careful examination of the Nanotechnology (NT) based environmental cleanup
program focused on applications facilitating waste minimization. It has already
published a Fact Sheet with a snapshot of NT and its current usage in waste site
remediation (USEPA, 2008). Though much of the NT processes are just entering
commercialization or are under development, it is evolving quite rapidly and holds
promise of cost-effective remediation of challenging waste sites, according to the U.
S. EPA.
This paper reviews selected waste treatment options using NT that were
found to be effective and also determined to be quite mature. Our analyses of
selected nanotechnology based processes for contaminant reduction and
contaminant degradation by way of utilizing certain NPs like nZVI, coated nZVI,
modified nZVI, bi-metallic nZVI, nTiO2, and nZnO also indicate that significant
waste minimization objectives may be achieved in the short and the long run by
these carefully selected processes.
However, more detailed study of the environmental fate of all NPs, released
at disposal, should be made an integral part of every NT waste treatment project, as
detailed by Breggin and Pendergrass (2007). Besides, every effort should be made
to remove NPs from the waste stream by way of adsorption, encapsulation,
filtration, and suitable “end of pipe” treatment prior to disposal. These processes
have been discussed elsewhere (Chatterjee and Lewinski, 2009) and will also be
presented in future publications.
An overview of the technological developments to date shows that a
vigorous pursuit of the desired source reduction practices are expected to ultimately
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achieve a more broad based NT-facilitated effective hazardous waste process
treatment, some years down the road.
INTRODUCTION
The USEPA has been conducting some ad hoc research devoted to a careful
examination of various Nanotechnology (NT) options that were employed for
environmental cleanup, with a focus on applications of NT in facilitating waste
minimization (Chatterjee and Lewinski, 2009). This research has focussed on ways
of utilizing selected NTs for the substitution of hazardous chemical processes,
assessment of NT substitutes, and life cycle issues related to nanomaterials (NMs).
Since most NMs are just entering commercialization or are under development in
academic settings, it has been a real challenge to find promising applications.
Many new commercial NT-based products aimed at waste minimization
(WM) have been identified and incorporated in industrial operations, such as
Surface Coatings, Materials Treatment, and Catalytic Processes, with several
promising applications. These processes and successful WM options are discussed
elsewhere (Chatterjee, 2009).
Futhermore, remediation options using NT has also been determined to be
quite mature (Tratnyek and Johnson, 2006), with the resultant short term WM
potential in hazardous waste treatment that would reduce the risk of contaminant
release during disposal. These ad hoc efforts have been quite compatible and
consistent with the pollution prevention and environmental stewardship goals
stipulated in the USEPA White Paper (Nanotechnology Workgroup, 2007).
Besides, increasing public concern for industrial pollution, more stringent
discharge standards, and escalating waste treatment/disposal costs have put
enormous pressure on industries to shift to a more logical paradigm of pollution
prevention, preferring waste minimization or even total elimination of wastes at the
point of generation (or source reduction) instead of the traditional "end-of-pipe"
treatment (Kassim, 2005). In view of this emphasis, the emerging new molecular
nanotechnology (MNT) has shown greater potential for energy and materials
conservation thru improved environmental performance and total sustainability as
they develop and provide more appealing products.
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NANOTECHNOLOGY DEFINED
Nanotechnology, broadly speaking, refers to the use of materials with nano-
scale dimensions, ranging from 1 to 100 billionths of a meter or nanometer, see
Figure 1. The above size range includes a collection of a few atoms to protein-
based motors. Traditionally, for over 100 years, the tire manufacturers have
reinforced the car rubber tires by attaching nano-sized carbon particles or carbon
black. Living organisms like bacteria to beetles have employed nano-size protein-
based machines for flexing muscles to whipping flagella.
In 1982, Heinrich Rohrer and Gerd Binnig developed scanning tunneling
microscope (STM) at the IBM for imaging individual atoms. Later in 1985, Calvin
Quate and Binnig developed the atomic force microscope (AFM) at Stanford that
was refined to pinpoint atoms’ magnetic and chemical signatures. Then in 1990,
Eigler and Erhard Schweizer used the STM at IBM to manipulate xenon atoms on
nickel surface. And finally by 1999, Wilson Ho employed the STM to form
chemical bonds between iron atoms and carbon monoxide molecules at the
University of California, Irvine. Other researchers later used similar techniques to
modify silicon atoms to serve as a key component of the transistor and also
converted cadmium selenide fluoresce semiconductor to nano-size crystallites that
were used as fluorescent dyes in biology experiments.
These new material synthesis techniques have allowed us to control the size
and shape of materials in nano-scale forming Nanoparticles (NPs). The large
surface to volume ratios of these NPs gives them unique catalytic and chemical
reaction capabilities. For instance, bulk gold is
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non-reactive at room temperature; however 3 to 5 NM gold particles promote many
common reactions, producing commercial “bathroom odor eaters”. Also, spiking
common plastics with NPs can enhance the strength and impact resistance of plastic
products.
NANOTECHNOLOGY WASTE TREATMENT
The use of NMs for site remediation and wastewater treatment has been
reviewed in some detail by Watlington (2005). There are many common
technologies for waste treatment, for instance: amalgamation, carbon adsorption,
chemical oxidation/reduction, deactivation, chemical precipitation, physical
recovery, macro-encapsulation, etc., etc.. Many of these can be adapted to the use of
NPs for waste treatment. The anticipated result of the treatment would be to convert
hazardous wastes to less hazardous forms, qualitatively and/or quantitatively, prior
to disposal.
For instance, stainless steel is a chromium iron alloy, where chromating is
used to prevent corrosion. Several nano-composites and/or nanoparticles have been
developed for chromate substitution, see Table 1, that have demonstrated superior
anti-corrosion and waste minimization potential thru chromate substitution.
However, further investigation and research to control the hazard potential of NPs
may be in order. Selected waste minimization processes will be discussed below.
Contaminant Reduction:
Zero-valent iron ( ZVI) has been employed quite extensively for hazardous
contaminant remediation since early 1990s. According to Zhang (2003), the
reduction capabilities of ZVI make it suitable for for treating a wide range of
hazardous contaminants in liquid wastes. ZVI can dechlorinate many chemicals
such as TCE, PCBs and others, as well as reduce hexavalent chromium (Cr-VI) to
insoluble Cr-III, as reported by Lien and Wilkins(2005); see Table 2 for a list of
contaminants remediated by iron NPs.
Some practical problems were encountered when conventional ZVI was
used for treatment, resulting in decreased iron reactivity with the precipitation of
metal hydroxides and carbonates on the iron surface (Wang and Zhang, 1997). The
advent of the nano ZVI particles greatly minimized these problems; thus the nano-
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scale zero-valent iron (nZVI) in emulsified and bi-metallic forms used are typically
100 to 200 nm in diameter (Zhang, 2003). Details on the synthesis and use of nZVI
have been reviewed by Li, et al (2006) which also examined the use of these
particles at 22 north-american and 7 international remediation sites. They also
noted that the reaction time was quite rapid, and over 99% of tetrachloroethylene
was removed in one hour, and over 95% of trans-dichloroethene, cis-
dichloroethene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, trichloroethylene and tetrachloromethane
were removed within 120 hours. The nZVI has also been quite effective in treating
hazardous chemical contaminated soils, sediments and solid wastes in ex situ slurry
reactors, and was also successful with treating and stabilizing bio-solids from
domestic wastewater treatment plants (Li, et al, 2007a), including the removal of
metal contaminants from the sludge. The nZVI was thus able to treat both organic
and inorganic contaminants, and neutralized odorous sulfide compounds with a high
reaction effectiveness and accessibility and generating non-hazardous iron
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oxide end products and compatibility with other treatment methods (Li, et al,
2007b).
With the increased use of nZVI for waste treatment at Superfund sites
during the last five years, it has become necessary to examine the environmental
fate and consequences of NPs during disposal. Remediation field studies have
shown that nZVI remained active for 4 to 8 weeks in groundwater flows to distances
upto 20 meters (Zhang, 2003). The mobility of NPs in a porous media depends on
the potential for their collision with the media. Greater potential for collision
increases the chance of their removal from flow and retention in the porous media
(Tratnyek, 2006). The movement of the NPs depend on their Brownian diffusion,
interception potential and gravitational sedimentation; Brownian diffusion has been
found to be the dominant factor.
There has been some mission-oriented research to improve the transport
properties of the nZVI with the intention to reduce the quantity of their usage in the
environment. One approach is to use surface coatings to increase the stability of
the NPs in suspension. For instance, the use of polyvinyl alcohol-co-vinyl acetate-
co-itaconic acid (PV3A), nontoxic biodegradable surfactant, to synthesize a nZVI
substantially increases its stability in suspension from few minutes for uncoated
nZVI to six months for PV3A coated nZVI (Li, et al, 2006).
Hydutsky, et al, (2007) developed polyacrylic acid (PAA) modified nZVI
and demonstrated improved elution as a result of particle aggregation. Saleh, et al
(2007) compared three different surface modified nZVI and demonstrated far
greater elution characteristics of modified NPs, and the triblock copolymer coating
offering the best performance among the three. Thus, the surface modified nZVI
offered the best waste treatment potential; whereas the leaching potential of the NPs
in the environment remains unpredictable.
Bi-metallic NPs have also been produced by coating nZVI with palladium,
gold, platinum, silver, nickel, cobalt or copper. Experiments have shown that the
chemical degradation resulting from the use of these NPs are 10 to 100 times faster
than the micro particles (Zhang, 2003). In fact, Pd-Au NPs have a reaction rate 100
times greater than that of Pd alone; furthermore the Au or gold does not react with
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the organic compound and serves merely as a catalyst and hence could be recycled
(CBEN, 2007). Table 3 shows the baseline rate constants of Pd nanoparticles for
Trichloroethylene dechlorination. Also, the bi-metallic NPs are more expensive to
develop than the nZVI; however the former serves as a catalyst instead as a reactant
and thus can be reused (Nutt, et al, 2006). The Pd-Au NPs have been used in the
laboratory to catalyse the dechlorination of Tetrachloroethylene in water in presence
of Hydrogen. Pilot scale reactor testing of the process is under consideration at the
DuPont facility (CBEN, 2007).
The above findings clearly demonstate the value of the NT in achieving
significant waste minimization of hazardous wastes thru contaminant reduction.
The next section will address photo-degradation of selected contaminants utilizing
various NPs. These processes will also be analyzed from the perspective of waste
minimization
Contaminant Photo-Degradation
The photo-catalytic capabilities of several NP metal oxides that are under
investigation can be applied to waste treatment and pollution remediation.
Semiconductor photo-catalysts act much the same manner as the traditional
catalysts. However, they obtain their energy by the absorption of light. Fox and
Dulay (1993) presented an authoritative review of the principles and the
applications of the heterogeneous photo-catalysis. Most of the application of this
technique has focused on nano-titania or Titanium Dioxide, whereas some attention
has also been given to Zinc Oxide NPs.
Nano-titania becomes catalytic with ultra-violet (UV) radiation (with wave
length < 400nm) and can photo-degrade many of the contaminants listed in Table 4.
Titania occurs both in amorphous and crystalline forms. Titania crystals are
available in anatase and rutile forms; studies suggest that the anatase forms have the
most powerful photo-catalytic properties and hence are the most reactive (Uchino,
et al, 2002; Sayes, et al, 2006). Titania is also insoluble in water; though its
solubility may be altered thru surface modification. And, it has been extensively
utilized for environmental remediation in view of its low toxicity, high photo-
conductivity, high photo-stability, availability and low cost (USEPA, 1998;
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Nagaveni, et al, 2004). Titania NPs have been found to be five times more powerful
than the conventional titania (Mason, 2002).
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Slurry and immobilized Titania NPs have been employed for the treatment
of drinking water that photo-catalytically converts arsenite to arsenate (Ferguson, et
al, 2005; Pena, et al, 2006). Laboratory synthesized and/or commercially available
pure anatase titania NPs (also called Aeroxide TiO2 P25) was found to be the most
effective photocatalyst and 200% faster than the other pure rutile forms (Nagaveni,
et al, 2004). Researchers at Rice University have demonstrated thru laboratory tests
that Nanomagnetites, also called nano-rust due to their small particle size and iron
oxide chemical composition, are quite effective in removing arsenic from water
(CBEN, 2008). They are also pilot testing nanomagnetite-packed columns for the
removal of arsenic at this time either during or after sand filtration from
groundwater in Guanajuato, Mexico.
Some examples of the remediation studies using the TiO2 NPs have been
summarized in Table 5; it should be noted, however, that the TiO2 NPs used during
these treatments are not rendered inactive and their environmental fate at disposal
should be studied thoroughly in the future whether they remain in suspension or
aggregate/adsorb to other substances or sediments.
Guzman et al. (2006) have investigated the influence of pH on the surface
potential and aggregation of TiO2 NPs and the impact of its mobility. It was shown
that the pH of 6 correlated to high TiO2 NP aggregation, whereas the mobility
increased in pH zones resulting in zero charge. A recent study of the natural
transport of TiO2 NP suspensions in unsaturated soils in the vadose zones found
that soil profile was a significant factor that influenced the NP retention in the soil
(Hoggan, et al, 2007).
Environmental exposure to Titania NPs may already be occurring as a result
of their use in sunscreens and self cleaning surface coatings, as reported at a recent
International Meeting (EMPA, 2008). Significant concentrations of synthetic TiO2
NPs were detected in water samples from a Swiss River; they may have originated
from nearby buildings and connected sewer systems. In view of these findings, it is
essential that we study the environmental fate of these nanoparticles and the ways
and means of alleviating their impacts.
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Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles for photocatalytic degradation have also received
some attention (Kamat, et al, 2002). This study synthesized ZnO nanofilms and
tested the capability of ZnO NPs to detect and treat 4-chlorocatechol upto 1 ppm
concentration using UV irradiation. Other investigators have reported on the
treatment of organic dyes, such as methyl red, methylene blue, and acid orange as
well as a review of its remedial applications (Hariharan, 2006).
CONCLUSIONS
This paper analyses selected contributions of nanotechnology to waste
treatment thru contaminant reduction and contaminant degradation by way of
utilizing certain NPs such as, nZVI, coated nZVI, modified nZVI, bi-metallic nZVI,
nTiO2, and nZnO. A review of these processes indicate that significant waste
minimization objectives can be achieved in the short and the long run by utilizing
these carefully selected processes. However, more detailed study of the
environmental fate of all NPs, released at disposal, should be made an integral part
of all NT waste treatment projects. Besides, efforts should be made to remove all
NPs from the waste streams by adsorption, encapsulation, filtration, and/or suitable
“end of pipe” treatment prior to disposal. These processes have been discussed
elsewhere (Chatterjee and Lewinski, 2009) and will be presented in future
publications. An example of the contaminant removal thru adsorption on functional
nanoporous ceramics, now called Self Assembled Monolayer on Mesoporous
Supports or SAMMS, are summarized in Table 6, showing adsorption potential of a
few selected SAMMS that are employed for metal sequestration from aqueous
solutions.
REFERENCES:
Breggin, L. K., and Pendergrass, J., 2007. “Where Does The Nano Go?: End-of –Life Regulation of Nanotechnologies”, Report PEN-10, Woodrow Wilson International Center, Washington, DC, July 2007. CBEN, 2007. “Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology: Annual Report, 2007”, Rice University, Houston, TX. CBEN, 2008. “Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology: Annual Report, 2008”, Rice University, Houston, TX, p. 7-2.
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Chatterjee, S., and Lewinski, N., 2009. “Achieving Waste Minimization Using Nanotechnology”, Draft Report, NOWCC/USEPA, Washington, DC. Chatterjee, S., 2009. “Waste Minimization Thru Nanotechnology Based Industrial Operations”, Paper Presented at the National Waste Minimizaton Conference, Sponsored by The SAFE Environmental Institute, on December 14-16, 2009 at Atlanta, GA. EMPA, 2008. “How do Nanoparticles Behave in the Environment?”, Nano-Eco International meeting News, May 14, 2008. Swiss Federal Webpage: http://www.empa.ch/plugin/template/empa/1142/71809/---/l=2 Ferguson, M., et al, 2005. “TiO2-Photocatalysed As(III) Oxidation in Aqueous Suspensions: Reaction Kinetics and Effects of Adsorption”, Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 39, No. 6, pp. 1880-1886. Fox, M., and Dulay, M., 1993. “Heterogeneous Photocatalysis”, Chemical Review, Vol. 93, pp. 341-357. Guzman, K., et al, 2006. “Influence of Surface Potential on Aggregation and Transport of Titania Nanoparticles”, Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 40, No. 24, pp. 7688-7693. Hariharan, C., 2006. “Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Contaminants in Water by ZnO Nanoparticles: Revisited”, Applied Catalysis A: General, Vol. 304, May 10, 2006, pp. 55-61. Kamat, P., et al, 2002. “’Sense and Shoot’ Approach for Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Contaminants in Water”, Journal of Physical Chemistry B, Vol. 106, No. 4, pp. 788-794. Kassim, T. A., 2005. “Waste Minimization and Molecular Nanotechnology: Toward Total Environmental Sustainability”, The Handbook of Environ-mental Chemistry, Vol. 5, Part F, SubVol. 3, Springer-Berlin, pp. 191-229. Li, X., et al, 2006. “Zero-Valent Iron Nanoparticle for Abatement of Environmental Pollutants: Materials and Engineering Aspects”, Critical Reviews in Solid State materials Sciences, Vol. 31(4), pp. 111-122. Li, X., et al, 2007a. “Stabilization of Biosolids with Nanoscale Zero-Valent Iron”, Journal of Nanoparticle Research, Vol. 9, pp. 233-243. Li, A., et al, 2007b, “Debromination of Decabrominated Diphenyl Ether by Resin-bound Iron Nanoparticles”, Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 41, pp. 6841-6846.
