Assessment of radon transportation and uranium content in the tectonically active zone of Himalaya, India.

The study shows how geology and tectonic activity affect the soil gas 222Rn concentration. The tectonically active zone, namely the Ghuttu region, which is located within the Himalayan seismic belt, was studied to decipher its impact on soil gas 222Rn concentrations. A soil gas 222Rn study was performed in the soil at a depth of 30 cm, and it varied from 426 ± 156 Bq m-3 to 24,057 ± 1110 Bq m-3 with an average of 5356.5 ± 1634.6 Bq m-3, and at 60 cm below the soil surface, the concentration varied from 1130 ± 416 Bq m-3 to 30,236 ± 1350 Bq m-3 with an average of 8928.5 ± 2039.5 Bq m-3. These concentrations vary in soil from -3.4 % to 437.3 % as the depth moves from 30 cm to 60 cm. The variation in uranium content also shows anomalies, and higher values of uranium content in the soil affect the radon concentration in the study area. The average soil gas 222Rn concentration in the Ghuttu window was found to be higher than that in its surrounding region. This is likely due to transportation from daughter products of uranium. 222Rn mass exhalation rate measurements were also carried out, and a weak correlation with the soil gas 222Rn concentration was observed. A significant variation in the mass exhalation rate was noticed in tectonically active areas. This study is vital to understanding the behavior of radon and uranium in tectonic regions.

Geological control of terrestrial background radiation in Garhwal Himalaya, India.

Activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K were measured in soil samples from several areas of Garhwal Himalaya, Northern India, by gamma-ray spectrometry. In this region, which extends around the Himalayan Main Central Thrust, a tectonic line that separates several geological provinces, background levels of natural terrestrial radiation were assessed. The maximum levels of radium, 285 Bq/kg and 136 Bq/kg, respectively, were found in the Budhakedar and Uttarkashi regions, exceeding the world average value of 35 Bq/kg. The mean radiation levels were found to be different between the areas, which reflects the geological diversity in the region. The overall absorbed dose rate owing to radionuclide presence in the Uttarkashi area ranged from 79 to 188 nGyh-1, with an average of 118 nGyh-1. That is more than UNSCEAR's world-populated weighted average value of 59 nGyh-1. The present investigation indicated that the absorbed dose rates are greater in Uttarkashi and Budhakedar than in other places. The multiple comparison analysis between geology and absorbed dose rate shows that the geology of Uttarkashi and Budhakedar are statistically similar. According to several hazard indices, terrestrial background radiation is not of radiological concern in the investigated region.

Gamma radiation dose rate in high-altitude areas in the Bageshwar, Champawat and Pithoragarh districts of Uttarakhand, India.

Radiation has a deteriorating effect on humans as well as on the environment depending on its level, although we have all been exposed to natural gamma radiation from birth. The presence of radionuclides in rocks, soil, plants, and water is a major factor behind the natural gamma radiation. The present study deals with the study of natural gamma radiation at Bageshwar, Champawat and Pithoragarh districts of Uttarakhand. It also consists of seasonal variations in gamma radiation and its relationship with altitude and geology. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of altitude and geology on natural gamma radiation dose rate data in high-altitude areas of India. The highest gamma radiation value was 444 nSv/h in the summer and 342 nSv/h in the winter. The investigation recorded the gamma radiation up to 2542.20 m altitude, indicating that the geology of the areas is more relevant than the altitude. Few sites in such a high-altitude zone were found to exceed the value of 200 nSv/h, as reported by UNSCEAR. This research is necessary in order to consider the human health and climate changes, both of which are part of the action plan for the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 3, SDG 13).

Approaching a discussion on the detachment of chlorpyrifos in contaminated water using different leaves and peels as bio adsorbents.

