Compromising situation of India's bio-medical waste incineration units during pandemic outbreak of COVID-19: Associated environmental-health impacts and mitigation measures.

COVID-19 induced pandemic situations have put the bio-medical waste (BMW) management system, of the world, to test. Sudden influx, of COVID-infected patients, in health-care facilities, has increased the generation of yellow category BMW (Y-BMW) and put substantial burden on the BMW-incineration units of India. This study presents the compromising situation of the BMW-incineration units of India, in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, from 21st March 2020 to 31st August 2020.

Light-absorbing impurities in snow of the Indian Western Himalayas: impact on snow albedo, radiative forcing, and enhanced melting.

Seasonal snow cover in the Himalayas acts as source of fresh water for several Asian rivers such as Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Yangtze. Early loss of seasonal snow exposes the ice layer of the glaciers directly to sunlight, consequently leading to their ablation and alterations in discharge of glacier-fed rivers. Therefore, any alteration in the melting rate of the Himalayan snow pack can significantly affect the ecological balance in the region.

Health risk assessment of the workers exposed to the heavy metals in e-waste recycling sites of Chandigarh and Ludhiana, Punjab, India.

Investigations were made to analyze the effects of heavy metals on the adults and children working in informal e-waste recycling sectors of Chandigarh and Ludhiana, Punjab, India. Soil samples of the ground where recycling was being done, dust from the platform where recycling activities were done and dermal samples of workers were collected to estimate the presence of heavy metals (As, Cu, Co, Cd, Cr, Ni, Fe, Zn, Pb, Ba) in them. High concentration of Ba, Cu, Pb and Zn was observed in the soil and dust samples.

Household air pollution from various types of rural kitchens and its exposure assessment.

Exposure to household air pollutants has become a leading environmental health risk in developing countries. Considering this, real-time temporal variation in fine particulate matter (PM) and carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations were measured in various types of rural household kitchens. Observed average concentrations of PM, CO, percent relative humidity (%RH) and temperature (T) in five different kitchen types were 549.

Hydrodynamic characteristics of UASB bioreactors.

The hydrodynamic characteristics of UASB bioreactors operated under different organic loading and hydraulic loading rates were studied, using three laboratory scale models treating concocted sucrose wastewater. Residence time distribution (RTD) analysis using dispersion model and tanks-in-series model was directed towards the characterization of the fluid flow pattern in the reactors and correlation of the hydraulic regime with the biomass content and biogas production. Empty bed reactors followed a plug flow pattern and the flow pattern changed to a large dispersion mixing with biomass and gas production.

Analysis, assessment and mapping of groundwater quality of Chandigarh (India).

Chandigarh (India) has been depending on groundwater resources to meet its water requirements in addition to the surface water source (Bhakra Main Canal). With a view to assess the groundwater quality, samples were collected from geo-referenced tube wells in different localities of the city. Samples were analysed for conventional parameters indicative of the physico-chemical quality of groundwater.

Methanogenic activity test as an aid in evaluating performance and stability of anaerobic bioreactors.

The correlation between methanogenic activity and anaerobic reactor performance is intuitive. In this paper, an attempt has been made to suggest a new parameter, defined on the basis of the relative activity of acetoclastic and hydrogen oxidising methanogens, to aid in evaluating the performance and stability of anaerobic reactors. Performance of three bench scale reactors was assessed at different relative populations of the trophic groups of methanogens as estimated through acetoclastic and total methanogenic activity tests.

Bio-medical waste management in the U.T., Chandigarh.

Investigations were carried out to assess the generation and disposal of biomedical waste in the various medical establishments in the urban and rural areas of the U.T. Chandigarh.

Audit of aminoglycosides usage.

Objective: This study was aimed to evaluate the usage patterns of aminoglycosides in pediatric patients for their appropriateness.

Methods: A retrospective review was conducted over a period of six months at J.S.

Application of neural network for simulation of upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor performance.

Up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors are being used with increasing regularity all over the world, especially in India, for a variety of wastewater treatment operations. Consequently, there is a need to develop methodologies enabling one to determine UASB reactor performance, not only for designing more efficient UASB reactors but also for predicting the performance of existing reactors under various conditions of influent wastewater flows and characteristics. This work explores the feasibility of application of an artificial neural network-based model for simulating the performance of an existing UASB reactor.