Haitians' perceptions of biogas produced via human excreta: An approach to the democratization of energy systems.

The utilization of organic matter (OM) to produce biogas is an attractive alternative for promoting sustainable development, addressing energy shortages and waste disposal problems, creating jobs, and investing in sanitation systems. Thus, this alternative is becoming increasingly important in developing countries. This study investigated the perceptions of residents in Delmas district, Haiti, regarding the use of biogas produced via human excreta (HE). A questionnaire containing closed- and open-ended questions was administered for this purpose. Sociodemographic aspects had no influence on locals' willingness to use biogas produced via different types of OM. The novelty of this research is that democratization and decentralization of the energy system are possible in the Delmas district using biogas produced from various organic wastes. Socio-characteristics of the interviewees did not influence their willingness towards a possible adopt biogas-based energy from several types of degradable organic matter. The results showed that more than 96% of the participants agreed that HE could be used to produce biogas and reduce energy shortages in their locality. In addition, 93.3% of the interviewees thought this biogas could be utilized for cooking food. However, 62.5% of respondents argued that using HE to produce biogas could be dangerous. Bad smell and fear of biogas produced via HE are the major concerns of users. In conclusion, this research could guide stakeholders' decisions to better address the problems of waste disposal and energy shortages and to create new jobs in the target study area. The research findings could help decision-makers better understand the willingness of locals to invest in household digester programs in Haiti. Further research is required to investigate farmers 'willingness to use digestates from biogas production.

First study of its kind on the microplastic contamination of soft drinks, cold tea and energy drinks - Future research and environmental considerations.

Investigating wide range of food products of direct human consumption for microplastics is critical to understand the routes of contamination and assess the risks in microplastics uptake by humans. However, microplastics knowledge for many beverage products excluding beers is still lacking. Here, common beverages (n = 57; 27 brands) such as soft drinks (n = 19), energy drinks (n = 8), cold tea (n = 4) and beer (n = 26) were targeted for microplastics occurrences in Mexico and their shape, size, surface morphology and polymer composition were analyzed. Microplastics were detected in 48 out of 57 samples tested. The results identified microplastics of various forms (fibers and fragments) and sizes (0.1-3 mm) of colors (blue, red, brown, black and green), in amounts ranging from not detected to 28 ± 5.29 particles/L. Micro-Raman spectroscopy identified particles as polyamide, poly(ester-amide), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene and poly(ethylene-terephthalate) indicating microplastics contamination of synthetic textiles and packaging origin in the beverage products. Finally, this paper discusses that human excreta could act as a vehicle for the dispersion and accumulation of microplastics into terrestrial and aquatic environments. Combined, it is the first study to investigate microplastics contamination on soft drinks, energy drinks and cold tea and to document the material composition of microplastics from beverage products.