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Lien, H., and Wilkin, R., 2005. “High Level Arsenite Removal from Groundwater by Zero-Valent Iron”, Chemospere, Vol. 59, pp. 377-386. Mason, J., 2002. “Nanoparticle Accelerator: Altair Hopes for Lift from Pigment Patent”, Small Times (website), February 18, 2002. Nagaveni, K., et al, 2004. “Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Compounds over Combustion-Synthesized Nano-TiO2”, Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 38, No. 5, pp. 1600-1604. Nanotechnology Workgroup, 2007. “U. S. Environmental Protection Agency: Nanotechnology White Paper”, Report EPA-100/B-07/001, Science Policy Council, USEPA, February, 2007. Nutt, M. O., et al, 2006. “Improved Pd-on-Au Bimetallic Nanoparticle Catalysts for Aqueous-Phase Trichloroethene Hydrodechlorination”, Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, Vol. 69, Issues 1-2, pp. 115-125. Pena, M., et al, 2006. “Adsorption Mechanism of Arsenic on Nanocrystalline Titanium Dioxide”, Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 1257-1262. Sayes, C., et al, 2006. “Correlating Nanoscale Titania Structure Toxicity: A Cytotoxicity and Inflammatory Response Study with Human Dermal Fibroblasts and Human Lung Epithelial Cells”, Toxicological Sciences, Vol. 92, No. 1, pp. 174-185. Tratnyek, P. G., and Johnson, R. L., 2006. “Nanotechnologies for Environ-mental Cleanup”, NanoToday, Vol 1, No. 2, Elsevier Ltd, May, pp. 44-48. Uchino, T., et al, 2002, “Quantitative Determination of OH Radical Generation and its Cytotoxicity Induced by TiO2-UVA Treatment”, Toxicology In Vitro, Vol. 16, No. 5, pp. 629-635. USEPA, 1998, “Mercury Study Report to Congress”, Report No. EPA-452/R-97-003, U. S. Govt Printing Office, Washington, DC. USEPA, 2008. “Nanotechnology for Site Remediation: Fact Sheet”, Report No. EPA-542-F-08-009, U. S. EPA, October, 2008, pp. 17. Watlington, K., 2005, “Emerging Technologies for Site Remediation and Wastewater Treatment”, Draft Report, U. S. EPA, August, 2005.
Zhang, W. X., 2003, “Nanoscale Iron Particles for Environmental Remediation: An Overview”, Journal of Nanoparticles Research, Vol. 5, pp. 323-332.
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DEVELOPMENT OF CARBON NANOFIBERS AND NANOPARTICLES AS ADSORBENTS FOR MITIGATION OF GASEOUS, AQUEOUS AND
BIOSYSTEMS
Nishith Verma
Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur-208016
Email: [email protected]
Abstract
The theme of this presentation centers around the development of carbon
based adsorbents in environmental remediation and pharmaceutical applications. In
our recent studies, we have prepared a variety of carbon based adsorbents, in
particular carbon nanofibers (CNF) and carbon nanoparticles, for the control of
common atmospheric gaseous pollutants such as NOx, SOx, and volatile organic
compound (VOC), and that of aqueous dissolved solutes such as fluoride and
arsenic. The synthesis of the styrene precursor based (carbonized) spherical porous
nanoparticles has also been undertaken for recovering several pharmaceutical
compounds, including erythromycin, acetaminophen, and vitamin B-12 from
process fluids. The application of such iron-doped carbon nanoparticles
impregnated with iron has also been successfully demonstrated for the removal of
arsenic from wastewater.
We prepare the hierarchal web of carbon micro-nano-fibers using the
micron-size activated carbon fibers (ACF) as substrate. Carbon nanofibers (CNF)
are grown on ACF by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The method briefly
comprises of impregnating ACF with a suitable metal catalyst, calcinations,
reduction to convert oxides of metals to their metallic state, growing carbon
nanofibers by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and subsequently sonication of the
prepared web. Most importantly, the hierarchal web thus prepared may be re-
impregnated with another type of catalyst (different from the parent catalyst used
for growing CNF) required for certain end-application. Thus, there are two
categories of distinct conditioning in the route to preparing the web of carbon
micro-nano fibers for different end-applications. In one category, the metal catalyst,
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for example Fe, has dual functionalities: (1) for growing the hierarchal structure,
and (2) for removing the contaminant solutes such as As in wastewater. In the other
category, the parent catalyst, for example Ni, must be removed after growing CNF
and the web re-processed by impregnating it with another type of metal such as Al.
In the latter (post-synthesis) category, the sequence of steps for the incorporation of
metals within the micro-nano pores of carbon webs is qualitatively similar to that
for parent catalyst. However, the operating conditions are distinctively different.
In addition to water remediation applications, we have also shown the Ni-
grown hierarchical structure (CNF) to be highly efficient in reactions involving
adsorption-reduction of NO, catalytic oxidation of SO2 and VOCs in the effluent
gas. Control of persistent organic pollutants, including chemical warfare agents is
also shown to be effective by the synthesized hierarchal structure.
For the preparation of carbon nanoparticles, the particles in beads form are
first synthesized using suspension polymerization and then carbonized and activated
followed by physical activation with steam or CO2 to develop micro and meso pores
in the particles. Irons are incorporated into the polymeric beads in an intermediate
step during polymerization. Thus, AC is used as a substrate to deposit Fe in its
micro- and mesopores. Fe-doped AC beads may thereafter be milled to produce the
micro- and nano size particles for increasing their reactivity. We have shown that
Fe-doped AC prepared this way are more effective in removing dissolved arsenic in
water than those synthesized via the traditional route of preparing Fe impregnated
AC.
Thus developed polymeric (carbonized) nanoparticles are also suitable for
the removal of various pharmaceutical compounds. The surface of the synthesized
adsorbents are functionalized to incorporate suitable functional groups (polar or
non-polar, acid or basic, hydrophobic or hydrophilic) for increasing its selectivity
towards a variety of pharmaceutical compounds, including erythromycin,
acetaminophen, and vitamin B-12.
In addition to the synthesis and application of the various carbon materials,
the talk will also include the surface characterization data using several state-of-art
analytical instrumentations such as BET surface area analyzer, X-ray
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diffractometer, FT-IR spectroscopy, elemental analyzer, scanning electron
microscope, Raman spectroscopy to measure surface area and pore volume,
structural phases, surface functional groups and surface morphology, and nature of
carbon structure (graphitization), respectively.
References
1. “Methods and apparatus to synthesize nano-metals impregnated hierarchal
web of micro/nano carbon fibers for the adsorptive and catalytic
remediation in air and liquid systems”, Indian Patent filed on January 2009;
Inventors: Nishith Verma and Ashutosh Sharma.
2. Gupta, A., Deva, D., Sharma, A, Verma, N., (2009) “Adsorptive Removal
of Fluoride by Micro-Nano Hierarchal Web of Activated Carbon Fibers”.
Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 48 (21) 9697-9707.
3. Singhal, R., Sharma, A., Verma, N. (2008), “Micro/nano Hierarchal Web
of Activated Carbon Fibers for Catalytic Gas Adsorption and Reaction’.
Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 47 (10), 3700-3707.
4. Gaur, V., Asthana, R., Verma, N. (2006),“Removal of SO2 by activated
carbon fibers in presence of O2 and H2O”, Carbon. 44, 46-60.
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CLEAN TECHNOLOGIES AND CLIMATE CHANGE CHALLENGE: MYTHS AND REALITIES IN INDIAN CONTEXT
R.R.Sonde
Executive VP, Thermax Ltd and, formerly Executive Director, NTPC Ltd and Senior Scientist, Department of Atomic Energy
Clean Technologies and Climate Change There is some element of mystery on what constitute clean technologies.
Every human endeavour creates significant irreversible impact on the nature. On a relative scale, one can safely say that those technologies which emit least pollutants per unit of energy converted from the primary source constitute clean technology definition. And defining least emission level is still a big challenge in the entire cycle of generation to end use of energy. High efficiency devices at one level if gets coupled to low efficiency device in the same energy chain will ultimately neutralize the overall impact. For example, high COP based vapour compression cooling device coupled to a low efficient fossil fired power generation will end up in overall high emissions. Therefore an integrated approach is required to deal with this subject and this brings in host of technological issues and complexities.
Then there is yet another school of thought that any energy conversion technology can be made clean by using end-of-the pipe solutions and trapping the emissions (CO2 included) and store or sequester them away from the atmosphere. Such clean technologies may emit less emission but to define them as clean technologies in real sense may be difficult since they consume more energy in the entire process and consequentially cause faster depletion of the resources and create major difficulty.
Targeting an overall high EFFICINCY of conversion of source to end use is the underpinning of any clean technology theme. Today lighting constitutes 27% of overall energy usage and use of incandescent lamps which convert the electricity to light through thermal emissions causing 90% of loss of input energy (viz. electivity) and when this electricity is generated again using 30% Rankine cycle process, then it is apparent that overall energy conversion happens at 3% efficiency – not including all the transmission and distribution losses. Similar arguments can be put
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forth for every energy applications. The internal combustion engine – unarguably the shining example of advancement of technology for better life- converts primary energy at less than 20% efficiency! We need now technologies which can enhance efficiency levels by an order of magnitude and this is the key challenge to scientists and technologists.
Today world is in a state of bliss and it is now clear that the way we have progressed for last hundred and fifty years fed on low cost and low efficient energy supply will not sustain us even to last this century. Climate change is starring at us with tipping point not very far. And the urgent need is to fundamentally make changes in the way the life styles have evolved over all these years and question every premise which has brought us closer to the disaster. Nothing less than highest level paradigm change will make us sustainable. Large scale technological breakthroughs are needed in fossil, renewable and nuclear energy sources and science and technology developments have to happen at a very fast accelerated pace. It is pointless to expect current mechanisms like CDM or imposition of carbon tax and similar knee-jerk responses to resolve the problem which is mammoth in every way we look at it.
This has huge implications to India. We are growing at an astronomical rate. We need to bring prosperity to vast populations which is still not exposed to many basic needs of developments. The equity issue is ethical and should be addressed by all of us. Energy consumption will grow under challenging circumstances of dwindling resources, poor quality of primary resource (coal and uranium) and climate change challenge. This challenge can be met using advanced technology developments at a pace which would challenge gravity with matching policy support. The need of the hour will be large scale collaborations both internally and global scale and not too much worrying on IPR and such issues. India has not been an active partner of various global revolutions which propelled west to reach high level of prosperity but history beacons us to be a leader of this revolution. Our current focus on Solar, Nuclear and Clean Coal will be the right trinity under which India can emerge as super global power.
The paper deals the technological aspects of the Solar, Nuclear and Clean Coal trinity and the pathway India shall follow to Energy Challenge.
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INDIGENOUS AIR MONITORING SYSTEMS
S.K. Gupta Envirotech, New Delhi
In industrialized countries, particularly in USA, Japan and France,
monitoring of industrial emissions has almost completely shifted to use of automatic
continuous recording instruments based on some specific physico-chemicals or
electro-chemical property of the pollutant. Such instruments require very specific
sensors for each pollutants, calibration procedures needing cal-gases of exactly
specified and known composition, dust free and air-conditioned environment for the
main modules. Such systems become almost un-affordable, from the capital-cost
point of view, for industrial units in developing countries, particularly for medium
and small scale units. Even more difficult to tackle are problems of non-availability
in local markets of necessary cal-gases and instrument spares as also of competent
man-power for proper operation and maintenance of these sophisticated systems.
Experience in India shows that wherever such systems were installed, they remain
in-operative almost from the very start.
The US EPA has developed simple concepts for monitoring of source-
emissions, and also of ambient air quality. These may have become obsolete in
industrialized countries but still remain suitable for adaptation in developing
countries. Even here, instruments manufactured in US, Japan, France, etc., often
tend to make the instrument complex and costly, again creating problems of
operation, maintenance, spares, etc., besides of course the significantly high initial
capital costs.
M/s. Envirotech Instruments Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi India, has adopted EPA
concepts to develop simple instruments suitable for use in field conditions of warm,
tropical developing countries and the experience gained over the last 25 years in this
field. It has played a leading role in producing equipment well ahead of the
mandatory requirements. The presentation made by the author describes the effort
of this small little group called Envirotech setup by IITans, one of whom had been a
professor of Environmental Engineering at IIT Kanpur
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ONLINE MONITORING OF TOXIC AND CARCINOGENIC
HYDROCARBONS IN AIR: THEORY AND RESULTS WORLDWIDE
T. Meuwese
Mulder, Synspec BV, The Netherlands
WHY MEASURE TOXIC HYDROCARBONS
Industrial activity may lead to the emission of toxic hydrocarbons in the air.
These can be emitted by quite different processes, like producing polymers, refining
oil, synthesizing pharmaceuticals etc. In general industries emit as little as possible,
yet for some chemicals a persistent background of a few ppb or lower must be
monitored. Unwanted spills can happen due to transport, explosions, leaks etc.
These can lead to short term concentrations rising to ppm level. But also from
traffic and from household activities many toxic hydrocarbons may be emitted.
Monitoring can be done by one industry, by a group of industries or by the
local or national authorities. If a limit is exceeded the measurements should trigger
an alarm, this can be an alarm for the one industry to an alarm to the general public.
The results must also be saved for long term evaluation. Trends in industrial
development as well as results from improved techniques can be followed in this
way.
Another application is indoor monitoring, either in industry or in houses.
For such applications a mobile version is practical.
In this presentation I will compare methods for online with methods for laboratory
measurement and will touch on what is already usual practice in many countries.
HYDROCARBONS TO MEASURE
Depending on the area only a few up to fifty different hydrocarbons can
reach problematic concentrations. Toxicity to humans can have quite different
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forms: from short term skin or lung effects to long term brain, kidney or liver
damage. Separate from the toxic group is the group considered carcinogenic. As the
hydrocarbons will also be transferred to nature the measurement of ecotoxic
compounds is also important. This group overlaps a lot, but not completely with the
hydrocarbons toxic to humans.
The hydrocarbons consist of main 3 groups: monomers used for polymer
production, chlorinated compounds used as solvents and aromatic hydrocarbons
from refineries or from use as solvents. These hydrocarbons are listed in the USA
TO-14 and in the Japanese JHAP lists. In the presentation I will give an overview of
the most important hydrocarbons that will have to be measured as they are main
industrial products, but also give examples of rare but important special situations.
RESULTS OF MEASUREMENTS AND POSSIBLE FOLLOW UP
Refineries, chemical and polymer industries are being removed from
Europe, USA and Japan to economically less developed areas. Huge new industrial
parks are appearing and growing all over Asia, South America and other areas
where a medium to well trained workforce can take over the economic activity from
the former sites. Sometimes these parks are well set-up and all plants run well. But
not in all cases. The presentation will give short examples of many places where
continuous measurements are run near to industrial sites and relate the hydrocarbons
measured to the processes used in the industry.
The Indian situation is not touched deeply, but some examples for India will
be given as well. Discussion is invited on how India could work with the experience
of other countries.
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DEVELOPMENT OF METAL-OXIDE/POLYMER NANO-COMPOSITE SENSORS FOR DETECTION OF GAS POLLUTANTS
R. Menon1, V. Tiwari1, A.Q. Contractor1, V. Sethi1, and P.Biswas2
1Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai India, 2Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
Metal oxide thin film sensors have been widely used for detecting gas species by
measuring the change in their electric conductivity on exposure to specific gas.
However, their optimum operation demands high temperature and this in addition to
extra power requirement, deviates the gas sensing properties of the device with
time. Recent studies have shown that new class of materials known as metal
oxides/polymer composites can be useful in developing gas sensors that can work at
room temperature and at the same time have comparable gas sensing properties of
metal oxides. The present study focuses on synthesizing titanium oxide (TiO2)–
poly aniline (PANI) nanocomposite and their application as sensor for detection of
gas pollutants. Synthesizing of TiO2-PANI composite was carried out in two steps.
TiO2 nano particles were synthesized by high temperature aerosol route process.
The composite particles were then synthesized by polymerizing aniline monomer in
presence of TiO2 particles. TiO2 nanoparticles as well as the composite particles
were characterized using SEM, TEM, EDX, XRD and FTIR. The composites were
made with different wt % of TiO2 in the composite to study the effect of
composition on the morphology and gas sensing property of the metal oxide
polymer composite. Thin films of these composites were made by spin coating them
over a glass substrate. Response of these films to various concentration of ammonia
gas was studied.
