Occurrence and characteristics of microplastics in South African beverages.

This study presents the first comprehensive assessment of microplastics (MPs) in alcoholic (AB) and non-alcohol (NAB) beverages in South Africa. Beverages in various packaging materials, specifically glass, aluminium, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) were tested for MP content. The samples were filtered and digested, then stained with Rose Bengal dye to facilitate particle identification, followed by physical and chemical characterisation using stereomicroscopy and micro-Raman spectroscopy, respectively.

Detection and characterisation of microplastics in tap water from Gauteng, South Africa.

This study reports the presence, concentration, and characteristics of microplastics (MPs) in tap water in three suburbs in Gauteng Province in South Africa. Physical characterisation was conducted using stereomicroscopy and scanning electron microscopy following staining of MPs with the Rose Bengal dye. The concentrations of MPs in all samples ranged from 4.

Advancements in sustainable platinum and palladium recovery: unveiling superior adsorption efficiency and selectivity with a novel silica-anchored acylthiourea adsorbent.

This study addresses the pressing issue of depleting natural resources of platinum group metals (PGMs), driven by their widespread use in modern applications and increasing demand for renewable energy technologies. With conventional sources dwindling, the search for economically viable recovery methods from alternative sources has become crucial. Our focus was on innovating efficient recovery strategies, leading to the development of two novel silica-anchored adsorbents: DTMSP-BT-SG, a highly efficient acylthiourea adsorbent, and BTMSPA-SG, a silica-anchored amine adsorbent.

Comparison of individual and ensemble machine learning models for prediction of sulphate levels in untreated and treated Acid Mine Drainage.

Machine learning was used to provide data for further evaluation of potential extraction of octathiocane (S), a commercially useful by-product, from Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) by predicting sulphate levels in an AMD water quality dataset. Individual ML regressor models, namely: Linear Regression (LR), Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO), Ridge (RD), Elastic Net (EN), K-Nearest Neighbours (KNN), Support Vector Regression (SVR), Decision Tree (DT), Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), Random Forest (RF), Multi-Layer Perceptron Artificial Neural Network (MLP) and Stacking Ensemble (SE-ML) combinations of these models were successfully used to predict sulphate levels. A SE-ML regressor trained on untreated AMD which stacked seven of the best-performing individual models and fed them to a LR meta-learner model was found to be the best-performing model with a Mean Squared Error (MSE) of 0.

Improving acid mine drainage treatment by combining treatment technologies: A review.

The mining and processing of some minerals and coal result in the production of acid mine drainage (AMD) which contains elevated levels of sulfate and metals, which tend to pose serious environmental issues. There are different technologies that have been developed for the treatment of wastewater or AMD. However, there is no "one-size-fits-all" solution, hence a combination of available technologies should be considered to achieve effective treatment.

Mining wastewater treatment technologies and resource recovery techniques: A review.

Mining wastewater can have adverse effects on the ecosystem; thus, treatment before discharging into the environment is of utmost importance. This manuscript reports on the effect of mining wastewater on the environment. Moreover, the currently used, effective and commercialised mine wastewater treatment technologies such as SAVMIN®, SPARRO®, Biogenic sulphide, and DESALX® are reported in this study.

Microplastics in freshwater environment: the first evaluation in sediment of the Vaal River, South Africa.

Microplastic pollution has become an environmental concern worldwide. In this study, the occurrence, abundance, and composition of microplastics (MPs) in sediment of the Vaal River, South Africa were assessed. Twenty-five sediment samples were collected from the Vaal River using a Van Veen grab sampler, samples underwent digestion, density separation, and filtration prior to physical and chemical analysis.

First biomonitoring of microplastic pollution in the Vaal river using Carp fish (Cyprinus carpio) "as a bio-indicator".

Fish inhabiting freshwater environments are susceptible to the ingestion of microplastics (MPs). Knowledge regarding MPs in freshwater fish in South Africa is very limited. In this study, the uptake of MPs by common carp (Cyprinus carpio) in the Vaal River in South Africa was assessed.

