ABSTRACT
Background and Aim: In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic and a public health emergency of global significance. Recent studies have revealed that these restrictions and women's anxiety of the virus itself may have had an adverse effect on their mental health. Children and family members are spending more time at home;thus, society needs to be conscious of how this is affecting working women's emotional and physical health especially in the absence of any assisting maid. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate how the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown affected working women's physical and mental health. Material(s) and Method(s): To examine the effects of COVID-19 on the physical and emotional health of working women, a cross-sectional survey was conducted. Data is collected using an online survey platform. To investigate the impact of lockdown on the women's mental and physical health, a semi-structured questionnaire comprising a number of open-and closed-ended questions was prepared. Additionally, any mental health disorders and emotional difficulties that developed during lockdown or became worse were enlisted. Another goal was to gauge how much family members understood and were sympathetic to the physical and mental strain the working women were under. Result(s): The study involved 200 women from different states of India. The hours spent in the kitchen and other associated activities increased from 1.5 hours to 5.5 hours when the time between before and during the lockdown was compared. The amount of time spent engaging in physical activity, such as yoga and morning and evening walks, significantly decreased during the lockdown are coming to normal after the lockdown. 68 per cent of those surveyed said that women's behaviour had changed. About 58 per cent of the women suffered physical changes such fatigue, headaches, lower back discomfort, and other issues with women's weight gain. Conclusion(s): Additional research is required to better understand the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on women's mental health, particularly in regard to the identification of additional variables that may be connected to the pandemic's potentially multiplicative effects on women.Copyright © 2023, Institute of Medico-legal Publication. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
In recent decades, the accumulation and fragmentation of plastics on the surface of the planet have caused several long-term climatic and health risks. Plastic materials, specifically microplastics (MPs;sizes < 5 mm), have gained significant interest in the global scientific fraternity due to their bioaccumulation, non-biodegradability, and ecotoxicological effects on living organisms. This study explains how microplastics are generated, transported, and disposed of in the environment based on their sources and physicochemical properties. Additionally, the study also examines the impact of COVID-19 on global plastic waste production. The physical and chemical techniques such as SEM-EDX, PLM, FTIR, Raman, TG-DSC, and GC-MS that are employed for the quantification and identification of MPs are discussed. This paper provides insight into conventional and advanced methods applied for microplastic removal from aquatic systems. The finding of this review helps to gain a deeper understanding of research on the toxicity of microplastics on humans, aquatic organisms, and soil ecosystems. Further, the efforts and measures that have been enforced globally to combat MP waste have been highlighted and need to be explored to reduce its potential risk in the future. © 2022 by the authors.