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PARTIAL LEAST SQUARES AND ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK MODELING OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESSES-SOME CASE
STUDIES
K. P. Singh
Environmental Chemistry Division, Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research), Post Box 80, MG Marg, Lucknow-226
001 (UP)
Modeling approaches during last few decades have emerged and accepted
globally as the promising tools for the futuristic predictions in all scientific,
technological and other areas of innovative research. Modeling of various physical,
chemical, and biological processes has not only enhanced the system visualization,
it has helped in cutting down the cost as well as time required in arriving the final
results. Performance of any technology can be possibly evaluated prior to its
marketing for the consumers.
Here, we intend to present two case studies pertaining to the application of the
partial least squares (PLS) regression, a linear modeling approach, and the artificial
neural networks (ANNs), a nonlinear modeling approach to two different
environmental processes; (a) Performance of an Up-flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket
(UASB) reactor based Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) and, (b) Liquid-Solid
Phase Adsorption Process. Both the PLS and ANN modeling approaches establish
relationship between the input-output variables.
(a) Modeling for UASB reactor Performance:
Effective operation of WWTPs require monitoring of their performance on a
regular basis for any mid-term corrections. Performance evaluation through regular
experimental measurements of various characteristic, and sometimes very tedious
and time taking variables is not feasible and modeling approach is the only
alternative. Keeping this in view, we developed the three-way PLS regression and
ANN models to evaluate the performance of the UASB reactor based WWTP. Both
the models (N-PLS and ANN) were applied to the wastewater data set collected
over a period of 48 weeks during the peak and non-peak flow regimes from the inlet
and outlet of the UASB plant for predicting the treated wastewater quality in terms
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of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total
Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) and ammonical nitrogen (NH4–N). Both the models
successfully predicted the levels of all the four selected chemical variables in treated
wastewater of the UASB. The predictive capabilities of the models were evaluated
in terms of the root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) and correlations
between the measured and model predicted values of the variables in treated
wastewater. These modeling methods can be used as tools for the performance
evaluation of WWTPs.
(b) Modeling the Solid-Liquid Interface Adsorption Process:
Among various environmental processes, the adsorption phenomena plays a
very important role as the solid phase acts both as the sink and source for the
contaminants in the environment. The nature of the sorption process largely depends
on the physical and/or chemical characteristics of the adsorbent systems and also on
the system conditions. The adsorption process is highly complex due to the
interaction of a number of process variables, and is, thus, difficult to model and
simulate using the conventional mathematical modeling approaches. The adsorption
processes irrespective of the adsorbate-adsorbent are usually modeled using the
mechanistic or empirical kinetic models. Although, the kinetic models, such as
external mass transfer model, intra-particle diffusion model, Lagergren first-order
kinetics, and pseudo-second order kinetics are excellent in representing the kinetics
of sorption process, they can fit to the sorption data obtained under a particular
operating condition. Moreover, none of the kinetic or empirical models could relate
the uptake of adsorbate by the adsorbent with the operating variables, such as,
particle size of the adsorbent, the initial adsorbate concentration, initial pH of the
solution, agitation speed, contact time, and operating temperature. Therefore, a high
quality representative model will be needed to provide favorable solution in the
process control and help to explain the real process performance with a view to
develop a continuous control strategy for such decontamination technologies.
In view of the above, we constructed the PLS regression and three-layer feed-
forward ANN models for solid-liquid interface adsorption and to predict the
removal efficiency (RE%) of the coconut fibers carbon (FC) for 2-chlorophenol (2-
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CP) from aqueous solutions based on laboratory batch study. The effect of
operational variables, such as pH, initial concentration of the adsorbate, contact time
and operating temperature were studied to optimize the conditions for maximum
removal of 2-CP from water. The root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP),
coefficient of determination (R2), Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient of efficiency (Ef), and
the accuracy factor (Af) were used as the modeling performance criteria.
Performance of both the PLS and the ANN models in predicting the removal
efficiency of the studied adsorbate-adsorbent system was satisfactory. The
correlation coefficient between the model predicted and experimental values of the
removal efficiency was 0.86 and 0.96 for PLS and ANN models, respectively.
However, the ANN model performed relatively better than the PLS due to the
capability of the earlier in capturing the non-linear relationships in the variables.
Both the models can be employed for predicting the adsorption capacity.
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ELECTROLYTE INSULATOR SEMICONDUCTOR BASED MICROFLUIDIC BIOSENSOR FOR EARLY DISEASE DETECTION
S. Panda
Department of Chemical Engineering and Centre for Environment and Science and
Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur Highly sensitive diagnostic devices are needed for early disease detection. The results of our on-going work on an electrolyte insulator semiconductor based microfluidic biosensor will be presented. Improvement of the sensitivity of the device is attempted in different areas. One area has been on obtaining a high density of properly oriented sensing molecules on silicon surfaces of the channels in the microfluidic unit. This was obtained by a combination of nanotexurization of the silicon surface along with the use of intermediate protein molecules, with studies being conducted on planar silicon. Nanotexturization was done with a simple wet etch chemistry (HF/HNO3)to obtain rms roughness values from 2 nm to about 70 nm, thereby obviating the need for expensive surface texturization techniques. The aminosilane densities were found to depend on the texture and surface composition. Next, the antibodies were immobilized on the surfaces (non-textured and textured) surfaces with different intermediate molecules. The number density was found to be the highest in some specific texturing conditions along with the use of some protein intermediate molecules. Possible mechanisms will be presented. Another area for improving the sensitivity is the sensor. An electrolyte insulator semiconductor based sensor is being utilized in this work. Understanding the phenomena at the dielectric-electrolyte interface is critical to enhancing the sensitivity of these devices. EIS sensors were fabricated using a thermally grown silica dielectric on silicon and a two-step photolithography technique for better device reliability. Meso- and nanotexturization of the dielectric surface (interfacing with the electrolyte) was performed using covalent bonding with non-porous silica particles. Meso- and nano-particles of silica were synthesized and the mechanism of their growth in solution and bonding with the surface were characterized. The sensitivity of the sensor was enhanced by surface modification, with decreasing particle size enhancing sensitivity.
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CLEANING UP OF LAKES AND RIVERS OF INDIA USING
SUSTAINABLE TREATMENT SYSTEMS
Dr. R. Kumar
Scientist and Head, NEERI Mumbai Center
89B, Dr.A.B.Road, Worli, Mumbai-400018
Email: [email protected]
The country of rivers and lakes is witnessing a fast and rapid decline of its
water quality across different states and regions. The coastal regions are no
exception. Evidence of serious shortcomings in water quality in terms of bacterial
and chemical contamination as also exceedance of minimum levels of DO have
been witnessed in almost all rivers. Situation is no better in Ganga and Yamuna,
where a large scale attempt has been made to remediate the situation. Wastewater
treatment is becoming more critical due to diminishing water resources, increasing
wastewater disposal costs. Untreated wastewater massive nutrient loading in the
water high levels of organic material, pathogenic microorganisms as well and toxic
compounds. In India, as per 2001 census, total population is 1027 million of which
about 285 million live in urban areas. These numbers are likely to further increase
as the rate of urbanization is growing.
The status of waste water treatment
Though in last 5 years, JNNURM based STPs have started coming up in
different parts of the country, the situation has not improved in terms of rivers and
lake water quality. Across the country, 27 cities have only primary treatment
facilities and 49 have primary and secondary treatment facilities. The level of
treatment available in cities with existing treatment plant in terms of sewage being
treated varies from 2.5% to 89% of the sewage generated. The mode of disposal in
118 cities is finally into the rivers/ lakes/ ponds/ creeks; in 63 cities to the
agriculture land; in 41 cities directly into rivers and in 44 cities, it is discharged both
into rivers and on agriculture land. All these large scale disposal in water bodies
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have led to significant lengths of rivers witnessing unacceptable levels of BOD as
seen in Figure below:
An assessment and review of 39 cities with population more than 1 million,
based on their City Development Plan (CDP) were undertaken. It indicates that
most of the projects for STP under JNNURM are getting funded in these cities. The
cities growth has been computed using their own rate of population growth for the
year 2011 and 2021. Based on the population and assuming that the trend of current
level of water supply will continue (which may not be the case in many cities),
sewage generation potential has been computed. The growth trend is given in the
Figure below:
0
1 0 0 0
2 0 0 0
3 0 0 0
4 0 0 0
5 0 0 0
6 0 0 0
7 0 0 0
J K H P P B H R U P R J M P B H W B O R A P M H G U K A K E T N A S M G M N A R S K N G M Z G O D L
S t a te s
Riv
erin
e le
ngth
, Km
B O D < 3 m g /L
B O D 3 -6 m g /L
B O D > 6 m g /L
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By the year 2021, the total sewage generation will be about 34,000 MLD from 39
cities with current 1 million population. Many of these cities have planned STP of
about 8731 MLD and sewage generation of about 14849 MLD. This shows an
increase of about 7182 from 2005 to 2008-09. All these incremental increase has
been due to government schemes and supports in the form of JNNURM and River-
Lake Conservation Plans.
When all class I and II are considered together, they are estimated to generate about
33000 MLD against the existing treatment capacity of 7000 million litre per day.
Most of the cities with 0.5-1 million still have high deficiency of sewage collection
system. Cities with about 0.1 million population generally generate about 3-5 MLD
of sewage. Of these a miniscule percentage, about 30 % gets collected and even
smaller quantities get treated. Some of these naturally flow to nearby lakes and
rivers and sometime on land.
0
50
100
150
200
250
2001 pop/2006 MLD 2011 2021year
popu
latio
n
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
Sew
age,
MLD
Population
SewageGeneration
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Problem areas of Limited Success of Waste water Treatment
The studies carried out by CPCB for sewage treatment status in the country,
indicate that out of 115 STPs, 45 failed to achieve the prescribed discharge
standards of Environment Protection Act, 1986 (General Discharge Standards)
applicable. Such inadequacies have been mainly due to poor electricity supply, poor
operation and maintenance. One of the other factors are complexity of these
treatment plants, operational costs deficit as also no performance based accounting
system. Some of the other major issues of non-treatment of sewage are poor
collection system, high cost of maintenance (including power costs), and highly
mechanized system of treatment units. The energy requirement for treatment of
33,000 MLD sewage from Class I and II cities would be extremely high besides the
complexities of handling and running the plants.
Technology Prevalence and Demand
At present, most of the plants operating in the country are based on
Activated Sludge Process (ASP), followed by Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket
(UASB) system, Waste Stabilization Ponds, Aerated-Facultative Lagoons.
However, a trend is being seen where some cities have opted for advanced
technologies with higher capital costs such as SBR, MBR, MBBR etc. The issue of
use of SBR will also depend upon the availability of power supply. Such technology
will need steady power supply and in absence of it, an alternative arrangement to
power will be needed for the treatment system. These technology will have
competition with conventional treatment system as also natural treatment process
which have started emerging in small towns with high space availability. Future
direction of waste water treatment in India will continue to be a mixed bag, but will
lead to larger goal of complete treatment of all sewage generated due to its costs and
power requirement. A natural system based solution wherein water reuse system is
also integrated, will probably solve the problems of lakes and rivers deteriorating
water quality.
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Conclusions
The current situation of the waste treatment indicates that India will have to
address the issue of water bodies pollution in entirely different approach:
1- An arrangement should be made for decentralized treatment so that
large scale sewage do not get collected at one place and pose a major responsibility
of treatment. The technology of septic tanks and overflow water treatment should be
revisited locally at decentralized scale.
2- Wherever waste water is currently flowing into the rivers and lakes,
natural treatment methods should be adopted which are not only less cost intensive
but also do not need power. Further, they have almost negligible dependence on
power availability and complex working of the system
3- The catchment area of lakes, rivers should be used for natural treatment
before waste water flows into the water bodies. This will ensure that the river is
cleaned.
4- At other places, after natural treatment, the treated waste water can be
taken to agriculture field for irrigation which will not only help crops but also
recharge ground water. Alternately, this water can also be used to create forest
ecosystem and recharge ground water.
The status of lakes and rivers with our conventional approach will not yield the goal
of cleaner and acceptable water quality but also the overall goal of high level of
treatment across the country. Later, this approach can also be used at small towns
and villages.
Acknowledgement: The information available from various open sources as also
from many individuals working in this field is thankfully acknowledged.
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Bibliography
Lucas Seghezzo, Grietje Zeeman, Jules B. van Liel, H. V. M. Hamelers and Gatze Lettinga (1998) A Review: The Anaerobic Treatment of Sewage in UASB and EGSB Reactors Bioresource Technology 65, 175-190. MoEF (2005 and 2006) Management Information System, Technical Report, National River Conservation Directorate, Ministry of Environment and Forests, New Delhi, India. Reports “Status of Sewerage and Sewage Treatment Plants, Central Pollution Control Board, 2005, 2007 Draaijer H., Maas J. A. W. Shaapman J.E. and Khan A. (1992) Performance of the 5 MLD UASB Reactor for Sewage Treatment at Kanpur, India. Wat. Sci. & Tech. Vol. 25, No. 7, pp. 123-133. Nobuyuki Sato, Tsutomu Okubo, Takashi Onodera, Lalit K. Agrawal, Akiyoshi Ohashia, Hideki Harada (2007), Economic evaluation of sewage treatment processes in India, Journal of Environmental Management 84, 447-460. Nadeem Khalil, Atul Kumar Mittal, Ashok Kumar Raghav, Sinha Rajeev (2006) UASB Technology for Sewage Treatment in India: 20 Years Experience, Environmental Engineering and Management Journal, Vol. 5, No. 5, 1059-1069.
MoEF (1995), Evaluation of Ganga Action Plan, National River Conservation Directorate, Government of India, New Delhi. MoEF (2005 and 2006) Management Information System, Technical Report, National River Conservation Directorate, Ministry of Environment and Forests, New Delhi, India. Amelia K. Kivaisi (2001) The potential for constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment and reuse in developing countries: a review, Ecological Engineering 16, 545-560.
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SEEKING SOLUTIONS TO AIR POLLUTION, CONGESTION, AND
HEALTH
A. Roychowdhury
Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi [email protected]
The speed with which urban air pollution is growing across India is alarming.
Almost all cities are reeling under severe particulate pollution while newer
pollutants like nitrogen oxides, ozone and- air toxics are worsening the public health
challenge. The worrying trend is the proliferation of new hot spots every year.
Smaller and more obscure cities are amongst the most polluted in the country. But
mega cities that have initiated some pollution control action in the recent years have
witnessed either stabilization or some lessening of the high levels. But these cities
are once again at risk of losing their gains as evident from the upward curve in
pollution in the recent years. This is threatening to undo the initial gains. Explosive
increase in vehicles numbers is adding to the crisis. Each new batch of vehicles
though a little cleaner barely makes an impact on the air quality as its exponential
numbers swamp the effect. Cities need consistent, sustained and more aggressive
strategies on clean vehicle technology andfuels and mobility management to secure
public health.
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ECONOMIC AND ECO-FRIENDLY MACHINING-A BOON FOR MACHINING INDUSTRY
M. Ravi Sankar and S.K. Choudhury*
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, 208016, India
Email: [email protected]
Cutting fluids are used in metal machining to increase production rate and enhance
tool life by cooling the cutting tool and lubricating the machining zone. Cutting
fluid also flushes away chips from the machining zone, and allowing faster cutting
speeds. During machining, fumes of cutting fluid is generated that causes serious
health and ecological problems. Furthermore, application of cutting fluid is unable
to prevent high temperatures at the tool-chip interface completely due to the fact
that it cannot access the interior regions of machining zone. On the other hand, the
costs associated with the use of flood cooling represents approximately about 17%
of the finished workpiece cost. Due to multiple negative effects of cutting fluids on
mankind, environment and the increasing number of laws and directives governing
industrial safety and environmental protection, metal cutting industries have started
paying attention towards environment-friendly machining processes. Thus, latest
trend of research in the field of machining is towards the concept of achieving
maximum machining efficiency by maintaining eco-friendly conditions. Hence it
calls for limited and careful use of cutting fluids in metal cutting which leads to a
key technology called “Economic and Eco-friendly Machining (EEM)”.
Figure 1. Overview of EEM experimental set-up
Cutting fluid mist
Carbide Tool tip
Compressed Air supply
Twin holed nozzle
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In the present work, a specially designed EEM setup has been developed (Figure.1).
The cutting fluid is externally mixed with pressurized air at the exit of a specially
fabricated twin-holed nozzle. In EEM, the consumption of cutting fluid is extremely
low (i.e., 5-10ml/min) in comparison to the flood cooling (400-600 ml/min) and the
emissions that are developed in EEM are around 50-100 times less. So it is safe for
the system and surroundings.
Experiments were carried out using flood cooling and EEM. It was found
that EEM was effective in bringing down the average surface roughness (Ra) by
26% with respect to flood cooling (Fig.2). In EEM, cutting fluid cost is extremely
low as its consumption is negligible, hence the product cost is reduced greatly.
0.00.51.01.52.02.53.03.54.04.55.0
0.075 0.125 0.175 0.225 0.275Feed (mm/rev)
Ra
(µm
)
Flood coolingMQL (5 ml/min)
Figure 2. Variation of average surface roughness (Ra) with feed rate
Environmental issues of using cutting fluids in machining
Since cutting fluids are complex in composition, they are more toxic and
allergenic to operator if fluids are not properly controlled and maintained. Also,
both bacteria and fungi can effectively colonize in cutting fluids and serve as source
of microbial toxins. Major health concerns of improperly managed fluids include
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skin irritation, allergic contact dermatitis, irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, and,
occasionally, breathing difficulties such as bronchitis and asthma.
