Emerging concern of nano-pollution in agro-ecosystem: Flip side of nanotechnology.

Nanomaterials (NMs) have proven to be a game-changer in agriculture, showcasing their potential to boost plant growth and safeguarding crops. The agricultural sector has widely adopted NMs, benefiting from their small size, high surface area, and optical properties to augment crop productivity and provide protection against various stressors. This is attributed to their unique characteristics, contributing to their widespread use in agriculture.

An assessment of nanotechnology-based interventions for cleaning up toxic heavy metal/metalloid-contaminated agroecosystems: Potentials and issues.

Heavy metals (HMs) are among the most dangerous environmental variables for a variety of life forms, including crops. Accumulation of HMs in consumables and their subsequent transmission to the food web are serious concerns for scientific communities and policy makers. The function of essential plant cellular macromolecules is substantially hampered by HMs, which eventually have a detrimental effect on agricultural yield.

Sedimentation of metals in Sundarban mangrove ecosystem: Dominant drivers and environmental risks.

Metal contamination from upstream river water is a threat to coastal and estuarine ecosystem. The present study was undertaken to unveil sedimentation processes and patterns of heavy metal deposition along the salinity gradient of a tropical estuary and its mangrove ecosystem. Sediment columns from three representative sites of differential salinity, anthropogenic interference, and sediment deposition pattern were sampled and analyzed for grain size distribution and metal concentrations as a function of depth.

Arsenic contamination, impact and mitigation strategies in rice agro-environment: An inclusive insight.

Arsenic (As) contamination and its adverse consequences on rice agroecosystem are well known. Rice has the credit to feed more than 50% of the world population but concurrently, rice accumulates a substantial amount of As, thereby compromising food security. The gravity of the situation lays in the fact that the population in theAs uncontaminated areas may be accidentally exposed to toxic levels of As from rice consumption.

Seed priming with Se mitigates As-induced phytotoxicity in rice seedlings by enhancing essential micronutrient uptake and translocation and reducing As translocation.

We laid down this investigation to explore the promotive and antagonistic aspect of selenium (Se) when supplemented through seed priming technology in rice before sowing into arsenic (As) free and As spiked soil. Findings suggest that As stress inhibits germination (35.38%), seedling growth (38.

Rice seed priming with Se : A novel approach to mitigate As induced adverse consequences on growth, yield and As load in brown rice.

The current investigation was laid down to investigate the consequences of cultivating selenium (Se) primed seedlings of two contrasting rice varieties in arsenic (As) free and As spiked pot soil. At maturity, Se primed seedlings (both tested varieties) cultivated alike the controls (in As free condition) were found to posses significantly (p < 0.001) greater amount of chlorophyll, biomass, tiller number, panicle weight and test weight beside these, also having longer plant height than the control.

Effect of selenium induced seed priming on arsenic accumulation in rice plant and subsequent transmission in human food chain.

The south-east Asian countries are facing a serious threat of arsenic (As) toxicity due to extensive use of As contaminated groundwater for rice cultivation. This experiment was configured to assess the consequences of rice seed priming with selenium (Se) and cultivation in As free and As contaminated soil. The experiment was arranged in a factorial complete randomized design having two factors viz.

Assessment of potential health risk of fluoride consumption through rice, pulses, and vegetables in addition to consumption of fluoride-contaminated drinking water of West Bengal, India.

A study was conducted in fluoride-affected Bankura and Purulia districts of West Bengal to assess the potential health risk from fluoride exposure among children, teenagers, and adults due to consumption of rice, pulses, and vegetables in addition to drinking water and incidental ingestion of soil by children. Higher mean fluoride contents (13-63 mg/kg dry weight) were observed in radish, carrot, onion bulb, brinjal, potato tuber, cauliflower, cabbage, coriander, and pigeon pea. The combined influence of rice, pulses, and vegetables to cumulative estimated daily intake (EDI) of fluoride for the studied population was found to be 9.

Evaluation of effectiveness of seed priming with selenium in rice during germination under arsenic stress.

Due to extensive use of arsenic (As) contaminated ground water in rice cultivation As toxicity has become a growing concern to rice growers of south east Asian countries. The presence of As in soil and irrigation water causes impaired crop growth and development. Selenium (Se) at lower concentration (1.

