Elucidating the distribution and sources of street dust bound PAHs in Durgapur, India: A probabilistic health risk assessment study by Monte-Carlo simulation.

Spatial and seasonal distribution of PAHs, source identification, and their associated carcinogenic health risk was investigated in street dust of Durgapur, India. Street dust is an important indicator to detect the quality of the environment as well as the sources of pollutants. The obtained results showed fluctuation in PAHs concentrations from 2317 ± 402 ng/g to 5491 ± 2379 ng/g along with the sampling sites.

Health risks from PAHs and potentially toxic elements in street dust of a coal mining area in India.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and potentially toxic elements (PTEs) (Ba, Zn, Pb, Cu, Cr, Ni, As, Co) were determined in the road dusts of a coal mining area (Dhanbad, India) to assess their content and potential human health risks. Dust samples were collected from sign boards of the heavy traffic road connecting Dhanbad and Sindri. The total PAHs (∑PAHs, all values in mg/kg) content in the road dust samples varied from 3.

Biofilm development of Bacillus thuringiensis on MWCNT buckypaper: Adsorption-synergic biodegradation of phenanthrene.

Adsorption-synergic biodegradation of a model PAH (phenanthrene, Phe) on MWCNT buckypaper surface with a potential PAH biodegrading bacterial strain Bacillus thuringiensis AT.ISM.11 has been studied in aqueous medium.

Tracing source, distribution and health risk of potentially harmful elements (PHEs) in street dust of Durgapur, India.

Street dust samples from Durgapur, the steel city of eastern India, were collected from five different land use patterns, i.e., national highways, urban residential area, sensitive area, industrial area and busy traffic zone during summer, monsoon, and winter to analyze the pollution characteristics, chemical fractionation, source apportionment and health risk of heavy metals (HMs).

Biodegradation of anthracene by a newly isolated bacterial strain, Bacillus thuringiensis AT.ISM.1, isolated from a fly ash deposition site.

Unlabelled: The current study is aimed to evaluate the mechanism of anthracene degradation by a bacterial strain isolated from fly ash deposition site near Jamadoba Coal Preparation Plant, Jharkhand, India. The Bushnell-Haas media cultured (containing anthracene as sole carbon source) bacterial isolate was identified by 16S rRNA gene sequence coding as the Bacillus thuringiensis strain, which showed the efficiency to degrade anthracene. The degradation efficiency of the strain has been estimated to be around 91% (for 40 mg l of anthracene concentration) after 2 weeks of incubation at 33-36°C and initial pH of 6·8-7.

Bioavailability and health risk of some potentially toxic elements (Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn) in street dust of Asansol, India.

Street dust samples were collected from five different types of land use patterns (busy traffic zone, urban residential area, national highways, industrial area and sensitive area) in a medium sized industrial city Asansol, India. The samples were fractionated into ≤53µm and analyzed for potential toxic elements (PTEs) viz. Zn, Cd, Pb and Cu.

Reductive dehalogenation of endosulfan by cast iron: Kinetics, pathways and modeling.

Cast iron has been a material of choice for in-situ remediation of groundwater. In this study interaction of endosulfan with High Carbon Iron Filings (HCIF) was studied in batch reactors. Decline in total concentration (Ct) could be related to aqueous concentration (Ca) by equation dCt/dt = k1.

Soil quality index for evaluation of reclaimed coal mine spoil.

Success in the remediation of mine spoil depends largely on the selection of appropriate tree species. The impacts of remediation on mine soil quality cannot be sufficiently assessed by individual soil properties. However, combination of soil properties into an integrated soil quality index provides a more holistic status of reclamation potentials of tree species.

Human exposure risks for metals in soil near a coal-fired power-generating plant.

Coal-fired thermal power stations (TPSs) may contaminate the surrounding soil and could lead to pollution levels that can affect human health. Soil samples collected from the immediate vicinity of a TPS were analysed for heavy metals. TPS soils were enriched with arsenic (As), strontium (Sr), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), barium (Ba), vanadium (V), beryllium (Be), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), and nickel (Ni).

Assessment of human health risks from heavy metals in outdoor dust samples in a coal mining area.

Jharia (India) a coal mining town has been affected by the consequences of mining and associated activities. Samples of outdoor fallen dust were collected at different locations of Jharia covering four different zones: commercial, petrol pump, high traffic, and residential areas. The dust samples were analysed for different trace elements (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, and Zn).

Evaluation of the co-application of fly ash and sewage sludge on soil biological and biochemical quality.

Disposal of sewage sludge (SS) and fly ash (FA) is a multifaceted problem, which can affect environmental quality. FA has the potential to stabilize SS by reducing metal availability and making the SS suitable for application in the agricultural sector. An experiment was performed to evaluate soil biological quality changes with the combined amendment of SS and FA (fluidized bed combustion ash (FBCA) and lignite fly ash (LFA)).