Skin exposure
Skin exposure is the dominant route of exposure, as it is believed that about
80 percent of all occupational diseases are caused by skin contact with cutting
fluids. Generally cutting fluids are alkaline and prolonged exposure causes
dermatitis on machinist hands and forearms (Figure.3).
Aerial exposure
Fumes are aerosols comprised of liquid particles of less than 20µm
diameter. Aerosols may be suspended in the air for several hours, even several days,
in the vicinity of worker’s breathing zones. Inhaled particles (with aerodynamic
diameters less than 10 µm) deposit in the various regions of the respiratory system
by the complex action of the different deposition mechanisms. The particulates
below 2.5 µm aerodynamic diameter deposit primarily in the alveolar regions (most
sensitive region of lung).
Figure 3. Dermatitis on the operators hand due to prolong exposure to the cutting
fluid
A transbronchial lung biopsy (Figure 4) showed interstitial chronic inflammation
and collections of epithelioid cells suggestive of granulomas with negative stains for
acid-fast bacilli and fungus.
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(a) (b)
Figure 4. (a) A thin-section computer tomography (CT) scan of the chest showed
"ground glass" opacities indicating interstitial lung disease, and mild
bronchiectasis. (b) Trans-bronchial biopsy of lung showing interstitial changes and
lymphocytic inflammation.
Water pollution due to cutting fluids
After recycling of cutting fluids in machining and reusing it for many times,
the used cutting fluid must be disposed off. Depending on type of disposal, it leads
to soil or water pollution. A whole variety of recycled cutting fluids from industry,
which makes water to contaminate are poisonous to aquatic life (Figure.5). Some
type of recycled cutting fluids is miscible and some are immiscible. The less density
immiscible cutting fluid floats and high density immiscible cutting fluids settle
down and spoils the appearance of a water body, apart from being toxic.
Figure 5. Water pollution due to disposing of used cutting fluids into the water
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ESTIMATION OF LEAD ELIMINATION RATE FOR LIVER AND KIDNEY USING PHYSIOLOGICALLY BASED PHARMACOKINETIC
MODEL FOR IMPROVED HUMAN RISK ANALYSES
Mukesh Sharma* and Sangam Uma Reddy
Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur-208016
*Corresponding author: [email protected]
Abstract
Lead, a cumulative neurotoxin, is one of the most researched metals from
environmental point-of-view. Research studies have concluded that lead impairs
brain development of children and can cause renal damage, neurological
dysfunction, anemia, and at high doses, death (ATSDR, 1999). Biomarker useful in
estimating lead body burden is blood lead concentrations (PbB). United States
Center of Disease Control (USCDC, 1991) recommends PbB level as the screening
test for lead body burden, because PbB is a sensitive indicator of low-level lead
exposure. In response to increasing epidemiological evidences about the impacts of
lead, the USCDC gradually lowered the acceptable PbB level from 60 g/dL before
1975 to 30 g/dL in 1975; 25 g/dL in 1985; and 10 g/dL in 1991 (World Bank,
1998). Recently, there is a spurt of studies suggesting that even at PbB levels below
10 g/dL. It has been hypothesized that prenatal lead exposure would have a more
powerful and lasting impact on child development than postnatal exposure. This
implies that PbB levels in expectant mothers should be much below 10µg/dL. It can
be seen that there is a renewed interest in exposure to lead and its transformation to
PbB.
This research was initiated to study the uncertainties in Physiologically
Based Pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model that describes uptake and disposition of lead
in human body and to estimate the model parameters. Model application required
probabilistic lead exposure to human population as an input. This was accomplished
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by determining lead content in various food items and food consumption pattern
from the study area (a rural site near Kanpur, India, longitude 88 22' E and latitude
26 26' N).
The important model parameters that varied from person to person were
excretion constants, KELI and KEKI (1/d) for elimination of lead from liver and
kidney. For estimating these parameters, PBPK model equations were reorganized
by incorporating steady state condition. Measured blood and urine lead levels (from
35 human subjects) were used in the model for estimating the parameters. A
significant variability was observed in estimated parameters, KELI (0.039 to 0.248
/day) and KEKI (0.390 to 0. 794 /day). This research clearly suggested that excretion
parameters must be taken in a stochastic sense for obtaining proper estimates of
human risk. Finally, estimated parameters were used as random variables for
improved risk estimates of lead toxicity for the population in the study area.
References ATSDR, 1999. “Toxicological Profile of Lead (Update)”, US Agency for Toxic
Substance and Disease Registry, Division of Toxicology/Toxicology Information
Branch, 1600 Clifton Road NE, E-29, Atlanta, Georgia 30333.
USCDC, 1991. “Preventing lead poisoning in Young Children”, US Center of
Disease Control, US Department of Health and Human Services.
World Bank, 1998. “Phasing out Lead from Gasoline: Worldwide experience and
policy implications”, World Bank Technical Paper No. 397. Pollution Management
Series. World Bank, Washington, D.C.
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EMISSION OF ULTRA-FINE PARTICLES AND VOCS FROM LASER PRINTERS:
CHARACTERIZATION AND HEALTH IMPACTS
R. Balasubramanian
Division of Environmental Science & Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117576 E-mail: [email protected]
Indoor air pollution is an emerging global issue as it poses a major threat to
human health. A number of research studies have reported emissions of air
pollutants from construction materials, cigarette smoking, office furniture,
insulation, cooking and religious indoor activities. In recent years, indoor air quality
in office environments is receiving greater importance since there have been rapid
changes over the years with the addition of high technology computers, laser
printers and photocopiers. Emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ozone
(O3) and airborne particles have been associated with the operation of the high
technology equipment in office environments. These emissions can lead to
headaches, mucous membrane irritation, dryness of the throat, eyes and noses to the
office personnel, especially when buildings are air-tight. Recent studies (Uhde, et al.
2006; Destaillats et al. 2008) have identified laser printers as one of the potential
sources of ultra-fine particles (UFPs, aerodynamic diameter ≤ 100 nm), and some
VOCs which pose serious threats to human health (Uhde, et al. 2006; Destaillats, et
al. 2008). These pollutants, particularly, UFPs are released either during printing
activities, or formed as a consequence of chemical reactions between O3) and VOCs
that are released from printers (Kagi, et al., 2007).
A number of studies were initiated to characterize emission profiles for
UFPs, and to determine concentrations of VOCs and other substances emitted
during printing activities, so that the possible health impacts from printer emissions
can be understood and estimated thoroughly. He et al. (2007) investigated particle
emissions from 62 printers and classified the printers into three types based on their
emission characteristics. They found that UFPs contribute up to 98-99% of total
submicrometer particles emitted from the printers with peak diameters down to 40
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nm. However, most of the previous studies conducted on printer emissions used
controlled environmental chambers to characterize the UFPs and VOCs emitted
from printers. To gain a comprehensive understanding of potential health impacts,
characterization of printer emissions in real office environments such as printing
centers, where people are actually exposed to UFPs and VOCs, is very much
necessary. Very few studies (He et al., 2007; Wensing et al., 2008) have reported
printer emissions in real office environments. Even in those studies, the duration of
air sampling was limited to a few days (~2 to 3 days). Commercial places such as
printing centers have different working environments when compared to small
offices, where the printing activity is intermittent. In printing centers, printing
activity is intense throughout the day and people working in such places are
exposed to very high concentration levels of printer emissions. For example,
Dufresne et al.(1997) reported that the concentration level of lanthanides in the lung
tissue of a person who worked in a printing shop for 14 years is higher than the
average concentrations measured in 41 other workers who had died of cancer at
various sites. This raises the importance and need for conducting emissions studies
from laser printers in printing centers under day-to-day operating conditions.
We have recently conducted a series of studies on emissions from laser
printers with the following objectives:
(1) To determine the physical and chemical characteristics of UFPs emitted
from laser printers housed in a commercial printing center and in an isolated
chamber;
(2) To estimate particle emission rates for use in mass balance models to
predict the concentrations of particles in different working environments;
(3) To determine the concentration levels of VOCs under different operating
conditions of laser printers.
Results obtained from these studies will be presented and discussed.
References
Destaillats H, Maddalena RL, Singer BC, Hodgson AT, McKone TE. (2008).
Indoor pollutants emitted by office equipment: a review of reported data and
information needs. Atmospheric Environment, 42, pp. 1371-1388.
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Dufresne A.; Begin R.; Dion C.; Jagirdar J.; Rom W.N.; Loosereewanich P.; Muir
D.C.F.; Ritchie A.C.; Perrault G. (1997). Angular and fibrous particles in lung are
markers of job categories. The Science of the Total Environment, 206, pp. 127-
136(10).
He, C.R., Morawska, L., Taplin, L. (2007). Particle Emission Characteristics of
office Printers. Retrieved April 6, 2009, from http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-
bin/sample.cgi/esthag/2007/41/i17/html/es063049z.html
Kagi N, Fujii S, Horiba Y, Namiki N, Ohtani Y, Emi H, et al. (2007) Indoor air
quality for chemical and ultrafine particle contaminants from printers. Built
Environment, 42, pp.1949-1954.
Uhde E, He C, & Wensing, M. (2006). Characterization of ultra-fine particle
emissions from a laser printer. Healthy Buildings, 2, pp. 479-482.
Wensing, M., Schripp, T., Uhde, E., Salthammer, T. (2008). Ultra-fine particles
release from hardcopy devices: Sources, real-room measurements and efficiency of
filter accessories. Science of the Total Environment, 407, pp. 418-427.
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PRESENCE OF FLUORIDES AND NITRATES IN DRINKING WATER AND HUMAN HEALTH – A CASE STUDY OF RAJASTHAN
A. B. Gupta* and S. K. Gupta
*Professor of Civil Engineering, MNIT Jaipur *KRASS Jaipur
There is an intimate relation between environment and human health.
Despite high advancements in the field of medicine, the health of an average Indian
still faces a grim challenge from environmental pollution as almost 85% of the
prevalent diseases in our country are still water borne. The United Nations General
Assembly, in December 2003, proclaimed the years 2005 to 2015 as the
International Decade for Action 'Water for Life'.
A recent survey of Rajasthan showed that 11909 villages and 11388 other
habitations are having fluoride level in their ground water in concentrations of over
1.5 mg/L, constituting nearly 24.79 % of the total villages/habitations. All the 32
districts are endemic to fluoride problem with Jaipur, Nagaur, Barmer, Bhilwara,
Rajsamand, Dausa etc being the worst affected. For nitrates, 20659
villages/habitations are having a concentration more than 45 mg/L (desirable limit)
and 7675 villages/habitations are having nitrate more than 100 mg/L (permissible
limit). Thus 22 % of state’s villages/habitations are affected with excess nitrate
problem with districts like Jaipur, Nagaur, Barmer etc. being the worst affected [1].
The following sections focus on two specific issues, namely, fluorosis and nitrate
toxicity related to water quality highly relevant to Rajasthan, their impact on human
health and management of these problems with research being carried out at SMS
Medical College and MNIT Jaipur.
Fluorides in drinking water may cause skeletal fluorosis, clinical fluorosis,
dental fluorosis, or non-skeletal manifestations, or any combination of the above
while in the final stages it may cause premature aging. Effects on teeth include
discoloration, delayed eruption, chipping of edges and pitting etc. Effects on bones
and joints include heel pain, painful and restricted joint movements, deformities in
limbs and hunch back. So far the pathophysiology of fluorosis is not well
understood. Recent research by Dr. Sunil K. Gupta and team has resulted in the
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formulation of detailed pathophysiology of fluorosis and has also indicated
successful treatment of fluorosis [2-6]. The study involved evaluation of the effect
of a combination calcium, vitamin D3 and ascorbic acid supplementation in
fluorosis affected children. In his study 25 children were selected from an area
consuming water containing 4.5 ppm of fluoride. They were graded for clinical,
radiological and dental fluorosis and relevant biochemical parameters. The results
of the study indicated partial to complete reversal of various grades of dental
fluorosis in children.
The two commonly used field defluoridation techniques in India are
Nalgonda process and Activated Alumina process. The Nalgonda technique
contains residual aluminum in the range of 2.1 to 6.8 mg/l under various operating
conditions. This concentration of uncomplexed aluminium in treated water for
drinking purpose can result in a grave public health problem as aluminium is a
neurotoxin and a concentration and associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The
Activated Alumina technique depends on chemisorption of fluoride on to a bed of
granular alumina. This process also results in moderately high residual aluminium
in treated water ranging from 0.1 ppm to 0.3 ppm. A new, low cost defluoridation
technology has been developed by our team [7-9] that could avoid the major
shortcomings of the above technologies.
Excessive nitrate concentration in drinking water is reported to cause
methemoglobinemia in infants up to 6 months of age. World health Organization
(WHO) has prescribed maximum permissible limits in drinking water as 50 mg of
NO3 per liter. While a few cases of methemoglobinemia in infants have been
reported to be associated with water nitrate levels of less than 50 mg/1, most cases
occur with nitrate level of 90 mg/1 or more. In several developing countries,
including India, consumption of water containing high nitrate concentrations, at
times up to 500 mg NO3 per liter, is not uncommon; however, very few cases of
methemoglobinemia have been reported in infants.
An epidemiological investigation entitled “Epidemiological evaluation of
nitrate toxicity and DPNH dependent Diaphorase Activity in Infants” was
undertaken at S.M.S. Medical College, Malaviya Regional Engineering College and
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NEERI Regional laboratory Jaipur [10-13] to evaluate the toxicity of inorganic
nitrate ingestion. It yielded results to explain the mechanism of nitrate toxicity, the
defense system in human body to counteract this toxicity and some other
manifestations of nitrates apart from causing methemoglobinemia which could be of
high importance to the field of environmental health. To combat nitrate toxicity, use
of vitamin C was found to act as a preventive measure. The intervention of not
allowing local water during diarrheal bout in children up to 1 year of age resulted in
significant beneficial effects.
REFERENCES
1. Dhindsa, S.S., 2006, Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance in
Rajasthan, IWWA Annual Convention.
2. Gupta S.K. “Environmental Health Perspective of Fluorosis In Children”.
PhD thesis, University of Rajasthan, 2002.
3. Gupta S.K., Seth AK, Gupta A and Gavane AG. Transplacental passage of
Fluorides in Cord Blood. The Journal of Pediatrics, USA, 1993 (July):137-141.
4. Gupta SK, Gupta RC, Seth AK and Gupta A. Reversal of fluorosis in
children. Acta Pediatrica Japonica, 38, 513-519:1996.
5. Gupta SK, Gupta RC, Seth AK and Gupta A. Reversal of Clinical and
Dental fluorosis. Indian Pediatrics, 31:439-443, 1994.
6. Gupta SK, khan TI, Gupta RC, Gupta AB, Gupta KC, Jain P, and Gupta A.
Compensatory hyperparathyroidism following high fluoride ingestion – a clinico –
biochemical correlation., Indian Pediatrics 2001; 38:139-146.
7. Agrawal KC, Gupta SK and Gupta AB. Development of New Low Cost
Defluoridation Technology (Krass). Water Science And Technology, UK 40 (2),
Sept 1999 : 167-173.
8. Gupta SK, Gupta AB, Dhindsa SS, Seth AK, Agrawal KC and Gupta RC.
Performance of a Domestic filter based on KRASS defluoridation process. Journal
of IWWA 3(XXXI), 193-200, 1999.
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9. Gupta SK, Gupta RC, Seth AK, Gupta AB, Bassin JK and Gupta A.
Methemoglobinemia in areas with high nitrate concentration in drinking water.
National Medical Journal of India, 13(2), 58-61, 2000.
10. Gupta SK, Gupta RC, Seth AK, Gupta AB, Bassin JK and Gupta A.
Enzymatic adaptation of cytochrome b5 reductase activity and methemoglobinemia
in areas with high nitrate concentration in drinking water. Bulletin Of World Health
Organization, Switzerland, 77(9) : 749-753, 1999.
11. Gupta SK, Gupta RC, Gupta AB, Seth AK, Bassin JK and Gupta A.
Recurrent diarrhea in areas with high nitrate in drinking water. American Journal of
Gastroenterology, USA, 94 (7), 1808-1812, 1999.
12. Gupta SK, Gupta RC, Gupta AB, Seth AK, Bassin JK and Gupta A.
Recurrent acute respiratory tract infection in areas having high nitrate concentration
in drinking water”. Environmental Health Perspectives, 108, 363-366, 2000.
13. Gupta SK, Gupta RC, Seth AK, Gupta AB, Bassin JK and Gupta DK, and
Sharma S. Epidemiological evaluation of recurrent stomatitis, nitrates in drinking
water and cytochrome b5 reductase activity”. American Journal Of, Usa. 94 (7),
1808-1812, July 1999
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ENVIRONMENTAL GEOCHEMISTRY AND GEOCHEMICAL MAPPING AS SUPPORT TO LAND PLANNING AND PUBLIC HEALTH
PROTECTION: CASE HISTORIES IN ITALY
Spadoni M., Voltaggio M. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche – Istituto di Geologia Ambientale e
Geoingegneria – Roma (Italy)
Environmental geochemistry studies abundance, mobility and speciation of
chemical elements in the exogenous environment with a particular attention to the
possible interactions they have with ecosystems and human population. Within this
ambit it also helps to define hazards of natural and anthropogenic origin in order to
plan activities of risk mitigation.