An Overview on Indian Patents on Biotechnology.

Background: The application of biotechnology is a potential tool for mitigating the present and future fooding and clothing demands in developing countries like India. The commercialization of biotechnological products might benefiting the poor`s in developing countries are unlikely to be developed. Biotechnology has the potential to provide a wide range of products and the existing production skills in the industrial, pharmaceuticals and the agricultural sector.

Seasonal perspective of dietary arsenic consumption and urine arsenic in an endemic population.

Exposure to arsenic in arsenic endemic areas is most remarkable environmental health challenges. Although effects of arsenic contamination are well established, reports are unavailable on probable seasonal variation due to changes of food habit depending on winter and summer seasons, especially for endemic regions of Nadia district, West Bengal. Complete 24-h diets, drinking-cooking water, first morning voided urine samples, and diet history were analyzed on 25 volunteers in arsenic endemic Chakdah block of Nadia district, once in summer followed by once in winter from the same participants.

Dietary arsenic consumption and urine arsenic in an endemic population: response to improvement of drinking water quality in a 2-year consecutive study.

We assessed the association between arsenic intake through water and diet, and arsenic levels in first morning-void urine under variable conditions of water contamination. This was done in a 2-year consecutive study in an endemic population. Exposure of arsenic through water and diet was assessed for participants using arsenic-contaminated water (≥50 μg L(-1)) in a first year (group I) and for participants using water lower in arsenic (<50 μg L(-1)) in the next year (group II).

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.

Risk from winter vegetables and pulses produced in arsenic endemic areas of Nadia District: field study comparison with market basket survey.

Arsenic contaminated groundwater uses for irrigation potentially lead the incidence of arsenic into food chain. In present study we examined total arsenic concentrations in 32 types of vegetables and 7 types of pulses. Range of total arsenic concentration in edible parts of vegetables collected from grown fields was 0.

The potential for reductive mobilization of arsenic [As(V) to As(III)] by OSBH(2) (Pseudomonas stutzeri) and OSBH(5) (Bacillus cereus) in an oil-contaminated site.

Microbial reduction of arsenate [As(V)] plays an important role in arsenic (As) mobilization in aqueous environments. In this study, we investigated reduction of arsenate by different bacterial isolates such as OSBH(1) (GU329913), OSBH(2) (GU329914), OSBH(3) (GU329915), OSBH(4) (GU329916) and OSBH(5) (GU329917), isolated from the oil sludge of a sewage treatment plant operated by the China Petroleum Refinery Company in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan. Bacterial strains of pure culture were identified by 16S rRNA analysis (≥99 % nucleotide similarity).

Assessment of total mercury level in fish collected from East Calcutta Wetlands and Titagarh sewage fed aquaculture in West Bengal, India.

Total mercury levels were quantified in Tilapia mossambicus, Cirrhinus mrigela and Labio rohita, captured from East Calcutta Wetlands and Titagarh sewage fed aquaculture ponds. The bioconcentration factor of collected fish was assessed. Total mercury level ranged from 0.

Metallic components of traffic-induced urban aerosol, their spatial variation, and source apportionment.

This study proposes a practical method to estimate elemental composition and distribution in order to attribute source and quantify impacts of aerosol particles at an urban region in Kolkata, India. Twelve-hour total particulates were collected in winter (2005-2006) and analyzed by energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence technique to determine multi-elemental composition, especially trace metals. The aerosols consist of various elements including K, Ca, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Se, and Pb which exhibit significant concentration at various sites (p < 0.

Distribution of actinomycetes, their antagonistic behaviour and the physico-chemical characteristics of the world's largest tidal mangrove forest.

We examined the relationship between distribution of actinomycetes and antagonistic behaviour with the physico-chemical characteristics of the Sundarbans, off the Bay of Bengal, India. Soil/sediment samples were collected from three regions: near to the sea, intertidal regions and mangrove forests. For the enumeration of actinomycetes, four treatments combining dilution with distilled or sea water with or without heating followed by plating onto starch-casein, glycerol-arginine and starch-nitrate media were done.