The emerging contaminant chlorpyrifos, an insecticide, is generally used in agricultural fields to control termites, ants, and mosquitoes for the proper growth of feed and food crops. Chlorpyrifos reaches water sources for multiple reasons, and people who use water from nearby sources is exposed to chlorpyrifos. Due to its overuse in modern agriculture, the level of chlorpyrifos in water has drastically grown. The present study aims to address the problem arising from the utilization of chlorpyrifos-contaminated water. Natural bioadsorbents Bael, Cauliflower, Guava leaves Watermelon, and lemon peel were employed to remove chlorpyrifos from contaminated water under specific conditions of various factors, such as initial adsorbate concentration, dose of bioadsorbent, contact time, pH, and temperature. Maximum removal efficiency of 77% was obtained with lemon peel. The maximum adsorption capacity (qe) was 6.37 mg g-1. The kinetic experiments revealed that the pseudo second order model (R2 = 0.997) provided a better explanation of the mechanism of sorption. The isotherm showed that chlorpyrifos adsorbed in lemon peel in a monolayer and was best suited by the Langmuir model (R2 = 0.993). The adsorption process was exothermic and spontaneous, according to thermodynamic data.

Gamma radiation dose rate distribution in the Anand, Bharuch, Vadodara, and Narmada districts of Gujarat, India.

Radiation is present everywhere in the earth, and human beings are continuously exposed to gamma radiation. The health consequences of environmental radiation exposure are a serious societal issue. The purpose of this study was to analyse outdoor radiation in four districts of Gujarat, India: Anand, Bharuch, Narmada, and Vadodara during summer and winter seasons. This study illustrated the influence of lithology of areas on gamma radiation dose values. Summer and winter seasons are the primary factors that alter the causes directly or indirectly; therefore, the influence of season fluctuation on radiation dose rate was investigated. The annual dose rate and mean gamma radiation dose rate values from four districts were found to be greater than the global population weight average value. The mean value of gamma radiation dose rate from 439 locations in the summer and winter seasons was 136.23 nSv/h and 141.58 nSv/h, respectively. According to a paired differences sample study, the significance value between outdoor gamma dose rate in summer and winter seasons was 0.05 indicating that seasons have a significant impact on gamma radiation dose rate. The impact of various types of lithology on gamma radiation dose was studied in all 439 places, and the statistical analysis revealed that there was no significant association between lithology and gamma radiation dose rate in the summer season, but a relationship between lithology and gamma dose rate was observed in the winter season.

Plant mediated magnetic nano composite as promising scavenger's radionuclides for the efficient remediation in aqueous medium.

The present investigation demonstrates the environment friendly plant mediated green synthesis of magnetic bio composite nanoparticles by the chemical co-precipitation of magnetite phase from aqueous medium. Water contaminated with uranium is one of the most serious environmental issues. This study aims to overcome this issue by effectively adsorbing uranium from water at a pH range of 7. Several studies have recently been published throughout the world that demonstrates uranium adsorption from water, although they have all been conducted in acidic media with pH less than 6. This work addressed that issue, and maximal adsorption was achieved at pH 7 using a synthetic magnetic bio composites sorbent derived from tree bark (Amla). The magnetic bio composites were characterized by FTIR, XRD, FE-SEM, and EDX. The computations of the XRD data indicated that magnetic bio composites have nano composite with an average diameter of around 12.1 nm. This has an adsorption capacity of 121.95 mg g-1. The correlation regression (r2) coefficients obtained for the various isotherm models indicate that the sorption process conformed to the Langmuir and Temkin models. Thermodynamic studies revealed that the sorption process onto plant mediated magnetic bio material is endothermic and spontaneous, which is significant for reuse and recovery of adsorbed material. A desorption test was also performed to regenerate the material by removing the adsorbed uranium (VI) by HCL with an 84.3% success rate.

Effective removal of Cr (VI) ions using low-cost biomass leaves (Sambucus nigra L.) in aqueous solution.