The study of the spatial distribution of geochemical variables and the
identification of background and anomalous concentration of potentially hazardous
elements and species are the main field of application for geochemical mapping.
In this paper we illustrate some of our researches in the field of
environmental geochemistry we carried out at the Institute of Environmental
Geology and Geoengineering (CNR-IGAG), in Rome (Italy), to define new
approaches for assessing background levels and, more in general, to address land
policy at a local and at a national scale.
Background level
The definition of background levels is often the first goal in the studies
aimed to identify the contamination level of a site. We proposed a method based on
discriminant analysis associated with the calculation of an information coefficient to
Identify the mixing of stream sediments of different origin in the Mignone river
basin (Central Italy) [1]. Theoretical background concentrations at every sampling
point were also calculated by weighting the average value of concentration in each
group with the membership values for each sample. As example application, the
distribution maps of Arsenic and Vanadium were drawn accordingly to this
technique, leading to the identification of areas of potential risk for human health.
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Waste disposal
The correct evaluation of local risk linked to surface disposal of
allochthonous materials implies an overall study of the geological, geochemical
setting and background level. We studied an ophiolitic sequence in Northern
Apennines range that is usually exploited as source of raw material for civil
engineering works. Grinding procedures of basalts imply the production of dusts
with relatively high concentration of heavy metals. The possibility to use a
dismissed quarry site to dispose the washing muds was studied by integrating data
from a number of different analyses carried out on rock thin sections or using
electron microprobe and ICP-MS after sequential leaching and total digestion [2].
The mobility of heavy metals during future weathering processes were finally
estimated by considering the element transfer coefficients and assuming weathered
rocks and soils as two different natural analogues of the future state of washing
muds.
Toxic gas emission from perivolcanic areas
The release of toxic gasses as H2S and Rn into the atmosphere is common
in almost all perivolcanic and geothermal areas, where concentrations may increase
to levels potentially dangerous for the resident population. We fine tuned a new
method for measuring H2S mass flux from the ground, based on the digital analysis
of the interference colours produced by the sulphidation of copper passive samplers
[3]. This technique was applied at the Alban Hills, near Rome, where a reference
emission curve, accounting for the advective and diffusive components of the flux,
was modelled and used to estimate the total H2S mass of about 1207.6 kg day−1.
A methodology to evaluate the maximum potential diffusive Rn flux from soils
based on gamma spectrometry of soils and main parameters influencing the Rn
emanation also provided a simple tool to estimate radon fluxes and hazard maps [4].
Bioaccessible selenium in soils
Biogeochemical mapping of selenium in Italian agricultural soils was
accomplished by measuring the Se concentration of representative samples of wheat
grains from 71 provinces [5]. A multiple regression model based on six
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geochemical and pedoclimatic variables was developed to interpret the observed
data and to predict Se concentration of wheat in areas where analytical data were
missing and in the different Italian soil regions. The statistical model explained only
part of the observed variance, but succeeded in identifying Se-enriched as well as Se
depleted areas with an acceptable level of agreement with the biogeochemical map.
Use of oxygen and hydrogen isotopes to monitor the impact of climate changes
on water resources
The recharge/discharge processes of the S. Susanna spring system in the
central Apennines range were studied by modelling available climate series, water
balance equations and new isotopic and quantitative data, using statistical and raster
overlay functions embedded in a geographic information system (GIS) [6]. Oxygen
and hydrogen isotopic data (δ18O and δD) in the rainfalls were used to built altitude
regression curves and to validate the digital recharge model by comparing the
expected values in the spring waters with the values actually measured. We
highlighted how the recently measured discharge rate of 4.1 m3·s-1 at the S. Susanna
springs is higher than the expected value calculated on the basis of decreasing
infiltration trends over the last 20 years, thanks to the groundwater baseflow
contribution during exhaustion periods. A further discharge rate decrease is
therefore expected in the next years.
References
[1] Spadoni M., Voltaggio M., Cavarretta G. (2005), J. Geoch. Explor., 87, 83–91.
[2] Voltaggio M., Spadoni M. (2007), Env. Geol., 53, 417–432.
[3] Voltaggio M., Spadoni M. (2009), J. Volc. Geoth. Res., 179 (1-2) 56-68.
[4] Voltaggio M, Masi U., Spadoni M., Zampetti G. (2006), Environ. Geoch.
Health, 28, 541-551.
[5] Spadoni M., Voltaggio M., Carcea M., Coni E., Raggi A., Cubadda F. (2007),
Sci. Tot. Env., 376, 160-177.
[6] Spadoni M., Brilli M., Giustini F., Petitta M. (2009), Hydrol. Process., 23, 50-
64.
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OPPORTUNITIES IN NANOSTRUCTURED METAL OXIDES BASED BIOSENSORS FOR CLINICAL DIAGNOSTICS
B. D Malhotra
Department of Science & Technology Centre on Biomolecular Electronics National Physical Laboratory
Dr K.S.Krishnan Marg, New Delhi-110012, India
There is increased demand both in developed and the developing countries
for the ready availability of biosensors that can rapidly yield reliable information on
desired bio-chemical parameters. Research and development of biosensors for
estimation of key analytes in healthcare, food, pharmaceuticals, veterinary medicine
and bioprocessing industry has recently attracted much interest. Among these,
technical development of biosensors for human healthcare has demanded the
maximum attention. The biomolecules such as enzymes, microorganisms,
organelles and cells along with a variety of transducers have been used to fabricate a
desired biosensing device. Nanomterials such as nanostructured conducting
polymers and nanostructured metal oxides have been utilized for the fabrication of a
number of biosensing devices that can be used for estimation of a number of
analytical parameters such as glucose, urea and cholesterol in biological specimens.
Among the various biomaterials, and nanostructured metal oxides have
recently demanded much attention due to their potential applications in
biomolecular electronics. One of the main reasons for such a wide-spread interest is
the reported observation that these interesting nanoelectronic materials exhibit a
wide range of interesting properties. Another advantage lies in the fact that these
materials possess specific advantages such as high packing density, possibility of
controlling shape and electronic properties by chemical modification. Among the
various applications of nanostructured metal oxides , biosensors have attracted the
maximum attention[ Fig1 and Fig.2]. We have recently been actively engaged in the
research and development of some of these biosensing devices. I will focus on some
of the recent developments that have occurred at our laboratories in nanostructured
metal oxides based biosensors1-5 .
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Fig.1 SCHEME 1: Schematic Showing Stepwise Preparation of AAB/ATP/Au
Immunosensor and LDL Binding
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Fig.2 QCM Plot of the frequency shift as a function of time for different LDL
concentrations at 298 K.
References:
1. Prospects of nanomaterials in biosensors,P.Pandey, M.Datta and B. D.
Malhotra, Analytical Letters, 2008, 41, 157-207.
2. Zinc Oxide-Chitosan Nanobiocomposite for Urea Sensor, Pratima Solanki,
Ajeet Kaushik, Anees A.Ansari, G.Sumana and B.D.Malhotra, Applied Physics
Letters, 2008, Vol.93, Issue 16, 163903
3. Sol-gel derived derived nano-structured cerium oxide film for glucose
sensor, Anees.A.Ansari,Pratima.R.Solanki,B.D.Malhotra, Applied Physics
Letters,2008,Volume 92,pp263901-1-4.
4. Low Density Lipoprotein Detection Based on Antibody Immobilized Self-
Assembled Monolayer: Investigations of Kinetic and Thermodynamic Properties,
Zimple Matharu, Amay Jairaj Bandodkar, G. Sumana, Pratima R. Solanki, E. M. I.
Mala Ekanayake, Keiichi Kaneto, Vinay Gupta and B. D. Malhotra , J. Phys. Chem.
B, 2009, 113 (43), pp 14405–14412.
5. Nanostructured Conducting Polymer Based Reagentless Capacitive
Immunosensor, Bandodkar Amay Jairaj, Chetna Dhand, Sunil K. Arya, M. K.
Pandey, B.D.Malhotra, Biomedical Micro Devices,2010, Volume 12, pp63-70.
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CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
Prahlad K. Seth
Chief Executive Officer, Biotech Park & Former Director, Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow
Sector G, Jankipuram, Kursi Road, Lucknow – 226021 Email: [email protected]
Association of a number of environmental chemicals with ailments like respiratory & cardiovascular disorders, neurological disturbances; reproductive & immune dysfunctions, developmental defects and cancer has been observed in recent years. The process of disease development whether due to an organic cause or induced by an environmental chemical is quite similar and therefore identification of impact of chemical exposure at early stage, prediction of the outcome of exposure and identification of the population sensitive to chemicals or diseases are challenging tasks but key to prevention of health ailments. Hence, identification of biomarkers, which could help in identification of diseases and persons susceptible to diseases much before an irreversible damage is done, would be of unestimatable value. The current approaches to detect or monitor the diseases are based on animal data and mathematical modeling. However, these do not take into account the inter-individual variability at the genomic (e.g. SNPs) and proteomic levels. The post genome era has led to an increased use of genomics in disease identification and monitoring. Microarray is now being used not only for identifying the genes involved in disease but also for identification of biomarkers of exposure and effect. SNPs are also being used for identifying the population susceptible to certain chemicals as well as in deciphering the mechanism of diseases such as cancer. Cytochrome P450s in lymphocytes have recently gained importance as biomarkers for risk assessment and are being seen as a breakthrough in the area of molecular epidemiology. For monitoring human genotoxicity, newer and more powerful techniques such as the comet assay is being used which provide early information of exposure. Proteome profiling is also an upcoming area in health risk assessment and provides mechanistic, diagnostic and prognostic markers. These capabilities along with molecular metabolomics need to be developed and practiced in disease management.
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STUDENT POSTER ABSTRACTS
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TRIMESIC ACID COATED ALUMINA: A POTENT ADSORBENT FOR BOTH CATIONIC AND ANIONIC POLLUTANTS FROM AQUEOUS
SOLUTION
Bedabrata Sahaa, Saswati Chakrabortya,b and Gopal Dasa,c a Centre for the Environment, b Department of Civil Engineering, c Department of
Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam – 781039, India
Email: [email protected]
Adsorptive removal of different pollutants from wastewater resources is considered
to be an effective and versatile method in wastewater treatment. In our research, we
have prepared an effective adsorbent by coating benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid
(Trimesic acid, TMA) onto basic alumina surface. Due to the rigidity of TMA and
strong co-ordination ability of three equally spaced carboxylate groups, metal
centres should strongly bind with this organic ligand. TMA coated alumina was
used for adsorption studies of both cationic and anionic pollutants from aqueous
solution. From our studies, TMA grafted alumina has shown significant efficiency
on removal of toxic Cu2+ ion from aqueous solution. Adsorption efficiency
enhanced many times upon coating of TMA compared to that of obtained with bare
alumina. Maximum ~90-95% removal of Cu2+ was achieved at pH 5.0 with 100
mg/L Cu2+ solution. Again, we have studied the adsorption behaviour of Fe3+ and
Fe2+, which are the main sources in acid mine drainages (AMD), from a competitive
solution along with the presence of Co2+ and Ni2+. A comparative study of Fe3+
adsorption with Fe2+, Cu2+, Co2+ and Ni2+ revealed that TMA coated alumina is
more selective towards Fe3+ compared to other ions present. The adsorption capacity
of Fe3+ was high compared to other ions studied from even a highly acidic solution
(pH ~2) where adsorption of metal ions becomes critical. In addition with cationic
pollutants we have also used TMA coated alumina for the in removal of anionic
pollutants like phosphate (PO43-) which is a major reason for eutrophication in water
bodies along with Cl-, NO3- and Br-. Our adsorbent showed very high adsorption
capacity for phosphate over other anions present. Adsorption efficiency of
phosphate was very high from even very low concentration (1 -10 mg/L) solution
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and throughout a wide pH range (pH ~1.0 - 8.0). Various numbers of hydrogen
bonds between phosphate and carboxyl groups of TMA (depending upon the pH
and dissociation constant of phosphate and TMA) results in high adsorption
capacity of phosphate throughout the wide pH range ~1-8. Most importantly, we got
a selective and high adsorption efficiency of phosphate from an equi-molar multi-
component system containing other anions like Cl-, NO3- and Br-. Therefore, TMA
coated alumina can be used as a prospective adsorbent for the removal of both
cationic and anionic major pollutants from aqueous solution.
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16S RRNA BASED IDENTIFICATION OF A BIOACTIVE DEXTRAN
PRODUCING PEDIOCOCCUS PENTOSACEUS ISOLATED FROM SOIL
OF BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOT ASSAM
Seema Patel, Arabinda Ghosh and Arun Goyal
Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati 781 039, Assam, India
Recent research in the area of importance of microbes has revealed the enormous industrial potentials of exopolysaccharides as food additives and biomedical tools (1). Lactic acid bacteria having accorded the status of ‘Generally Recognised As Safe’ (GRAS) and being capable of producing a broad range of exopolysaccharides (EPS) with variable composition and functionality are discovered to be the suitable candidates for the production of functional EPS. Lactic acid bacteria produce an array of EPS viz. dextran, mutan, alternan, reuteran, levan, inulin-type and kefiran. Among these EPS, dextran has achieved the maximum use in food, pharmaceutical, chemical, agricultural, nano-carriers, biosensors, metal and paper processing, oil recovery etc. the In this regard, it is essential to explore the natural biodiversity for screening novel strains of bioactive dextran synthesizing lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Assam falling under the Indo-Burma biodiversity region is expected to harbour novel microbial flora with industrial scopes. With this objective, a natural isolate of LAB with high dextransucrase activity was screened from the sugarcane field soil of Assam. The isolate was characterized based on a battery of microscopic, staining, metabolic, physiological and antibiotic sensitivity tests. The LAB isolate was coccus shaped, Gram positive, catalase negative, micro-aerophilic, mesophilic, vancomycin resistant and broad spectrum carbohydrate fermentating (2). The crude dextransucrase activity of the isolate was 3.4 U/ml. The enzyme was purified with non ionic hydrophilic detergent polyethylene glycol-200, 400 and 1500 by fractionation method. The purified dextransucrase enzyme was subjected to SDS-denaturing PAGE and the molecular weight found was approximately 180 kDa. SDS-non denaturing PAGE using periodic acid Schiff staining protocol confirmed the dextran synthesizing activity of the enzyme. This result was further corroborated by optical rotation, Fourier Transform Infra Red (FT-IR) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) studies of the purified and
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lyophilised dextran. The α-(1→6) linked linear, water soluble, thermo-reversible gelling attribute of the dextran was reported. Scanning electron micrograph revealed the web like porous structure, widening its scope to be used as hydrogel in food industry and tissue engineering. The decrease in viscosity of dextran solution with the increase in shear rate, threw light on its typical non-Newtonian pseudoplastic behaviour. The cytotoxicity tests of dextran on human cervical cancer (HeLa) cell line was studied which showed its nontoxicity and biocompatiblity, rendering it safe for human consumption and biomaterial or drug carrier preparation. In this work, full-length 16S rRNA gene amplification by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing of the 1491 bp amplicon was accomplished to identify the genus and species of the LAB isolate. The sequence information was compared with the reference sequences in the GenBank of National Centre for Biotechnological Information (NCBI) using BLAST program. RDP database was also used as diagnostic tool for automated sequence alignment. Kimura parameter-2 was used to find the nucleotide similarity and distance identities between the isolate and its nearest homologs. Neighbour joining method was used to construct well-resolved trees having nodes with high bootstrap pseudoreplicate scores. The LAB isolate was identified as Pediococcus pentosaceus (GenBank Accession Number EU569832). Pediococcus sp. (GenBank Accession Number EU157914) was the closest phylogenetic neighbour with 94% sequence similarity. This result is novel in reporting the dextran production attribute of Pediococcus genus for the first time. This investigation unravels the abundance of industrially valuable microbial flora in soil of North East India. Further, 16S rDNA technique proved superior over the conventional, time-consuming biochemical identification methods and instrumental in the selection of new industrially important strains of LAB valuable in healthcare.
References
1. Seema Patel, Avishek Majumder and Arun Goyal (2010) Industrial potentials of Exopolysaccharides from Lactic acid bacteria. Indian Journal of Microbiology (in press).
2. Seema Patel and Arun Goyal (2010) Isolation, characterization and mutagenesis of exopolysaccharide synthesizing new strains of lactic acid bacteria. Internet Journal of Microbiology (in press).