Trends in Innovations and Recent Advances in Membrane Protected Extraction Techniques for Organics in Complex Samples.

Membrane protected extraction is an ongoing innovation for isolation and pre-concentration of analytes from complex samples. The extraction process, clean-up and pre-concentration of analytes occur in a single step. The inclusion of solid sorbents such as molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) after membrane extraction ensures that selective double extraction occurs in a single step.

Technical design and optimisation of polymer inclusion membranes (PIMs) for sample pre-treatment and passive sampling - A review.

This review reports on the increasing interest in technical designs, calibration, and application of PIM-based devices in sample pre-treatment and passive sampling in environmental water monitoring from 2010 to 2021. With regards to passive sampling, devices are calibrated in a laboratory setup using either a dip-in or flow-through approach before environmental application. In sample preparation, the device set-ups can be offline, online or in a continuous flow separation device connected to a flow injection analysis system.

Multivariate optimization of a two-way technique for extraction of pharmaceuticals in surface water using a combination of membrane assisted solvent extraction and a molecularly imprinted polymer.

This work demonstrates development and evaluation of a two-way technique based on the combination of membrane assisted solvent extraction and a molecularly imprinted polymer (MASE-MIP) for selective and efficient extraction of five selected pharmaceuticals belonging to five different therapeutic classes. The pharmaceuticals were extracted from surface water samples followed by liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-qTOF/MS) determination. A central composite design was applied to optimize the influence of the sample salt content, the stirring rate, the stirring time and the amount of MIP on the extraction of an anticonvulsant (carbamazepine), a cardiac stimulant (etilefrine), a muscle relaxant (methocarbamol), an antiretroviral (nevirapine) and an antidepressant (venlafaxine) from surface water.

In Situ Decarboxylation-Pressurized Hot Water Extraction for Selective Extraction of Cannabinoids from Chemometric Approach.

Isolation of the therapeutic cannabinoid compounds from () is important for the development of cannabis-based pharmaceuticals for cancer treatment, among other ailments. The main pharmacological cannabinoids are THC and CBD. However, THC also induces undesirable psychoactive effects.

The Effect of Prolonged Pre-Operative Halo Gravity Traction for Severe Spinal Deformities on the Cervical Spine Radiographs.

Study Design: Retrospective review of consecutive series.

Objective: The study sought to assess the effect of prolonged pre-operative halo gravity traction (HGT) on the c-spine radiographs.

Methods: Data of 37 pediatric and adult patients who underwent ≥ 12wks pre-op HGT prior to definitive spine surgery from 2013-2015 at a single site in West Africa was reviewed.

The efficacy and safety of intraoperative acute normovolaemic haemodilution in complex spine surgery in a private surgical facility in Ghana.

Objectives: To assess the safety and clinical benefits of intraoperative acute normovolaemic haemodilution (ANH) in complex spine surgery.

Design: Prospective comparative cohort study.

Setting: A private orthopaedic hospital in Ghana.

One-stage multiple posterior column osteotomies and fusion and pre-op halo-gravity traction may result in a comparative and safer correction of complex spine deformity than vertebral column resection.

Study Design: A retrospective review of prospectively collected from patients recruited at a single center.

Purpose: To test whether safe and optimal correction can be obtained with preoperative halo-gravity traction and posterior spinal fusion with adjunctive procedures but without VCR. Posterior vertebral column resection(VCR) is gaining popularity for correction of severe spinal deformity.

Development and evaluation of a DGT sampler using functionalised cross-linked polyethyleimine for the monitoring of arsenic and selenium in mine impacted wetlands.

Arsenic and selenium are both carcinogenic and their presence in fresh water has attracted the development of robust and accurate monitoring techniques. A new diffusive gradients in thin-films (DGT) sampler was developed and evaluated for the in situ measurements of arsenic and selenium. The binding layer was made from a mixture of sulphonated and phosphonated cross-linked polyethylenimine (SCPEI and PCPEI, respectively).

Application of Hollow Fibre-Liquid Phase Microextraction Technique for Isolation and Pre-Concentration of Pharmaceuticals in Water.

