Effects of nanoparticles treatments and salinity stress on the genetic structure and physiological characteristics of Lavandula angustifolia Mill.

Lavandula angustifolia Mill. is an aromatic herb of the Lamiaceae family, which has been widely used by humans for many centuries. In the current study, we treated L. angustifolia samples with various concentrations of ZnO and Fe2O3 nanoparticles in the presence/ absence of NaCl salinity stress to evaluate the composition of essential oils, genetic structure, glandular trichome density and cellular Zn2+ and Fe2+ contents. We used Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) molecular markers to investigate the parameters of genetic diversity among the treated samples. Furthermore, the hydro-distilled essential oil from the aerial parts of the samples was subjected to GC and GC / MS analyses. SPSS ver. 15, PAST, PopGene, and GenAlex software were employed for statistical analyses. Intracellular concentrations of Fe2+ and Zn2+ differed under various concentrations of nanoparticles and salinity treatments, and a significant negative correlation was observed between these elements, however, nanoparticles treatment significantly increased intracellular concentrations of iron and zinc ions. We found four types of glandular trichomes on the surface of the leaf of the treated plants, and the ANOVA test revealed a significant variation for most of them. Meanwhile, the short-stalked capitate trichomes were the most frequent in most of the evaluated samples. The main and trace essential oil compounds were the same among the treated plants, meanwhile, their percentages varied among the samples. The percentages of 1,8- cineole and camphor decreased in treated plants, which affects the quality of essential oils. Parameters of genetic diversity differed among the treated samples. Furthermore, the AMOVA test demonstrated a significant genetic variation that its substantial part belonged to among treated samples. These findings revealed that the treatment of nanoparticles and salinity stress strongly influenced the genetic diversity, trichomes density, iron and zinc ions content in lavender plants.

Sorption of Pb(ll) by poly(hydroxamic acid) grafted oil palm empty fruit bunch.

This paper describes the sorption of Pb(ll) from aqueous solution. Oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fiber was first grafted with poly(methylacrylate) and then treated with hydroxylammonium chloride in alkaline medium to produce hydroxamic acid (PHA) grafted OPEFB. Sorption of Pb(ll) by PHA-OPEFB was maximum at pH 5. The sorption followed the Langmuir model with maximum capacityof 125.0 mg g-1 at 25 degrees C. The sorption process was exothermic, as shown by the negative value of enthalpy change, Delta H0. The free energy change (DeltaG0) for the sorption was negative, showing that the sorption process was spontaneous. A kinetic study showed that the Pb(ll) sorption followed a second order kinetic model.

Simultaneous determination of trace heavy metals in ambient aerosols by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry after pre-concentration with sodium diethyldithiocarbamate.

The simultaneous determination of heavy metals associated with airborne particulate matter in the atmosphere of the city Isfahan (Iran) was performed by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) after pre-concentration with sodium diethyldithiocarbamate. The preconcentration procedure developed found instrumental to determine the trace heavy metals associated with ambient aerosols collected at a short sampling period or collected from rural areas where the concentrations of these metals are much less than those in urban areas. Several samples were analyzed by both flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) as a conventional method and the proposed method. The results obtained by the two methods were found in good agreement. The method was applied to the determination of atmospheric level of heavy metals in rural area and also for study of variation in levels of heavy metals in urban atmosphere during the days and nights.

Determination of arsenic in air particulates and diesel exhaust particulates by spectrophotometry.

A method was developed for the determination of trace arsenic by spectrophotometry. The proposed method is rapid, simple, and inexpensive. This method can be used for sensitive determination of trace arsenic in environmental samples and especially in air particulates. The results obtained by this method as a proposed method were compared with those obtained by hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry as a popular reported method for the determination of arsenic and an excellent agreement was found between them. The method was also used for determination of arsenic associated with airborne particulate matter and diesel exhaust particulates. The results showed that considerable amount of arsenic are associated with diesel engine particulates. The variation in concentration of arsenic was also investigated. The atmospheric concentration of arsenic was different in different sampling stations was dependent to the traffic density.

Determination of total and hexavalent chromium concentrations in the atmosphere of the city of Isfahan.

Airborne particulate matter was collected from the atmosphere of the city of Isfahan by a high-volume air sampler. Determination of the concentration of total chromium was carried out by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry after acid digestion. The determination of hexavalent chromium was carried out by ion chromatography following the collection of Cr(vi) in an impinger. Day-to-day variations in concentrations of total and hexavalent chromium were investigated and an excellent similarity was found between them. Atmospheric levels of total and hexavalent chromium were also investigated in different months of the year, and maximum concentrations were found in October.