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REVIEW ON ENDOCRINE DISRUPTING CHEMICALS (EDCS):
REMEDIAL OPTIONS
Gurdeep Singh, Alok Sinha and Rajneesh Kr. Srivastava*
, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, ISM, Dhanbad, *Corresponding Author, e-mail: [email protected]
Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) comprise of pharmaceuticals,
personal care products, surfactants and various other industrial chemicals
originating mainly from effluent of households and industries, sewage treatment
plants and farming activities. These contaminants remain un-metabolized during the
conventional waste water treatment processes and often are discharged into the
surface water posing a threat to the aquatic life as well as human health. Lack of
stringent regulations and trace concentrations of these compounds limits their
removal from the effluents of waste water treatment plants. Some of these
contaminants have been shown to impact aquatic organisms at trace concentrations
(i.e., ng/L). The issue of endocrine disruption has received a great deal of attention
since the last decade because these compounds disturb the endocrine system by
mimicking, blocking or also disrupting function of hormone, affecting the health of
humans and animals species resulting in severe population declines. Adverse impact
of exposure of EDCs on humans includes decrease in male sperm count, an increase
in testicular, prostate, ovarian and breast cancer and reproductive malfunctions. In
this paper a review has been presented on the feasibility of various treatment
technologies available like adsorption on activated carbon, advanced oxidation
processes (ozonation, UV photolysis), microfiltration, ultra-filtration, nano-
filtration, reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, biological processes like Activated
Sludge process (ASP) and biological trickling filters. The benefits and limitations of
all the remediation options are thus highlighted.
Key Words: Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs), pharmaceuticals,
remediation
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INDOOR AIR QUALITY USING BIOMASS FUELS AND ITS IMPACT ON HUMAN RESPIRATORY HEALTH – A CASE STUDY
Anurag Yadav, Gaurav Singh, Nishant Sharma, Saurav Chakraborty, P. Chandilya, N Kaul, A B Gupta.
Department of Civil Engineering, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, 302017, India
Combustion of the biomass fuels like wood, Crop residue and cow dung is
probably the oldest source for the cooking purposes due to its easy availability. It is
a common practice amongst the rural people. The ill effects of the particulates and
the toxic gases emitted from burning of wood are well documented, however, the
rural masses are highly oblivious of the same. We conducted a study using GRIMM
Aerosol dust monitor and Personal Samplers for monitoring the exposure to
different levels of particulates of various sizes in the rural indoors of Viratnagar,
Jaipur in 16 households and carried out a respiratory health survey, using a modified
questionnaire based on ATS-DLD (1978), of about 40 individuals exposed to a
lesser degree (control group) and high degree (postulated affected group) of this
pollution. The spirometry of all these subjects was also conducted for recording the
PEFR (Peak Expiratory Flow rate) and FVC (Forced Vital capacity) of the lungs
before and after the exposure. The results were analyzed statistically for
significance at 95% confidence interval.
PEFR is the Peak expiratory flow rate of the air (oxygen) to our lungs.
Measurement of PEFR is used to access the ventilatory capacity expressed as
litre per second of exhaled air sustained by a subject or person for at least 10
milliseconds. PEFR test is performed by taking a maximal intake of air by the
person and then blowing the air as hard as possible, maintaining an airtight seal
between the lips and mouthpiece. The highest value from three correctly
performed exhalations is recorded. FVC stands for forced vital capacity, is the total
amount of air exhaled by a person. Low FVC value indicates obstruction or
restriction in the lungs thus causing hindrance in the air flow. Persons using wood
as a fuel have a lower FVC value than the persons using gas.
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The indoor air quality was very poor and the particulate concentration of size PM
10, PM 2.5 and PM 1 was found in the range of 151 - 3937 µg/m3, 47.43 - 3510
µg/m3 and 29.9 - 2061.9 µg/m3 respectively, while the average of the same was
above the prescribed guidelines. Similar results were observed through the
gravimetric analysis of Glass fibre filters (GFF, 25mm) build on personal samplers
and the average concentration of particulate matter varies form 512-5333 µg/m3 for
about 35 minutes of cooking duration.
The analysis of the responses of the questionnaire survey showed that there was a
relatively higher prevalence of common respiratory symptoms like cough, phlegm,
wheezing and dyspnea in the affected group compared to the control. The values of
PEFR were lying in between 1.25 to & 7.7 Lts/sec in the age group of 15 to 70 years
and there was significant difference in between the predicted values and the
observed values for the individuals indicating acute effects of exposure. The
observed FVC was varying from 0.65 to 3.86 ml, which was again significantly less
than the predicted values showing some long term adverse effects on respiratory
health.
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EFFECT ON PULMONARY FUNCTIONS OF THE HEALTHY SUBJECTS DURING WHEAT-RICE RESIDUE BURNING IN AND AROUND PATIALA
CITY
A. Awasthi, Nirankar Singh, Susheel Mittal, Prabhat K Gupta* and Ravinder Agarwal
Thapar University Patiala-147004 *National Physical Laboratory New Delhi-110012
Corresponding author email: [email protected]
India is the agricultural country and Punjab is one of leading state in India
in term of production of crop. Earlier crop residues was consumed or managed
judiciously by the owners who used it as a biofuel for cooking or as animal fodder
or building materials etc. With the passage of time, life-styles of people has changed
even in the villages and created a situation where nobody any longer makes use of
these residues in an efficient manner. Moreover, due to modernizations in
machineries, large residue are produced in the fields, which are ultimately burned
by the farmers in the open fields as it is the cheapest, less time consuming and less
laborious method to use the land for further farming. It creates hazardous effect
because open burning due to less then ideal combustion conditions produced large
amount of smoke that contains number of gases and Suspended Particulate Matter
(SPM) which affects the human health. In the present research work, study was
carried out in Patiala to determine the impact of smoke produced due to wheat and
rice residue burning on the respiratory health of the humans. Pulmonary Function
Tests (PFTs) of healthy peoples were carried out to measure the respiratory status of
the peoples. 51 subjects (male and female) having no lung or respiratory diseases of
the age group 13 to 53 years were selected from five sites of Patiala (Punjab) and
were investigated for two years from January-2007 to December-2008. PFTs like
Force Vital Capacity (FVC), Force Expiratory Volume in one second (FEV1), Peak
Expiratory Flow (PEF) and Force Expiratory Flow in 25 to 75% of FVC (FEF25-75%)
were carried out according to American Thoracic Society (ATS) standards by using
Spirometer. To considered the status of ambient air, environmental parameters like
SPM, Sulphur dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and Particulate Matter (PM)
of size less then 10 and 2.5 µm (PM10 and PM2.5) were measured through standard
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prescribed methods by using High Volume Sampler (HVS) with gaseous attachment
and Eight-Size Anderson Cascade Impactor.
All the PFTs shows significant decrease and environmental parameters show
significant increase during exhaustive burning period of wheat and rice residue
(April-May and October-November 2007-08), which clearly signifies the hazardous
effect of burning crop residue on the environment and human health. The values of
PFTs were not recovered completely even after the completion of burning episode,
whereas the recovery in the value of PEF and FEF25-75% were more in comparison to
FVC and FEV1. The effect on pulmonary function is found more during rice residue
as compared to wheat residue burning. Results show that one third time of the year,
concentration of environmental parameters is found to quite high as given by the
National Ambient Air Quality Standards, means the common peoples are at higher
risk during these time period. Study clearly signifies that due to wheat and rice
residue burning, environment get polluted due to which the concentration of
different harmful gases and particulate matter increases which ultimately goes
inside the body through breathing and affect the PFTs of even health peoples. Some
realistic regulation must be applied to control the open crop residue burning.
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AMMONIA EMISSIONS IN THE US: ASSESSING THE ROLE OF BI-DIRECTIONAL AMMONIA TRANSPORT WITHIN VEGETATION CANOPIES USING THE COMMUNITY MULTI-
SCALE AIR QUALITY (CMAQ) MODEL Megan L. Gore and Viney P. Aneja*
Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8208, USA
and Ellen J. Cooter, Robin L. Dennis, and Jon Pleim
US Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA * Corresponding Author
Telephone: (919) 515 7808 Email: [email protected]
Ammonia emissions are calculated based on recent emission factors;
however, scientific uncertainty exists in the determination of ammonia (NH3)
emissions, with current inventories overestimating by up to 20%. In addition to the
lack of continuous NH3 emissions analysis and the limited spatial and temporal
scope of current NH3 emissions factors, air quality models do not accurately
represent all NH3 atmospheric processes. Recent advancements suggest that the bi-
directional transport of NH3 within and above vegetation canopies may account for
some of these uncertainties. A pilot study of bi-directional NH3 flux modeling in the
Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) Model (version 4.7) for the Eastern
United States is currently underway. This study develops and tests bi-directional
flux algorithms, explores methods of providing agricultural fertilizer information
into CMAQ, and clarifies possible NH3 and overall one-atmosphere chemical
budget changes with the full implementation of the bi-directional flux option
planned for the 2011 CMAQ release. One focus area is the adjustment of the current
CMAQ bi-directional flux module to include a dynamic soil emission potential
component. The soil emission potential is calculated offline using commercial
fertilizer application survey data from the National Nutrient Loss & Soil Carbon
(NNLSC) Database, with additional crop acreage data obtained from the 2002 U.S.
Census of Agriculture.
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ACTIVATED CARBON MICRO AND NANOFIBERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION APPLICATIONS
Anindita Chakraborty1, Ravi Naik1, Paramita Haldar1, Mekala B.1,
Ashutosh Sharma2, Nishith Verma1 1Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur,
Kanpur-208016 2Department of Chemical Engineering and DST Unit on Nanosciences,
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur-208016
The micron sized activated carbon fibers (ACFs) based on two precursors,
namely viscose rayon and phenolic resin, were prepared by carbonization followed
by physical activation of raw non-activated fibers. Carbon nanofibers (CNF) are
grown on ACF, used as a substrate, by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CVD).
ACF and thus prepared hierarchal web of ACF/CNF are functionalized to
incorporate acidic or basic surface functional groups by chemical methods and
applied as adsorbents in several environmental remediation applications. These
include control of Pb, phenol, and dye (methylene blue) in wastewater, Vitamin-12
from biofluids, and that of 2-dichloroethanol, a persistent organic compound in the
gaseous phase. Surface morphology, surface area, pore size distribution, and
surface functional groups of the prepared adsrobents are determined by several
analytical techniques, including SEM, BET area analyzer, FT-IR and elemental
analyzer. The present study shows significant loading of the solutes on the prepared
carbon micro and nanofibers, the futuristic potential adsorbents for environmental
remediation applications.
Key words: Activated carbon fiber (ACF), carbon nanofibers (CNF), environmental
remediation, adsorption, surface functionalization.
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PREPARATION OF MICRO-NANO CARBONIZED POLYMERIC BEADS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AND PHARMACEUTICAL APPLICATIONS
R.Saraswat1, V.Kumar1, K Karthiga.1, N.Sankararamakrishnan2,
A. Sharma3, N.Verma1 1Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur,
Kanpur-208016 2Center for Environmental Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology
Kanpur, Kanpur-208016 3Department of Chemical Engineering and DST Unit on Nanosciences, Indian
Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur-208016
The synthesis of the styrene precursor based (carbonized) spherical
micro/nano particles having hierarchal meso/nano porous structure has recently
been undertaken. The surface of the synthesized adsorbents may be functionalized
to incorporate suitable functional groups (polar or non-polar, acid or basic,
hydrophobic or hydrophilic) for increasing its selectivity towards a variety of
pharmaceutical compounds, including erythromycin, acetaminophen, and vitamin
B-12. The application of such iron-doped activated micro/nano carbon particles as
efficient adsorbents for arsenic removal has also been successfully demonstrated. In
the latter study, starting with phenolic resin monomers, polymeric spherical beads
of size ~0.2-1 mm were first synthesized by suspension polymerization. Iron (Fe)
was incorporated in an intermediate step during polymerization. The internal porous
structure was developed in the Fe-doped polymeric beads by carbonization followed
by physical activation using steam. Subsequent to activation, beads were milled to
prepare the micro/nano particles in the size range of 100 to 500 nm. In an alternate
route to preparing the adsorbents, the synthesized polymeric beads were first milled
and then carbonized and activated. The absorbent particles thus prepared were
applied in the removal of arsenic (III and V) present at low concentration levels
(<20 mg/L) in water. The arsenic loadings were found to be significantly larger than
most of the reported literature data.
Keywords: Arsenic; wastewater; environment; polymerization;
adsorption; nano particles; pharmaceutical compounds.
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FINE PARTICLE CONCENTRATIONS AND ITS CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION IN RESIDENTIAL HOMES LOCATED IN
DIFFERENT MICROENVIRONMENTS OF AGRA, INDIA Mahima Habil and Ajay Taneja*
Department of Chemistry, Ambedkar University, Agra, India * Corresponding author, Email: [email protected]
The high levels in developing countries and the apparent scale of its impact
on the global burden of diseases underline the importance of particulate as an environmental health risk and the consequence need for monitoring them particularly in indoor microenvironment. According to World Health Organization (WHO) comparative risk study 28% of all deaths are caused by indoor air pollution in developing countries. Many developing countries don’t have monitoring of fine particles and also no national standards, so a study related to these particles is very necessary as most of the health related adverse effects are associated with the same and short term study in representatives area for a particular region may overcome the existing problem for policy makers for their judgment and appropriate decision making.
In this study PM 2.5µm, 1.0 µm, 0.5 µm and 0.25 µm were measured inside and outside 15 residential homes located in different microenvironments(urban, rural and roadside) of Agra during October 2007-March 2008 using Grimm aerosol spectrometer. The indoor average concentrations were maximum for rural homes followed by roadside homes and then by urban homes. The Indoor/outdoor ratios obtained were linked to the indoor activities using occupant’s diary entries. Furthermore PM 2.5 was analyzed for its water soluble constituents at the above mentioned three residential microenvironments. Out of the total aerosol mass water soluble constituents contributed an average of 70 %( 29% anions, 43% cations) in PM 2.5 .The indoor-outdoor ratio of water soluble components suggested additional aerosol indoor sources at rural and roadside sites. Correlation coefficients for different particulates and among water soluble aerosols in PM 2.5 were also determined to evaluate the relationship between particulate matter and aerosol ions in indoor and outdoor air. This study provides an example of systematic assessment and choice of indicator pollutants in Agra where diverse set of energy use, housing and exposure pattern exists and most of the developing cities of the world have similar types of scenario. It is also indicated that a better understanding of other factors is also necessary apart from household fuel choices, to develop exposure atlases for particular regions or nations.
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EQUILIBRIUM STUDIES ON THE TREATMENT OF ARSENIC CONTAMINATED WATER USING IRON-CHITOSAN SPACER
GRANULES
Anjali Gupta and Nalini Sankararamakrishnan
Center for Environmental Science and Engineering
India Institute of Technology, Kanpur UP 208016, INDIA
Decontamination of arsenic ions from aqueous media has been investigated using
iron chitosan spacer granules (ICS) as an adsorbent. Drying of beads saturated with
spacer sucrose was considered as simple treatment, to prevent the restriction of
polymer network and enhance sorption capacity. Removal of arsenic (III) and
arsenic (V) was studied through adsorption at pH 7.0 under equilibrium and
dynamic conditions. The equilibrium data were fitted to Langmuir and Freundlich
adsorption models and the various model parameters were evaluated. Langmuir
monolayer adsorption capacity was found to be 22.57 ± 1.2 mg g-1 and 25.84 ± 1.3
mg g-1at pH 7 for As (V) and As(III) respectively. Influence of common anions
including sulfate, phosphate and silicate on the adsorption capacity were studied.
The regeneration studies were carried out for two sorption – desorption cycles for
both As (III) and As (V) using the sorbent. The eluant used for the regeneration of
the spent sorbent was 0.1 M NaOH. The adsorbent was also successfully applied for
the removal of total inorganic arsenic down to < 10 µg l-1 from real life arsenic
contaminated ground water samples.
Key words: Chitosan, arsenic, removal, adsorption, ground water
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GROUND WATER GEOCHEMISTRY OF KANPUR DISTRICT ALONG THE ALLUVIAL GANGETIC PLAIN, UP, INDIA AND MECHANISM OF
ARSENIC RELEASE
Vivek Singh Chauhan and Nalini Sankararamakrishnan*
Centre for Environmental Sciences and Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur UP 208016, INDIA
Natural Arsenic contamination of ground water increasingly recognized as a
threat to human health worldwide. Recent reports have indicated that arsenic
contamination is widespread even in the middle and upper gangetic plains namely,
Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Understanding the mechanism for mobilization may throw
more light on the predominant arsenic species to plan for proper mitigation steps in
arsenic affected areas. Hence, a survey was conducted in Kanpur district UP.
Kanpur district, along the ganges river, was divided into three zones, namely,
Bithore, Kanpur City and Beyond Jajmau area. Around 110 samples were collected
from both India mark II hand pumps (Depth 30 – 33 m) and domestic hand-pumped
tube wells (6-10 m) located within 5 km from the banks of Ganges. Samples were
analyzed for various parameters like, total inorganic As, sulfate, nitrate, alkalinity,
ammonia, and iron. Physical parameters like pH, ORP were also measured. In
Indian mark II hand pumps Arsenic concentration ranged from 0 to 260 µg/l.