The tannery industries have become an important part of societal growth; however, these processes have produced huge volumes of effluents containing heavy metals, particularly Cr(VI) oxyanions. The study is crucial and cost-effective for reducing the chromium (VI) from industrial wastewater. In order to meet the sustainable development goal (SDG) objective 6.3, the capacity of Sambucus nigra L. to adsorb heavy metal is established with the purpose of eradicating hazardous chemical contamination and reducing pollution. In this study, discontinuous tests were carried out to determine the efficiency of Cr(VI) sorption on leaves of Sambucus nigra L. Adsorption factors such as pH, temperature, adsorbent dosage, and contact time were evaluated. At a dosage of 3 g/L and pH 2, an efficiency of 98.22% was achieved under favorable conditions. The equilibrium and kinetic models that best fitted the experimental data are non-linear Freundlich and; pseudo-second order, and intra-particle diffusion, respectively. The thermodynamic parameters of the adsorption process, including Gibbs free energy (ΔG0), enthalpy (ΔH0), and entropy (ΔS0), were measured at 291, 303, 323, and 343 K, indicating that the phenomena was spontaneous and endothermic. The chemical analyses and surface morphology of the adsorbent were analyzed using SEM (scanning electron microscopy), EDS (energy dispersive spectroscopy), FTIR (Fourier transform infra-red), XRD (X-ray diffraction), and ICP-OES (inductively coupled plasma optical-emission spectroscopy) techniques. The results showed that Sambucus nigra L. has a significant removal efficiency of Cr(VI) in the contaminated solutions, establishing adsorbent as a low cost, readily available, and environmentally friendly and ensuring its potential for industrial usage.

COVID-19 and medicinal plants: A critical perspective.

On a global scale, the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) is having a direct and indirect effect on human lives, socioeconomic conditions, and the natural environment. The measures are taken to prevent the spread of coronavirus and slowdown of economic activities could have major short and long term effects on the natural ecosystem and climate in the coming days. Based on the current scientific studies, the present perspective intends to examine the possible direct and indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the ecosystem particularly on medicinal plants. The natural compounds obtained from medicinal plants and herbal formulations provide rich sources of novel effective measures to control viral infections. The unpredictable COVID situation has affected the environment based on several aspects which may play a key role in impact on plants. The positive perspectives of the world pandemic are a significant improvement in quality of air, reduced carbon emission, increased water purity and reduction in other types of pollution. But at the same time, the negative consequences are much more, which mainly includes increased consumption of preventive medical equipment and medical wastes due to treatment and human immortality, which is continuously endangering the medicinal plants. These wastes may affect the natural cycling process and the natural habitat of the medicinal plants which are a promising solution for the prevention of viral diseases in the years to come. Hence, this perspective will be beneficial for the possible research studies and proper implementation of the strategies that might be support the global climate sustainability.

Impact of lockdown during COVID-19 pandemic on annual effective dose equivalent values of natural gamma radiation.

The study aimed to determine the impact of COVID-19 on values of annual effective dose equivalent of the natural gamma dose rate of Balod, Durg and Bemetara districts of Chhattisgarh (India). COVID-19 is a severe problem for many countries and to control and prevent the spread of this problem, the lockdown approach has been implemented in many countries, including India. In this lockdown situation, almost all people stay at home for 24 h. Due to the present status of COVID-19, the Indian government also fixed the 67 days lockdown and one day was already successfully done as Janta Curfew, which worked the same as a lockdown. The value of indoor gamma dose rates was reported to be higher in most places compared to the outdoor gamma dose rate, but in this pandemic situation, occupancy factor values are not applicable as recommended by UNSCEAR for calculation of annual effective dose equivalent (AEDE). Therefore, the present study introduces the new equations, which can measure the extra AEDE value during lockdown for adults, children and infants.

A positive perspective during COVID-19 related to groundwater crisis.

The months from March to June refer as water crisis months in many places of India, because in these months of summer generally, Indian people face shortage of water. In the summer season, groundwater level decreases due to high temperature and increased evaporation of water in most of the places. This present discussion is focused on one positive aspect during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is related to rainfall during this summer in India. It has been observed that the rainfall in India in the months of March to May (as of now, on May 18, 2020) is high as compared to previous years and it might increase the groundwater level and people of India would not face a water crisis during this summer.