Groundwater hydrogeochemistry and potential health risk assessment through exposure to elevated arsenic in Darrang district of north bank plain of the Brahmaputra.

The current study investigates groundwater contamination in Darrang district, situated in the flood-prone Brahmaputra Valley. This research evaluates the concentrations and geospatial distributions of iron, fluoride, and arsenic in groundwater samples (n = 347) and assesses their potential ecotoxicological risks to human health. Multivariate statistical techniques were used to investigate the sources and the mobilization mechanism of the contaminants in the aquifer system.

Response of wastewater-based epidemiology predictor for the second wave of COVID-19 in Ahmedabad, India: A long-term data Perspective.

In this work, we present an eight-month longitudinal study of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) in Ahmedabad, India, where wastewater surveillance was introduced in September 2020 after the successful containment of the first wave of COVID-19 to predict the resurge of the infection during the second wave of the pandemic. The study aims to elucidate the weekly resolution of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA data for eight months in wastewater samples to predict the COVID-19 situation and identify hotspots in Ahmedabad. A total of 287 samples were analyzed for SARS-CoV-2 RNA using RT-PCR, and Spearman's rank correlation was applied to depict the early warning potential of WBE.

Potential arsenic-chromium-lead Co-contamination in the hilly terrain of Arunachal Pradesh, north-eastern India: Genesis and health perspective.

In the recent times, multi-metal co-contamination in the groundwater of various parts of the globe has emerged as a challenging environmental health problems. While arsenic (As) has been reported with high fluoride and at times with uranium; and Cr & Pb are also found in aquifers under high anthropogenic impacts. The present work probably for the first time traces the As-Cr-Pb co-contamination in the pristine aquifers of a hilly terrain that are under relatively less stress from the anthropogenic activities.

Arsenic in the groundwater of the Upper Brahmaputra floodplain: Variability, health risks and potential impacts.

The upper Brahmaputra floodplain (UBF) is highly enriched with geogenic contaminants, mostly the Arsenic (As), owing to its sensitive geomorphology, aquifer groundwater (GW) dynamics, huge sediment deposition along with natural and anthropogenic disturbance significantly accelerate the As leaching rate into the groundwater, leading to an increase the health risk. Concerning the above active processes in the Lakhimpur district of UBF, current work aims to investigate seasonal dynamics of As contamination and associated health hazard for local community. To carry out this study, 51 GW samples analyzed which reveal the seasonal variation in As concentrations with the minimum average concentration in the monsoon season (4.

Hydrogeochemical analysis of groundwater quality for drinking and irrigation with elevated arsenic and potential impact on agro-ecosystem in the upper Brahmaputra plain, India.

The upper Brahmaputra floodplain is considerably enriched with geogenic contaminants, mainly Arsenic (As) exhibiting high spatial heterogeneity. With this concern, the present study was conducted in Lakhimpur district located in the upper Brahmaputra floodplain aiming to assess the groundwater (GW) suitability for drinking and irrigation. Chemical analysis of 78 GW samples revealed significantly high As (max 0.

Spectre of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the ambient urban waters of Ahmedabad and Guwahati: A tale of two Indian cities.

COVID-19 positive patients can egest live SARS-CoV-2 virus and viral genome fragments through faecal matter and urine, raising concerns about viral transmission through the faecal-oral route and/or contaminated aerosolized water. These concerns are amplified in many low- and middle-income countries, where raw sewage is often discharged into surface waterways and open defecation is common. Nonetheless, there has been no evidence of COVID-19 transmission via ambient urban water, and the virus viability in such aquatic matrices is believed to be minimal and not a matter of concern.

Efficacy of agricultural waste derived biochar for arsenic removal: Tackling water quality in the Indo-Gangetic plain.

Arsenic (As), a geogenic and extremely toxic metalloid can jeopardize terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems through environmental partitioning in natural soil-water compartment, geothermal and marine environments. Although, many researchers have investigated the decontamination potential of different mesoporous engineered bio sorbents for a suite of contaminants, still the removal efficiency of various pyrolyzed agricultural residues needs special attention. In the present study, rice straw derived biochar (RSBC) produced from slow pyrolysis process at 600 °C was used to remove As (V) from aqueous medium.

Making Waves Perspectives of Modelling and Monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 in Aquatic Environment for COVID-19 Pandemic.

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in the aquatic environment pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic has been a global concern. Though SARS-CoV-2 is known as a respiratory virus, its detection in faecal matter and wastewater demonstrates its enteric involvement resulting in vulnerable aquatic environment. Here, we provide the latest updates on wastewater-based epidemiology, which is gaining interest in the current situation as a unique tool of surveillance and monitoring of the disease.

Highly reproducible, simple and selective analytical method for extractive UV-visible spectrophotometric determination of ruthenium(III): Analysis of catalyst, fissium alloy and sequential separation.

An easy and selective method has been developed for the extractive spectrophotometric determination of ruthenium(III) with 4-(4'-flurobenzylideneimino)-3-methyl-5-mercapto-1,2,4-triazole (FBIMMT) as a chelating reagent. The basis of the method is the formation of stable complex of 'soft base' FBIMMT with 'soft acid' ruthenium(III). The reagent FBIMMT in n-butanol easily forms extractable yellow coloured complex with ruthenium(III) in acetate buffer of pH 4.

Scenario, perspectives and mechanism of arsenic and fluoride Co-occurrence in the groundwater: A review.