Among the 110 samples collected, 97 samples contained arsenic concentration in
the range of at least 10 µg/l are higher. Around 75 % of the samples contained less
than 50 µg/l and around 25% of the samples were above 50 µg/l. As high as 260
µg/l was found in one isolated sample in shuklaganj area. The samples were
alkaline with the pH ranging from 7 – 8.44. Except for a few most of the samples
were reducing in nature as evident by their negative ORPs. A positive correlation
for arsenic with iron and ammonia. There was no correlation between arsenic and
bicarbonate (probably due to high background of bicarbonate (~ 300mg/l)
concentration). Hence, mobilization of arsenic in this groundwater is probably due
to the reductive dissolution of FeOOH and release of its sorbed As.
Key words: Arsenic, Mobilization, Kanpur district
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ENHANCED PERFORMANCE OF AN EIS SENSOR USING TEXTURED
DIELECTRIC SILICA SURFACE
Subham Dastidar, Abhishek Agarwal, Ravi Chahar, Siddhartha Panda
Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur-208016, India
Biosensors find applications in medical diagnostics, environmental
analysis, food quality control, process control, drug detection, etc. Silicon based
sensors have the advantages of being compact and thus requiring small sample
quantity for testing, ease in signal processing and possibility of circuit integration
and also lower costs if made on a large scale. Many biological reactions, especially
enzyme mediated ones, involve changes in the pH of the electrolyte and an
Electrolyte - Insulator – Semiconductor (EIS) can be effectively used for the
detection of biological compounds.
We have fabricated and characterized an EIS sensor using thermally
grown silica dielectric on silicon. The fabrication procedure involved a double
photolithography for the better integration and miniaturization of the device. The
sensitivity achieved was 40mV per decade matching previously reported results. For
dielectric surface modification, non porous nano & meso silica particles were
prepared using Modified Stöbber method. Different sizes of mono-disperse silica
particles (135-630 nm) were formed and the mechanisms controlling their sizes
were studied. A layer of particles were attached to the surface by covalent bonding.
The sensitivity of the sensor was found to be a function of the surface modification.
As the size of the particles reduced, the performance of the EIS sensor enhanced.
The working capacity of the sensor is well defined within the pH range of 4 -10.
This device is capable of characterizing sample volumes up to 20 microliters.
Key words: EIS sensor, Non porous silica nano particles, Stöbber method
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DENSITIES AND ORIENTATIONS OF ANTIBODIES ON NANO-TEXTURED SILICON SURFACES
Satyendra Kumar, Nitin Rathor, Ramchander Ch, Dharitri Rath, Siddhartha Panda*
Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur Kanpur, UP 208016 India
For an efficient immunosensor enabling lower detection limits, high antibody density along with proper orientation is desired. In order to address this issue, we focused on surface modification of silicon by means of chemical nano-texturing (HF/HNO3/H2O chemistry) and using different biolinker like protein-A, streptavidin. Since, surface amine group plays a vital role in enhancing the number density of sensing molecules. We have observed that upon texturing the aminosilane density has been increased around 3.2 – 4.2/nm2 in comparing to plane silane 2.4/nm2. Among the different texturing condition, we took optimum surface texturing conditions, in order to verify the maximum number of antibody density and right oriented antibody using biolinker (protein-A, streptavidin). Hence, properly oriented antibodies enhanced antigen detection level. So, a comparative study of the use of a glutaraldehyde linker molecule with that of protein-A and streptavidin biolinker molecules on silicon surface is done here. Moreover, different nano-textured silicon surfaces are also compared, which are found to enhance antibody density for both the primary and secondary antibody immobilization schemes. Qualitative observation of the antibody attachment is done with the help of fluorescence microscope whereas the quantitative determination of the number density is done using BCA assay and the enzyme tagged ELISA method. The number density was found to be the highest in some specific texturing conditions along with the use of protein intermediate molecules. AFM imaging was performed for Y shaped IgG antibody visualization. Density of end-on oriented antibodies, determined by the FITC tagged secondary antibodies, is also observed to be enhanced for some of the textured surfaces as compared to the plane surface, determined by the enzyme tagged ELISA method and fluorescence signal measurements. Here, we also showed that the optimum nano-texturing is helping in enhancing the right oriented antibodies in the case of no-intermediate protein, where as no significant effect of nano-texturing in the case of biolinker (protein-A, streptavidin).
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TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY SENSING STUDIES WITH NANOSTRUCTURED POLYANILINE THIN FILMS
Prasenjit Ghosh , Hakeem Abrar Ahmad, Siddhartha Panda
Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Kanpur
In recent years, Polyaniline nanostructures have attracted intensive interest
because of their potential applications such as chemical/electrochemical sensors,
conducting molecular wires, light-emitting diodes, gas-separation membranes,
energy storage, field emission applications, flash welding and Digital Nonvolatile
memory.
The current work focuses on the study of Polyaniline nanostructures as potential
candidates for use in physical sensors, detecting and quantifying variables like
temperature and ambient moisture content. Various morphologies of Polyaniline
like nanorods, nanobelts, and nanoparticles were synthesized with various
dimensional ranges using interfacial and rapid mixing polymerization. In situ
doping using CSA, NSA and DBSA was done to impart directional behavior and
improve conductivity of the interconnected and highly networked nanostructures.
By changing the monomer to dopant ratio and/or the oxidant ratio different
nanostructures can be generated. Due to the problem of insolubility of these
nanostructured polymers, binding additives like PVA has been used in the solution
form to help obtain a viscous homogenous solution which forms a uniform film on
substrates like glass and PET through drop cast and spin cast method. The current
work helps ascertain the extent of applicability of nanostructured polymeric films
over the conventional polymeric films in simple devices sensing physical
parameters like temperature and humidity.
Temperature and humidity sensitivity of the individual nanostructured polymeric
films were studied and compared in moderate ranges of temperature, from ambient
to a maximum of 100 – 110 °C and 30 – 80 % R.H. Reversibility and Hysteresis
study were also done in order to find the extent of stability of the films after
exposure. Chemical, Structural and Electrical Characterization of the films pre-
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exposure and post-exposure were done in order to study the changes in properties
which accompany prior to subjecting the films to the varying physical conditions.
The main aim is to develop a working device which employs the polymeric
films over flexible substrates and which is pre-calibrated to quantify changes in
ambient temperature and moisture content.
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DEVELOPMENT OF A CONTINUOUS ANNULAR PHOTOCATALYTIC REACTOR FOR THE CONTROL OF VOLATILE ORGANIC
COMPOUNDS USING TIO2 NANOPARTICLES
Rajesh Mohanan, Pavan kumar Nagar, Suraj Agarwal, Mukesh Sharma and Tarun Gupta
Environmental Engineering and Management, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur 208016, India
Introduction
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including some, polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the important air pollutants both in ambient and indoor
airs. Among several VOCs, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, Xylene, naphthalene
and phenanthrene are harmful and at the same time present ubiquitously. They are
emitted by sources such as combustion, cooking, smoking, wood burning, building
materials, furnishings, office equipment and consumer products. Many of these
VOCs are known to be toxic to humans and are considered to be carcinogenic,
mutagenic and teratogenic. The air purification technique of photocatalytic
oxidation (PCO) commonly uses nanosemiconductor catalysts and ultraviolet (UV)
radiation to convert organic compounds in air into benign, odourless and simple
constituents such as water vapour (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Titanium
dioxide in various forms is almost exclusively used as a photocatalyst.
Materials and Methods
A thin film of catalyst was coated on the reactor using the classical sol-gel
method. Two separate lab scale reactor systems were developed in the current
study; a batch reactor system and a continuous reactor system. The former was
mainly intended for determining the degradation rate constants for the VOCs. It also
provided key information on half life of the compounds and conversion efficiency
of the photocatalytic oxidation reaction for the target compounds. The latter was
developed to study the effect of various design and operational parameters on the
conversion efficiency of the continuous reactor systems. For the continuous
monitoring of the concentrations of pollutants, gas samples were analysed using the
gas chromatography.
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Results and Conclusions
The study established that the degradation of VOCs follows the first order
decay when considered individually. This was not true when mixture of VOCs was
present. Major degradation pathways for Ethylbenzene and Xylenes were through
toluene and benzene. Significant degradation (60%) occurred in the first 20minutes
from the start of PCO in the batch reactor.
The developed continuous reactor was effective in degrading VOCs when
degraded individually. The steady-state kinetic model for the reactor performance
fitted the experimental VOC concentrations. The retention time required for
achieving 50% and 90% degradation of VOCs were estimated as 10 min and 50
min. Thus the design size is a trade off between degree of conversion and the cost
involved. As it is evident from the parametric investigation, overall conversion rate
is a function of a multitude of operational parameters, and not just retention time,
appropriate corrections should be incorporated into the values of (k) for a complete
and effective design of the reactor.
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KINETICS OF DEGRADATION OF 4-CHLOROPHENOL BY FENTON’S PROCESS
Prasanna Kelapure, Prabir Ghosh, A.N.Samanta and Subhabrata Ray
Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur-
721302. Email : [email protected] , [email protected]
As per the EU and USEPA norms, 4-chlorophenol is the first priority
pollutant and found in the effluent of refinery, pesticides, paper and pulp, dyes and
similar industries with concentration varying from 100 to 1000 mg/L. Permissible
maximum concentration of 4-CP in water is10 µg/L. This is a case requiring
degradation of soluble organic with toxicity towards common microbes and requires
investigation on using ‘advanced oxidation processes’ (AOPs). AOPs are able to
produce highly reactive, non specific oxidants mainly hydroxyl radical (OH˙).
Among AOPs, Fenton’s process employing mixture of ferrous ion as ferrous sulfate
and hydrogen peroxide as reagent, is considered to be very promising technique for
oxidation of refractory organic compounds. No energy input, less reaction time,
easy to handling of fairly safe reagents and eases of scaling are some of the
advantages of this method.
Studies on biological degradation of 4-CP by some specific microorganisms
are reported in literature. Literature also reports studies on optimum conditions for
Fenton’s oxidation for degradation of 4-CP, but it does not report the kinetic
constants.
The present work aims at studying the kinetics of degradation of 4-CP and
estimate the rate constant values between 4-CP and hydroxyl radicals by using a
simplified kinetic model. Batch degradation experiments were conducted and
concentrations were analyzed by gas chromatography.
The generalized reaction mechanism for Fenton’s oxidation is as follows,
where P represents the degrading organic compound.
12 3
2 2KH O Fe Fe OH OH .
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2
2 2K
OXP H O P
3K
OXP OH P
4
2 2 2 2KH O OH HO H O
52 3KOH Fe Fe OH
63 2
2 2 2KFe H O Fe H HO
73 2
2 2KFe HO O Fe H
The mathematical model formulation is based on the transient balance equations for
different species. This model involves seven kinetic constants, out of which K2 and
K3 are not known. Estimates of the values for the rest of the constants are collected
from literature. K2 has been considered negligible as suggested by some researchers.
The rate constant K3 is estimated by least square fitting of the observed
concentration – time data. MATLAB functions have been used to solve the ordinary
differential equations and minimize the sum of the square of errors.
From the experimental results we are able to conclude that the reduction of
4-CP from 1000 mg/l to 20 mg/l is possible by this method and rate constant for
reaction between 4-CP and hydroxyl radical is K3= 2.19 ×109 /M-s.
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KINETICS OF GROWTH AND BIODEGRADATION OF P-BROMOPHENOL AND P-NITROPHENOL BY Arthrobacter
chlorophenolicus A6
N. K. Sahoo1, K. Pakshirajan2*, P. K. Ghosh3 1Center for the Environment, IIT Guwahati, Guwahati 781039, India
2Department of Biotechnology, IIT Guwahati, Guwahati 781039, India 3Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Guwahati, Guwahati 781039, India
Biodegradation of p-bromophenol (PBP), both individually and together with p-
nitrophenol (PNP), was studied in batch shake flasks using a pure actinomycetes
strain of Arthrobacter chlorophenolicus A6. Biomass growth and degradation
kinetics of p-bromophenol as the single substrate were first investigated with
respect to its various initial concentrations ranging from 12.5 to 300 mg l-1. Results
revealed that the culture followed substrate inhibition kinetics due to PBP with zero
order degradation profile of the compound. The experimental data on variation of
specific growth rate of the culture with PBP concentration was found to be well
described by the Edward-type kinetic models, and the model constants were
estimated to be: maximum specific growth rate (µmax) = 0.24 h-1, substrate inhibition
constant (Ki) = 296 mg l-1, half-saturation constant (Ks) = 36.15 mg l-1. For studying
the culture growth and degradation kinetics of PBP and PNP together in mixture,
initial concentrations ranging from 25 to 200 mg l-1 of both the compounds were
chosen. The results obtained in the mixture experiments revealed that the culture
took a long time to degrade the compounds when presented at higher concentrations
than at lower concentrations. Further, maximum biodegradation rates of the
compounds were found to be 11.6 mg l -1 h-1 for PBP and 12.93 mg l -1 h-1 for PNP at
their initial concentrations combinations of 150 mg l-1 PBP- 100 mg l-1 PNP and 75
mg l-1 PBP -100 mg l-1 PNP, respectively. The value of maximum degradation rate
of PBP in the mixed substrate system was found to be considerably less compared
to its value obtained in the single substrate system. Similar observation on
differences in the culture specific growth rate due to PBP in the mixed substrate and
in the single substrate systems was made in the study. However, such differences in
both degradation rate and culture specific growth rate due to PNP were not
observed, which revealed that, compared to PBP, PNP was more recalcitrant and
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toxic to the microorganism. Overall, the study revealed a good potential of A.
chlorophenolicus A6 in treating phenolics containing wastewaters.
Key words: p-bromophenol, p-nitrophenol, Arthrobacter chlorophenolicus A6,
biodegradation, substrate inhibition kinetics
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 361 2582210; fax: +91 361 2582249. E-mail address: [email protected] (Kannan Pakshirajan).
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ADSORPTION OF METHYLENE BLUE ON USED TEA LEAVES: TWO-STAGE BATCH ADSORBER DESIGN
A. Singh, S. P. Shukla, Narendra Bahadur Singh Deptt. of Civil Engineering, Institute of Engineering & Technology, Lucknow. * M. Tech. Student, Correspondence author, e-mail: [email protected]
Dyes used in various industries (such as textile, tannery, food, pulp and
paper etc.) to color their products are an important source of environmental
contamination by imparting color. Color is a visible pollutant and the presence of
even very minute amount of coloring substance makes it undesirable due to its
appearance. The dyes are, generally, stable to light, oxidizing agents and heat, and
their presence in wastewaters offers considerable resistance to their biodegradation,
and thus upsetting aquatic life. Some of the dyes are carcinogenic and mutagenic.
For removing color from textile effluent, the physico-chemical methods investigated
include coagulation, oxidization, ultrafiltration, electro-chemical, adsorption and
combined electro-chemical and adsorption techniques.
Most previous optimization models for batch adsorbers are based on
minimizing the mass of adsorbent required to remove a certain amount of pollutant
from a fixed volume of wastewater. This optimized parameter is a critical factor
when using expensive adsorbents (such as activated carbons, activated alumina,
zeolites, silica and resins), because it makes maximum use of the adsorbent but
gives little consideration to operating time. In many countries, industries faces the
problem of space management a major challenge and optimizing the rate of
treatment of a fixed volume of wastewater is crucial. Therefore using cheaper
adsorbents and minimizing the operating time to achieve a desired percentage of
pollutant removal, with a fixed mass of adsorbent will enable the treatment of more
batches of polluted wastewater per day. Thus, the process plant equipment items can
be reduced in size, with a decrease in the plant capital costs.
In recent years alternative technologies and adsorbents have been
investigated for the treatment of dyes. Many of these adsorbents are natural
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materials available in large quantities and cheap in price (as they are waste
products). These includes papaya seed, fly ash, oil palm empty fruit bunch, spent tea
leaves, guava seed, pristine and acid-activated clays, bagasse and rice husk, palm
dates, plane tree leaves, Hazelnut shells and wood sawdust, orange peel, bentonite
and wheat straw.
In the present study, the adsorption of methylene blue (MB) dye onto used
tea leaves (in the concentration range of 50-300 mg/ L at dye’s natural pH and room
temperature) has been studied to develop a two-stage batch adsorber design model.
Three kinetic models based on pseudo first-order, pseudo second-order, and
intraparticle diffusion equations were selected. Kinetic parameters (rate constants,
equilibrium sorption capacities and related correlation coefficients) for each model
were determined and it was concluded that adsorption of MB dye on used tea leaves
is described best by pseudo second-order equation and the equilibrium data fit well
in the Langmuir isotherm. The two-stage batch adsorber design model is based on
predicting the minimum contact time (CT) required to remove a fixed percentage of
MB, from a given volume of wastewater effluent having specified dye
concentration, using a fixed mass of used tea leaves. This minimum CT enables the
minimum size of the batch adsorption equipment to be specified and therefore
minimize capital investment costs. Results of two-stage batch adsorber design
studies conclude that the optimum time for the removal of MB dye with 99%
efficiency is 42.1 minute.
Keywords: Two-stage batch adsorber; Contact Time; Adsorption kinetics;
Methylene Blue; Used tea leaves.
