The risk assessment of pesticide use on non-target terrestrial plants is currently based on standardized greenhouse tests with a limited number of mostly crop plant species. Higher tier tests or assessments of any kind (e.g., field, semi-field, landscape studies) are not standardized. In this study we explored an approach to inform such a higher level by collecting datasets and information at European scale to characterize the vegetation communities that are likely to grow in the off-field areas of wheat and vine crops. The EUNIS (European Nature Information System) habitat classification was used to identify eight man-made habitats considered characteristic of the off-field areas in the European agricultural landscape. These habitats are spatially identified on the bases of a modelling process where vegetation plots, taken from the European Vegetation Archive, were used as observations and climate, soil, topographic, population density parameters and Remote Sensed Essential Biodiversity Variables as predictors. This modelling results in habitat suitability maps. The habitats are also described in terms of species frequencies and abundances, and to plant traits underlying possible vulnerability to pesticide exposure requested from the TRY plant trait database. Wheat and vine crop spatial data were derived from EUROSTAT and the QUICKScan methodology was used to combine all these data. We conclude that this method is helpful in reaching the objective as described in this paper. Its potential is that it can be extended probabilistically or linked to plant effect models.
A Plantain harvested from Bodo community, Gokana L.G.A Rivers state were analyzed for heavy metals and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) concentrations. Physicochemical properties of the agricultural soil used for the plantain cultivation showed the following: pH (5.7) while the control experiment was seen at 7.4. Soil conductivity of 721 and 398 were obtained for both the test and control experiments, respectively. Soil mineral contents: Potassium (6.88 mg/g), phosphorus (2.63 mg/g), Magnesium (12.42 mg/g), chloride ions (1021.21 mg/g). Heavy metal analysis of the soil showed a greater proportion of copper and iron in while Hg, As and Cd were below detectable limit in both tested samples. Pb was found relatively in lower concentrations of 24.12 mg/g in the test sample, 6.23 mg/g in the control experiment. Total Oxidizable Carbon Content (TOC) and Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) content of the soil were observed at 104.12 and 2567 mg/g respectively in the tested sample. The control experiment showed TOC and TPH concentrations of 42.85 and 1094 mg/g. Heavy metal analysis of harvested plantain from Bodoh community showed the presence of the following: Lead (Pb), Iron (Fe) and Copper (Cu) in the following order: Cu>Fe>Pb in the test sample while in the control experiment, iron (Fe) was seen greater than copper (Cu). Heavy metals of mercury, cadmium and arsenic were below detectable limit at in both the harvested plantain from Bodo community and those of the control experiment, respectively. Bioaccumulation factor of all the heavy metals identified were <1. PAHs of Acenaphthalene, Acenaphthene, chrysene, pyrene and fluranthene were not detected in the control experiment while only chrysene was not detected in the test samples. Naphthalene,methyl naphthalene, acenaphthalene, acenaphthene, benzo (k) fluranthene and flourene were relatively high in concentration than pyrene and flouranthene in the test samples. Naphthalene, methylnaphthalene, flourene and benzo(k) flouranthene were only recorded in the control experiment. Acenaphthalene (0.034 mg/g) was seen as the highest PAHs in bioaccumulation in the test sample while flourene (0.005 mg/g) recorded the highest in the control experiment.
The effects of petroleum products and biomass fuel on serum lipid profile and atherogenic indices were investigated in male wistar rats. Fifty adult male wistar rats were randomly assigned to five groups of ten animals each. Rats in group A served as control (exposed to fresh air). Group B, C, D and E were exposed to inhalation of kerosene, gasoline, liquefied petroleum gas and biomass smoke (wood smoke) respectively. All the exposures were done using whole body exposure chambers 70cm x 60cm x 60cm measurement for six weeks. Five millilitres of fasting blood sample were collected at the end of six weeks and used for analysis of lipid profile using mindray BS 120. Atherogenic indices were calculated using the appropriate formula. Values were analysed statistically using SPSS version 23.0. The result shows significant increase in the serum total, LDL, VLDL cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations of test groups relative to control (p<0.05), while inducing a significant decrease in HDL cholesterol though the effect appear to be more pronounced with kerosene exposure. The exposure also led to significant increase in CRR, AC and AIP (p<0.05). These results suggest that petroleum products and biomass fuel exposure could potentiate the risk of atherosclerosis through elicitation of dyslipidaemia.
Water pollution is one of the environmental challenges facing the world society. Consequently, the pollutants both domestic and industrial wastewater are identified as an environmental threat. Hydrochar (HC) appears as a cost-effective and eco-friendly solution to this environmental threat. HC is the solid produced from the wet pyrolysis process for biomass that is rich in carbon in a sub-critical liquid phase, called the Hydro-Thermal Carbonization Process (HTC). This review aims to address the possibility of using HC as the most effective solution to the industrial wastewater. HTC has proven a greater yield than dry pyrolysis (30%-60% wt). To date, HC is listed as a promising lower-cost alternate adsorbent for removing wastewater pollutants. In Egypt for example, only few studies have been published investigating the properties of HC and its environmental applications. In this review, we will shed light on the preparation, characterization, and previous studies on the development and recent applications of HC. In addition, we will discuss the challenges to produce HC at a commercial scale. To the best of our knowledge, there is only few research studies addressing the HC production in the Middle East countries. Therefore, the door is still opened for more research on developing production techniques on HC from different biomass, and implementation in various environmental applications
