Spatio-temporal variability and source identification for metal contamination in the river sediment of Indian Sundarbans, a world heritage site.

Metal pollution is a subject of growing concern as it affects the whole food chain of an ecosystem by bioaccumulation. Growing industrialization and anthropogenic intervention have put tremendous pressure on self-sustaining ecosystems worldwide. Sundarbans mangrove estuary, being a UNESCO World Heritage site, suffers severely from anthropogenic stress, urbanization, ecotourism, overexploitation of natural resources and discharges of industrial as well as municipal waste products.

Metagenomic exploration of the bacterial community structure at Paradip Port, Odisha, India.

This is a pioneering report on the metagenomic exploration of the bacterial diversity from a busy sea port in Paradip, Odisha, India. In our study, high-throughput sequencing of community 16S rRNA gene amplicon was performed using 454 GS Junior platform. Metagenome contain 34,121 sequences with 16,677,333 bp and 56.

Pyrosequencing based profiling of the bacterial community in the Chilika Lake, the largest lagoon of India.

Brackish water lake is the most extraordinary reservoir for bacterial community with an adaptability of tolerance to saline stress. In the present study, metagenomic approach was implemented utilising 454-pyrosequencing platform to gain deeper insights into the bacterial diversity profile of the soil sediment of Chilika Lake, Odisha, India. Metagenome contained 68,150 sequences with 31,896,430 bp and 56.

In vitro assessment on the impact of soil arsenic in the eight rice varieties of West Bengal, India.

Rice is an efficient accumulator of arsenic and thus irrigation with arsenic-contaminated groundwater and soil may induce human health hazard via water-soil-plant-human pathway. A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted on three high yielding, one hybrid and four local rice varieties to investigate the uptake, distribution and phytotoxicity of arsenic in rice plant. 5, 10, 20, 30 and 40 mg kg(-1) dry weights arsenic dosing was applied in pot soil and the results were compared with the control samples.

Arsenic-induced health crisis in peri-urban Moyna and Ardebok villages, West Bengal, India: an exposure assessment study.

Drinking of arsenic (As)-contaminated groundwater has adverse effects on health of millions of people worldwide. This study aimed to determine the degree of severity of As exposure from drinking water in peri-urban Moyna and Ardebok villages, West Bengal, India. Arsenic concentrations in hair, nail and urine samp les of the individuals were determined.