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REGIONAL SCALE CHEMICAL TRANSPORT MODELING: DEVELOPMENT OF GIS-BASED EMISSION INVENTORY AND
APPLICATION OF WRF AND CAMX MODELS
V. Bhatt, S. Sanyal, G. Singh, and M. Sharma
Department of Environmental Engineering and Management Indian Institue of Technology, Kanpur
Most of the air quality related studies in India are based on experimental
works. Comprehensive emission inventories, mapping of air quality and action at
regional level are almost missing. As a developing country, India is experiencing a
high level of air pollution due to rapid urbanization and unbridled industrial growth.
Many complex behaviors of such atmospheric turbulence in this region lead to the
necessity of an in-depth and rigorous analysis of dynamics of pollutants over the
region and to find the economical solution of various air pollution issues that cover
the entire country including rural areas. Through this research an attempt has been
made to develop a complete multi scale air quality modeling approach that
combines various capabilities of Geographical Information System (ArcGIS),
Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF-ARW, NCAR) – a meteorological model
and a Comprehensive Air Quality Model (CAMx). Overall, these models once
integrated can simulate the emission, dispersion, chemical reactions and removal of
pollutants in the troposphere (up to 12 km from surface) by solving the pollutant
continuity equation for each chemical species on a system of nested three-
dimensional grids. This approach can unify all of the technical features required of
“state-of-the-science” air quality models into a single system that is computationally
efficient.
In this study a new third generation Air Quality Modeling approach was
used to simulate hourly averaged species concentration of sulphur dioxide,
sulphates, nitrogen oxides, nitrates and ozone in ambient air during summer and
winter seasons in the year 2007 for the total emission load over the study region,
India. Common emission inventory, boundary/initial condition and reference
meteorological data were used in model simulation.
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To get the emission input for the model simulation, detailed GIS based
methods were developed to prepare a spatially distributed (40km x 40km) annual
emission inventory for major criteria pollutants in India. To simulate major
meteorological and atmospheric physical and chemical processes affecting the air
quality over the domain, Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) and
photochemical transport (CAMx) models were configured and used. For deciding
the initial and boundary conditions for the model simulation a detail backward
trajectory experiment was performed to study the seasonal variation in advection of
air pollution and the coherency of the origin of air masses in different parts of India.
The sensitivity study of emissions and physical and chemical atmospheric processes
on the regional air quality were done by configuring and running the model with
different scenarios.
Evaluation for reference meteorological data and simulated species
concentration were conducted by making statistical comparison with observation
data with post processing and visualization techniques. Modeling and simulation
results of this study show a good agreement for seasonal and spatial mean species
concentrations variability with observation data. So it was found that the utilization
of GIS – WRF – CAMx approach, used in this study, for the description of air
quality monitoring system and improves our understanding of the different of the
different atmospheric processes and may help us in establishment of better
environmental managing policies and regulation.
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DETECTION AND QUANTIFICATION OF AIRBORNE ENDOTOXINS FROM OCCUPATIONAL ENVIRONMENT
V. Katiyar
Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Delhi-India 110016 [email protected]
Organic dust, comprising of viable as well as non-viable microbial
contaminants, is present ubiquitously in residential, agricultural, hospital, hotel and
restaurant environments. Viable microbial contaminants, especially bacteria and
fungi form an integral part of indoor airborne dust. Standard chemical markers for
bacteria and fungi i.e. markers of mycotoxins, endotoxins, β-3glucan, hydroxy fatty
acids, lipopolysaccharides and their debris also form a considerable part of the
organic dust and play an important role in the development of the diseases
associated with respiratory/lung function disorder in occupational environment.
Among these Endotoxins are known to have strong immune stimulatory and
pro inflammatory properties. After the death and decomposition of the Gram
negative bacteria endotoxins remain in the fragments of the cell wall. These are
more or less ubiquitous in the environment and are present in normal indoor
occupational environment as constituents of air and settled dust, in contaminated
ventilation system and humidifiers. Endotoxins may play an important role in the
development of various symptoms of workers in the occupational environments
where exposure to bacteria is prevalent.
Endotoxin is fever causing trigger the release of mediators from
inflammatory cells in the tissues and associated with many patho-physiological
effects. Thus characterization of indoor organic dust, using endotoxin as a one of
the important chemical marker of both pathogenic and non-pathogenic gram
negative bacteria is a significant and recent approach in this context.
The standard analytical method for endotoxin is the Limulus amebocyte
lysate (LAL) assay. The Gel-Clot method is one of the simplest, least expensive and
has good sensitivity technique of LAL assay. In this study volumetric sampling
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technique has been applied for the collection of airborne Endotoxin from indoor and
outdoor air of school. An Endotoxin (Pyrogen)-free filter cassette with PTFE
membrane filter has been used for air sampling. 240L air volume has been sampled
for sampling of Endotoxin at the rate of 4LPM. Extraction of Endotoxins from the
collected air samples has been done in Endotoxin-free water to avoid the evolving
of false positive results during assay. Assay results indicate that Endotoxin level
(EU/m3) has been higher in indoor air than outdoor air.
Sampling and testing for Endotoxin during indoor air quality (IAQ)
investigation is a significant approach to evaluate the quality of occupational
environment. Measurements of Endotoxins may be one of the important indicators
of IAQ complaints and respiratory diseases especially water damaged, old and
poorly maintained occupational settings. A combination of mycotoxins and
endotoxins air sampling is a useful tool in evaluating microbiological contamination
in most water damaged buildings. Since a small fraction (0.1-1%) of the total
microflora in an environmental sample can be detected qualitatively and
quantitatively by culturing on proper media and microscopic identification.
Key Words: Chemical Markers, Airborne dust, Endotoxins, Indoor Air Quality
(IAQ)
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DESIGN OF NOVEL MATERIALS FOR THE SEPARATION OF ORGANIC IMPURITIES FROM AQUEOUS MEDIUM
S. K. Singh, M. V. P. Srinivas, J.K. Singh Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Kanpur, India
Many Industrial, agricultural and domestic wastes contain various toxic organic chemicals, potentially hazardous to human health and to the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem. Removal of these toxic organic chemicals is difficult by conventional biological treatment processes. Many of the common herbicides and insecticides contain the phenolic moiety as a structural unit and are resistant to biodegradation. Phenolic compounds are present in the wastewater of many industries related to oil refineries, phenol-production, explosive manufacturing, pesticide, fertilizer, pharmaceutical, dye manufacturing, domestic wastes, etc. Phenolic compounds are water soluble and highly mobile and hence are likely to reach drinking water sources downstream from discharges, where, even at low concentrations, they can cause severe odor and taste problems and pose risks to populations.
Various techniques such as photodegradation, coagulation-flocculation, chemical oxidation, adsorption, biological process, etc., are available for the removal of organic impurity from the wastewater. However, all of these techniques have certain limitations. Among these techniques, adsorption is widely used for the removal of organic impurity from wastewater. Moreover, the success of adsorption technique relies on to make a proper selection of adsorbent. Recently removal of organic impurities using surfactant modified solid surface has drawn much attention. However, the actual physico-chemical and engineering aspects of these processes such as effect of shape, size, polarity and transportability of adsorbate molecules remain unclear because of the lack of molecular level understanding of the various underlying processes. A successful application of porous solids requires a precise characterization of their surface and structural properties, as well as a good understanding of the physical and chemical behavior of the fluids inside the pores. We present a systematic approach to modify adsorbent by various forms of functionalizations. These modified adsorbents are used to separate phenol from aqueous medium as an example to demonstrate the approach/tool. Key words: organic chemicals, adsorption, wastewater, molecular modeling, surface chemistry.
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DEVELOPMENT AND FIELD EVALUATION OF A PM2.5 SAMPLER
Tarun Gupta* and Jaiprakash
Department of Civil Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
*Corresponding Author Email: [email protected]
Introduction
There is an increased anxiety over the undesirable health effects of air
pollution, especially in urban areas, where many sources of air pollutants are
concentrated. Aerosol particles in particular have received much interest because of
epidemiological and experimental evidence of their health impact. Mass
concentration of particulate matter (PM) has shown to correlate with sensitive
health effects and measurable functional changes in the cardiovascular and
respiratory system (Pope et al. 2002). Studies conducted by Donaldson and McNee
(1998) and Ferin et al. (1991) showed that, for the same amount of PM mass
deposited in the lung, toxicity tends to increase as particle size decreases. This may
be attributed to the increased surface per unit mass or to the ability of finer particles
to penetrate the lung tissues (Harrison and Yin 2000; Schwartz et al. 1996).
Impactors are used for sampling and separation of air borne particulate
matter because of their sharp separation, high collection abilities and relatively
simple design. These are simple devices, consisting of air flowing around an
impaction substrate subjected to sudden change in airflow direction. Particle with
sufficient inertia will slip across the air streamline and impact on the impaction
surface (Hinds 1999). Impactors have been in existence for more than 100 y.
However, there has been a constant and specific need felt for development of new
impactors for different applications.
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Materials and Methods
The sampler is fabricated from the metal aluminum because this metal is
corrosion resistant, light weight; there is no problem of static charge and easy to
machine as per design specifications. The main impactor consists of one round
impactor nozzle, which is conical in shape, one spacer and impaction substrate
plate. Impaction substrate unit is the plate which holds the vacuum grease as an
impaction substrate. Impaction substrate is the most important factor in the
operation of impactor because the application of adhesive vacuum grease as
substrate prevents the errors caused by particles bounce. Thus, to minimize the
bounce off and breakup losses of large particles a smooth impaction substrate was
created from vacuum grade silicon grease, using a razor blade. The pictures shown
below depict the fully assembled impactor and internal parts of the impactor (Gupta
et al., 2009)
Figure 1. PM2.5 air sampler and its internal components.
The impactor nozzles of diameter in the range of 4.5 mm to 7.0 mm were
designed. The nozzles were tested with flow rate of 15 lpm, for the dry aerosol
conditions, using the dry aerosol generation system. The instrument used to measure
the performance of the impactor was Aerodynamic Particle Sizer (APS), which runs
at the flow rate of 5 lpm.
The difference in particle concentration was then calculated for the
upstream and downstream flows to determine the efficiency of the impactor nozzle.
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The efficiency of various nozzles so obtained was plotted against the aerodynamic
diameter of particles (in µm) to determine the cut-point of the impactor nozzle and
also evaluated the shape of the efficiency curve.
For the field evaluation co-located sampling with an EPA approved sampler
has been carried out during the month of Nov, 2009 inside the IIT Kanpur. The
sampler was placed on the roof a building around 12 m high. The sampling period
was 10 h day. During the sampling days maximum temperature was 25°C and
minimum was 15°C and max and min relative humidity were 60% and 76%
respectively. The sampling was carried out using a single stage impactor type
sampler developed in IIT Kanpur itself and co-located Sampler (Thermal Anderson
Model –GEM-2360BL1 for PM2.5). Flow rate maintained through the sampler was
15 LPM using a vacuum pump and a Rota meter. Filter papers used for the sampling
of co-located sampler were glass fiber filter papers size (8"× 10") of Whatman and
Quartz Filter. Similarly, for the tested impactor, samples were collected on Quartz
filters of 47 mm diameter. All the filters were pre-conditioned at 25°C and 60%
relative humidity before sampling and post-conditioned after sampling at same
condition. After completion of sampling, all the collected filters will be analyzed
gravimetrically using a microbalance (Mettler, Toledo) range between 0.001 mg to
2 g. Before weighing the filters will be conditioned in a room with controlled
temperature (25oC 1oC) and relative humidity (50% 5%) and permit the filter to
equilibrate for at least 8 h. About 5% of the filters will be kept as blank. After the
sampling filters were immediately transferred to sealed plastic boxes and kept in
refrigerator till further chemical analysis.
Particles collected on Quartz filters and Glass fiber filters will be analyzed
for major elements – As, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Ni, Pb, Se, V, Zn and anions
–F-, Cl-, NO3-, SO4
-2, PO4-3. For chemical analysis each collected filter will be cut
into two equal halves using a clean scissor. One half will be used for elemental
analysis using ICP-OES (Inductively coupled plasma – optical emission
spectrometer, Thermo Fischer, iCAP6300, Duo) and another half will be used for
anion analysis using Ion Chromatography (compact IC 761, Metrohm).
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Results and Discussion
Following results will be presented in the proposed platform presentation:
1. Collection efficiency curve for PM2.5 with dry aerosol generation using (APS)
from nozzle with diameter 5.0 mm.
2. Parametric Investigation for finding PM2.5 cut point.
3. Average ambient concentration of PM2.5 from Impactor and co-located
sampler.
4. Correlation between average ambient concentrations of both samplers.
5. Concentration of chemical constituents including trace metals and anions.
6. Correlation between concentrations of chemical constituents from both
samplers.
References
Donaldson, K. and MacNee, W. (1998) The mechanism of lung injury caused by
PM10. Environmental Science and Technology, 10, 21–32.
Ferin, J., Oberdorster, G., Soderholm, S. C., and Gelein, R.(1991) Pulmonary tissue
access of ultrafine particles. Journal of Aerosol Medicine, 4, 57–68.
Gupta T., Chakraborty A., Ujinwal KK. Development and use of a sampler for
collection and chemical characterization of submicron ambient aerosol in the
Kanpur region. Aerosol and Air Quality Research, 2009 (submitted).
Harrison, R. M., & Yin, J. (2000) Particulate matter in the atmosphere: Which
particle properties are important for its effects on health? Science of the Total
Environment, 249, 85–101.
Hinds, W.C., Aerosol Technology, John Willey and Sons Inc., New York (1999).
Pope, C. A., Burnett, R. T., Thun, M. J., Calle, E. E., Krewski, D., Ito, K., et al.
(2002) Lung cancer, cardiopulmonary mortality, and long-term exposure to fine
particulate air pollution. Journal of the American Medical Association, 287, 1132–
1141.
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INDOOR AIR POLLUTION MEASURED IN THE DIFFERENT MICROENVIRONMENTS AT IIT KANPUR
Rajmal Jat, Julie Parfait, Adrien Peuch and Tarun Gupta*
Environmental Engineering and Management, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India
*Corresponding Author Email: [email protected]
INTRODUCTION Many studies all over the world have shown that indoor air pollution can affect the health of exposed people and may cause minor illness and discomfort like eye or throat irritation or even lead to chronic diseases like asthma and lung cancer (Dockery et al. 1993; Diaz-Sanchez et al. 1999; Oberdorster et al. 2000). Result from past air pollution assessment studies suggest that pollution due to ambient fine particles [PM2.5] and co-pollutant gases such as carbon monoxides (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3) and volatile Organic Compound (VOC) can lead to serious health problem, depending upon the concentrations and exposure durations of subjects to those pollutant. These subjects spend their time in variety of indoor microenvironments having different indoor air pollutant sources and ventilation conditions. Those pollutants can among other be the result of human activity such as cooking, smoking and can also vary according to the ventilation and aeration of the places. MATERIAL AND METHODS Sampling Strategy: In order to evaluate the personal exposure, ten indoor microenvironments were selected: class room, administration office, campus health centre, library, computer centre, IITK Campus main gate, two student rooms of different hall, Campus bank, Visitors Hostel. The sampling was divided into two part: first five places every Monday and Thursday and rest five places on the Tuesday and Friday. The configuration was followed for six weeks in summer, from June 2nd to July 14th. With one hour of sampling at each place at a given time. During six weeks in the campus of IIT-Kanpur (India) the concentration of particulate matters (PM), CO, NO2, VOC in ten various places were measured with a Condensation Particle Counter (CPC) and a multiple gas monitor. A survey was carried out for different categories of people with different condition of living.
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Sampling Methods: Three instruments were used to do the sampling and record the data of indoor air pollution. Concerning the particulate matter, a condensation Particle Counter (CPC) TSI was used. This portable equipment measures the concentration of particle matter with size range, 0.01 µm to 1.00 µm. The gas concentration is detected by a multiple gas monitor MultiRae.It does real time monitoring of NO2, CO, and VOC. Temperature sensor was also used to measure temperature at each sampling place at the time of sampling. Online survey: In addition to the sampling, a survey was also conducted and sent to all the people of the campus via the internet to get information concerning the time spent by people in the various microenvironments. Some of the question also dealt with their health and their eventual sickness or troubles since their arrival in the campus in addition to question on their working condition (presence of decent ventilation, air-conditioner, printers etc.). Following equation was used to relate personal exposure to different
activities and time spent in different microenvironments:
j
jj
TTC
E
E→ Time weighted average exposure
Cj→ Average concentration of pollutants in ‘j’ microenvironment. T j→ Average time spent by individual of campus in ‘j’ micro environment. RESULT AND DISCUSSION The results of this study relating personal exposure to different activities and time spent in different microenvironments will be presented in the proposed poster presentation. REFERENCES Diaz-Sanchez, D., Garcia, M.P., Wang, M., Jyrala, M., Saxon, A. (1999) Nasal challenge with diesel exhaust particles can induce sensitization to a neoallergen in the human mucosa. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol., 104, 1183-1188. Dockery, D.W., Pope III, A., Xu, X., Spengler, J.D., Ware, J.H., Fay, M.E., Ferris, B.G., Speizer, F.E. (1993) An association between air pollution and mortality in six U.S. cities. New England J. Medicine, 329, 1753-1759. Oberdorster, G. (2000) Pulmonary effects of inhaled ultrafine particles. Int. Arch. Occup. Environ. Health, 74, 1-8.