Arsenic (As) and fluoride (F) are the two most conspicuous contaminants, in terms of distribution and menace, in aquifers around the world. While the majority of studies focus on the individual accounts of their hydro-geochemistry, the current work is an effort to bring together the past and contemporary works on As and F co-occurrence. Co-occurrence in the context of As and F is a broad umbrella term and necessarily does not imply a positive correlation between the two contaminants.

Provenance and fate of trace and rare earth elements in the sediment-aquifers systems of Majuli River Island, India.

In this work we present a completely new dataset of Rare Earth Element (REE) distribution and fractionation in the groundwater and sediments of the world's largest populated river island-Majuli, located in the Brahmaputra River, India. Groundwater (n = 9) and borehole sediments (n = 23) of different depths were collected randomly and analyzed for REEs using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Multivariate statistical techniques were applied to determine interrelationships among different REEs.

Arsenic exposure and perception of health risk due to groundwater contamination in Majuli (river island), Assam, India.

Island populations are rarely studied for risk of arsenic (As) poisoning. As poisoning, multimetal contamination and people's perceptions of health risks were assessed on India's Majuli Island, the largest inhabited river island in the world. This holistic approach illustrated the association of groundwater contamination status with consequent health risk by measuring levels of inorganic arsenic (iAs) in groundwater, borehole sediment and biological samples (hair, nails and urine).

Sustainable removal of pernicious arsenic and cadmium by a novel composite of MnO impregnated alginate beads: A cost-effective approach for wastewater treatment.

There is a dire necessity of developing low cost waste water treatment systems, for the efficient removal of noxious heavy metals (and metalloids) such as Arsenic (As) and Cadmium (Cd). Magnetic biopolymer (CABs-MO) was synthesized by the entrapment of nanocrystalline MnO in the polymeric microcapsules of calcium alginate (CABs). Batch experiments were conducted under constant pH (6.

Removal of p-cresol and tylosin from water using a novel composite of alginate, recycled MnO and activated carbon.

For sustainable production, there is an urgent need to minimize the adverse environmental impacts of swine farming, which is a major contributor of the pollutants p-cresol and tylosin. Novel reactive composite alginate beads (CAB-MOACs) were fabricated by combining alginate with activated carbon (AC) and MnO recovered from spent battery waste and used for efficient removal of p-cresol and tylosin from water. Batch experiments were carried out under varying pH (3-11), temperature (15-50 °C), and agitation speed (50-200 rpm) to understand their effects on removal efficiency.

Efficacy and field applicability of Burmese grape leaf extract (BGLE) for cadmium removal: An implication of metal removal from natural water.

Burmese Grape Leaf Extract (BGLE), a low cost adsorbent was studied for cadmium (Cd(II)) removal from metal solutions and natural water samples. Batch adsorption studies were carried out to examine the influence of contact time and initial metal concentration after characterization under scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Cd(II)adsorptiononto BGLE was best explained by pseudo-second order kinetics (R = 0.

Biosorption of Co (II) from aqueous solution using algal biochar: Kinetics and isotherm studies.

The present investigation deals with the utilization of biochar derived from the pyrolysis of microalgae Scenedesmus dimorphus as an adsorbent for the removal of cobalt (II) ion (Co) from aqueous solution. A series of experiments were conducted in a batch system to evaluate the performance of the biochar for Co removal. The effect of contact time on adsorption of Co (II) onto surface of the biochar was investigated.

Effect of torrefaction on yield and quality of pyrolytic products of arecanut husk: An agro-processing wastes.

In the present study, arecanut husk, an agro-processing waste of areca plam industry highly prevalent in the north-eastern region of India, was investigated for its suitability as a prospective bioenergy feedstock for thermo-chemical conversion. Pretreatment of areca husk using torrefaction was performed in a fixed bed reactor with varying reaction temperature (200, 225, 250 and 275°C). The torrefied areca husk was subsequently pyrolyzed from temperature range of 300-600°C with heating rate of 40°C/min to obtain biooil and biochar.

Coupling fractionation and batch desorption to understand arsenic and fluoride co-contamination in the aquifer system.

The present work is an attempt to study As and F+ coevality using laboratory based assays which couples fractionation and batch dissolution experiments. Sequential extraction procedure (SEP) resulting into five "operationally defined phases", was performed on sediment and soil samples collected from the Brahmaputra flood plains, Assam, India. High correlation between the Fe (hydr)oxide fraction and total As content of the soil/sediment sample indicates the involvement of Fe (hydr)oxides as the principal source of As.

Hydrogeochemical controls on mobilization of arsenic and associated health risk in Nagaon district of the central Brahmaputra Plain, India.

In recent years, elevated concentration of arsenic (As) in groundwater in the northeastern states of India has become a major cause of concern. Since many regions of the Brahmaputra plains are reported with groundwater As contamination, an attempt was made to study the As contamination and factors governing its release in the Nagaon district in Brahmaputra floodplain, based on various water types, relation of As with other major ions and with various depth profiles. The origin of groundwater mineralization and the processes responsible for As enrichment in groundwater was determined by calculating saturation index using PHREEQC code.

Co-occurrence perspective of arsenic and fluoride in the groundwater of Diphu, Assam, Northeastern India.

Considerable lacunae exists in As and F(-) co-contamination investigation in the Brahmaputra and Gangetic floodplains. Therefore we selected Diphu a township in the Karbi Plateau rising from the Brahmaputra floodplains for evaluation of As and F co-occurrence, correlation with coexisting ions of the aquifer system and elucidation of potential processes for releasing As and F(-) in the groundwater. Our initial appraisal used generic plots for identification of hydro geochemical processes and major water types.