Publications by authors named "Mary Beth Kirkham"

A significant quantity of biologically produced sulfur (BPS) is generated as a by-product of chemical and biological desulfurization processes applied to landfill gas treatment. The beneficial upcycling of BPS has seen limited use in the environmental context. The effectiveness and underlying mechanism of BPS as an adsorbent for removing Hg from both solution and wastewater were elucidated based on experiments encompassing surface characterization, adsorption isotherms, kinetics, and thermodynamics.

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Arsenic poisoning in agricultural soil is caused by both natural and man-made processes, and it poses a major risk to crop production and human health. Soil quality, agricultural production, runoff, ingestion, leaching, and absorption by plants are all influenced by these processes. Microbial consortia have become a feasible bioremediation technique in response to the urgent need for appropriate remediation solutions.

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Radionuclides released from nuclear contamination harm the environment and human health. Nuclear pollution spread over large areas and the costs associated with decontamination is high. Traditional remediation methods include both chemical and physical, however, these are expensive and unsuitable for large-scale restoration.

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Anionic surfactants (AS) are becoming a major emerging contaminant of waters due to their widespread use in household and industrial products. The standard chloroform method for analysis of AS in water relies on chloroform extraction of a methylene blue active substance (MBAS), which contains ion pairs between methylene blue (MB) molecules (positively charged) and AS. Due to the poor extractability of chloroform, the procedure is complicated, time-consuming, and subject to anionic interferences.

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The last few decades have seen the rise of alternative medical approaches including the use of herbal supplements, natural products, and traditional medicines, which are collectively known as 'Complementary medicines'. However, there are increasing concerns on the safety and health benefits of these medicines. One of the main hazards with the use of complementary medicines is the presence of heavy metal(loid)s such as arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg).

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Unlike organic contaminants, metal(loid)s do not undergo microbial or chemical degradation and persist for a long time after their introduction. Bioavailability of metal(loid)s plays a vital role in the remediation of contaminated soils. In this review, the remediation of heavy metal(loid) contaminated soils through manipulating their bioavailability using a range of soil amendments will be presented.

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The hydraulic architecture of leaves represents the final path along which liquid water travels through the plant and comprises a significant resistance for water movement, especially for grasses. We partitioned leaf hydraulic resistance of six genotypes of Sorghum bicolor L. (Moench) into leaf specific hydraulic resistance within the large longitudinal veins (r*LV) and outside the large veins (r*OLV), and correlated these resistances with the response of stomatal conductance (gs) and photosynthesis (A) to drought.

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