In this article, a comprehensive review of applications of the hollow fibre-liquid phase microextraction (HF-LPME) for the isolation and pre-concentration of pharmaceuticals in water samples is presented. HF-LPME is simple, affordable, selective, and sensitive with high enrichment factors of up to 27,000-fold reported for pharmaceutical analysis. Both configurations (two- and three-phase extraction systems) of HF-LPME have been applied in the extraction of pharmaceuticals from water, with the three-phase system being more prominent.

Modelling of palladium(II) adsorption onto amine-functionalised zeolite using a generalised surface complexation approach.

The many uses of palladium in medicine, catalysts and other industries make it a very important precious element. Many industries using palladium discharge process wastewaters that may release elevated concentrations of palladium into the environment. This study focused on the recovery of palladium from aqueous solutions by zeolite functionalised with spent brewer's yeast.

Selective Extraction of Cannabinoid Compounds from Cannabis Seed Using Pressurized Hot Water Extraction.

Phytochemicals of mainly for the use in the different industries are that of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Pressurized hot water extraction (PHWE) is seen as an efficient, fast, green extraction technique for the removal of polar and semi-polar compounds from plant materials. The PHWE technique was applied to extract cannabinoid compounds from seed.

Selective pressurized hot water extraction of nutritious macro-nutrients vs. micro-nutrients in Moringa oleifera leaves-a chemometric approach.

Moringa oleifera leaves are widely used in traditional medicine as a food supplement because they are high in essential and nutritious content. Pressurized hot water extraction (PHWE), which is a green approach, was used for the recovery of the macro-nutrient and micro-nutrient elements from dried leaf powder of Moringa oleifera. In this study, response surface methodology was applied to assess the influence of temperature (50-200 °C) and time (5-60 min) on the extractability pattern of macro-nutrient and micro-nutrient elements from the leaves of Moringa oleifera when processed by PHWE.

Removal of platinum (IV) from aqueous solutions with yeast-functionalised bentonite.

There is a need for cheap but, efficient methods for the removal of precious metals from wastewaters, which are normally lost during mineral processing. Moreover, the disposal of yeast waste from brewing has been a problem in many parts of the world. In this study, the removal of Pt(IV) from aqueous solutions using the readily available bentonite clay functionalised with spent yeast from brewing was investigated.

Mercury accumulation and biotransportation in wetland biota affected by gold mining.

Phytoremediation is a cost-effective, eco-friendly technology for the removal of metals from polluted areas. In this study, six different plant species (Datura stramonium, Phragmites australis, Persicaria lapathifolia, Melilotus alba, Panicum coloratum, and Cyperus eragrostis) growing in a gold mine contaminated wetland were investigated as potential phytoremediators of mercury. The accumulation of total mercury and methylmercury in plant tissues was determined during the wet and dry seasons to establish the plants' variability in accumulation.

Halo Gravity Traction Can Mitigate Preoperative Risk Factors and Early Surgical Complications in Complex Spine Deformity.

Study Design: Retrospective review of prospective cohort.

Objective: We sought to examine the role of halo gravity traction (HGT) in reducing preoperative surgical risk.

Summary Of Background Data: The impact of HGT on procedure choice, preoperative risk factors, and surgical complications has not been previously described.

Metal Speciation in the Rivers Around Potchefstroom Based on Seasonality.

  About 44 surface water samples were collected in the wet and dry seasons around mining areas near the city of Potchefstroom in South Africa, and physicochemical parameters were analyzed to assess the speciation of pollutants and impact on dispersion potential. It was found that concentrations of the trace elements measured decreased significantly during the dry season. High concentrations of trace elements during the wet season were correlated to high effluents from anthropogenic sources which were flowing into the surface water.

Sorption of uranium(VI) onto hydrous ferric oxide-modified zeolite: Assessment of the effect of pH, contact time, temperature, selected cations and anions on sorbent interactions.

Zeolites are commonly used as adsorbents for metal removal in most applications e.g. in wastewater.