ABSTRACT
This study was conducted to estimate the generation of single-use plastics (SUPs) and elucidate consumer behavior towards a plastic-free university. The results show that the consumption rate of plastic bottles was the highest at 1.39 g per student per day (g.s-1.d-1), followed by plastic cups (0.20 g s-1.d-1), and plastic bags (0.14 g s-1.d-1). Approximately 94.41% of students were highly aware of the negative impacts of SUPs. More than four-fifths of the students (82.32%) assumed that they were responsible for the SUP pollution issue, whereas 59.52% considered SUP reduction (or lack thereof) by individuals, governments, and producers/businesses be important factors. Approximately 19.03% of the students supported implementing a high fine, one-tenth agreed for a total ban on SUPs, while nearly one-fifth believed reducing SUP consumption was unnecessary. Strategies for plastic-free universities was initiated by establishing the goal of "plastic-free university" and implementing integrated actions including a ban (plastic cups and bags) awareness-raising, and suitable alternatives.
Subject(s)
Plastics , Universities , Consumer Behavior , Environmental Pollution , HumansABSTRACT
Soybean is a globally important crop species, which is subject to pressure by insects and weeds causing severe substantially reduce yield and quality. Despite the success of transgenic soybean in terms of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and herbicide tolerance, unforeseen mitigated performances have still been inspected due to climate changes that favor the emergence of insect resistance. Therefore, there is a need to develop a biotech soybean with elaborated gene stacking to improve insect and herbicide tolerance in the field. In this study, new gene stacking soybean events, such as bialaphos resistance (bar) and pesticidal crystal protein (cry)1Ac mutant 2 (M#2), are being developed in Vietnamese soybean under field condition. Five transgenic plants were extensively studied in the herbicide effects, gene expression patterns, and insect mortality across generations. The increase in the expression of the bar gene by 100% in the leaves of putative transgenic plants was a determinant of herbicide tolerance. In an insect bioassay, the cry1Ac-M#2 protein tested yielded higher than expected larval mortality (86%), reflecting larval weight gain and weight of leaf consumed were less in the T1 generation. Similarly, in the field tests, the expression of cry1Ac-M#2 in the transgenic soybean lines was relatively stable from T0 to T3 generations that corresponded to a large reduction in the rate of leaves and pods damage caused by Lamprosema indicata and Helicoverpa armigera. The transgenic lines converged two genes, producing a soybean phenotype that was resistant to herbicide and lepidopteran insects. Furthermore, the expression of cry1Ac-M#2 was dominant in the T1 generation leading to the exhibit of better phenotypic traits. These results underscored the great potential of combining bar and cry1Ac mutation genes in transgenic soybean as pursuant of ensuring resistance to herbicide and lepidopteran insects.
ABSTRACT
This study investigates distribution, pollution indices, and potential risk assessment for human health and ecology of eight heavy metals in twenty-five street dust samples collected from metropolitan area-Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Results showed that Zn was of the highest concentration (466.4 ± 236.5 mg/kg), followed by Mn (393.9 ± 93.2 mg/kg), Cu (153.7 ± 64.7 mg/kg), Cr (102.4 ± 50.5 mg/kg), Pb (49.6 ± 21.4 mg/kg), Ni (36.2 ± 15.4 mg/kg), Co (7.9 ± 1.9 mg/kg), and Cd (0.5 ± 0.5 mg/kg). The principal component analysis revealed that three sources of heavy metals measured in street dust include vehicular activities (32.38%), mixed source of vehicular and residential activities (26.72%), and mixture of industrial and natural sources (20.23%). The geo-accumulation index values showed levels of non-pollution to moderately pollution for Mn and Co; moderately pollution for Ni; moderately to strongly pollution for Cd, Cr, and Pb; and strongly pollution for Cu and Zn. The potential ecological risk values of all sampling sites were close to the high-risk category. Zn (28.9%), Cu (25.4%), and Mn (24.4%) dominantly contributed to the ecological risk. For non-carcinogenic risk, the hazard quotient values for both children and adults were within a safety level. For carcinogenic risk, the TCRChildren was about 3 times higher than TCRAdults, but still within a tolerable limit (1 × 10-6 to 1 × 10-4) of cancer risk. Cr was a major contribution to potential risks in humans. Such studies on heavy metal in street dust are crucial but are still limited in Vietnam/or metropolitan area in Southeast Asia. Therefore, this study can fill the information gap about heavy metal contaminated street dust in a metropolitan area of Vietnam.
