Safeguarding drinking water: A brief insight on characteristics, treatments and risk assessment of contamination.

Water pollution stands as a critical worldwide concern, bearing extensive repercussions that extend to human health and the natural ecosystem. The sources of water pollution can be diverse, arising from natural processes and human activities and the pollutants may range from chemical and biological agents to physical and radiological contaminants. The contamination of water disrupts the natural functioning of the system, leading to both immediate and prolonged health problems. Various technologies and procedures, ranging from conventional to advanced, have been developed to eliminate water impurities, with the choice depending on the type and level of contamination. Assessing risks is a crucial element in guaranteeing the safety of drinking water. Till now, research is continuing the removal of contaminates for the sake of supplying safe drinking water. The study examined physical, inorganic, organic, biological and radiological contaminants in drinking water. It looked at where these contaminants come from, their characteristics, the impact they have and successful methods used in real-world situations to clean the contaminated water. Risk assessment methodologies associated with the use of unsafe drinking water as future directives are also taken into consideration in the present study for the benefit of public concern. The manuscript introduces a comprehensive study on water pollution, focusing on assessing and mitigating risks associated with physical, inorganic, organic, biological and radiological contaminants in drinking water, with a novel emphasis on future directives and sustainable solutions for public safety.

Exploration of Phaeanthine: A Bisbenzylisoquinoline Alkaloid Induces Anticancer Effect in Cervical Cancer Cells Involving Mitochondria-Mediated Apoptosis.

Natural-product-based pharmacophores possess considerably more structural diversity, attractive physicochemical features, and relatively less toxicity than synthesized drug entities. In this context, our studies on phaeanthine, a bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid isolated from the rhizomes of Cyclea peltata (Lam) Hook.f & Thoms., showed selective cytotoxicity toward cervical cancer cells (HeLa) with an IC50 of 8.11 ± 0.04 µM. Subsequent investigation with in silico molecular docking of phaeanthine displayed preferential binding to the antiapoptotic protein Akt as reflected by a docking score of -5.023. Interestingly, the follow-up in vitro assessment of the compound correlated with mitochondria-mediated apoptosis specifically by downregulating the expression of Akt and p-Akt, including other antiapoptotic proteins MCl-1, IGF-2, and XIAP. In the complementary in vitro assessment, mitochondrial membrane polarization and dynamics of intercellular cytochrome c validated the intrinsic mechanism of the apoptotic phenomenon. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive anticancer profiling study of phaeanthine against HeLa cells.

Drinking hot beverages from paper cups: Lifetime intake of microplastics.

Microplastics (MPs) have been found in many packaged food products such as salt, tea bags, milk, and fish. In a previous study by this group, MPs were found to leach into hot water from the plastic lining of disposable paper cups. No studies were found in the literature quantifying health risks or lifetime intake of MPs. At present, it is not possible to quantify health risks due to MPs because dose-response and toxicity assessments are not available. Therefore, the objective of the current study was to assess the intake of MPs and associated contaminants like fluoride that are released into these hot beverages. MPs in the previous study were quantified in terms of particle counts only and a simple method was adopted in the present study to convert the microplastics count into its respective mass. Chronic daily intake (CDI) and lifetime intake (LTI) of MPs through the ingestion pathway were calculated. CDI and Hazard Quotient (HQ) due to fluoride ingestion were also estimated following USEPA guidelines. Monte Carlo (MC) simulations were used to account for the variability in input variables such as concentration of MPs, body weight, averaging time, exposure duration, exposure frequency and ingestion rate to evaluate the impact on CDI and LTI values. The CDI was used to estimate the LTI of MPs and HQ for fluoride ingestion. MC simulations with 100,000 iterations resulted in an average CDI of 0.03 ± 0.025 mg of microplastic per kg of body weight per day and 7.04 ± 8.8 µg fluoride per kg body weight per day. This study takes us one step closer to estimating the human health risk due to the ingestion of microplastics and other contaminants through food items.

Preliminary investigation on effects of size, polymer type, and surface behaviour on the vertical mobility of microplastics in a porous media.

Due to the ubiquitous nature of microplastic (MP), knowledge of its fate and migration in subsurface environments like soil becomes extremely important to understand underlying ecological risk. The fate and migration of MP in subterranean settings like sand are governed by the retention/transport properties influenced by the interaction of sand and MPs. In this study, sand column experiments under simulated rainfall conditions were conducted for 180 days to assess the vertical migration of mixed MPs consisting of polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Sand column experiments were subjected to 60 wet-dry cycles over 180 days. The effects of polymer type, microplastic size, sand particle size, and surface roughness on the migration of MPs were evaluated. Results showed that the smallest-sized fragmented PE particles had the highest migration potential compared to PET and PE. The ratios of the diameters of MP particles and sand particles (dMP/dsand) played a significant role in determining the penetration depth of the various sizes of MPs. The MP particles with dMP/dsand 0.11 showed greater penetration depth in sand media and were detected in the column effluent water after 60 days of a column run. In addition, surface roughness, low ionic strength water, irregularly shaped particles, and wet and dry cycles contributed to the migration of MPs in the sand column. Three new absorbance peaks corresponding to the hydroxyl, CO stretch, and carbonyl groups evolved in the extracted PE MPs sample from different depths, as shown by FTIR analysis, suggesting that PE MPs had been oxidised. XPS analysis revealed changes in the surface properties of the MPs, indicating that oxidation occurred at the top layer, causing structural deterioration of the PE MPs. However, oxidation of the surface bonds was restricted in the layers underneath due to a lack of oxygen. The finding of the study suggests that in a natural environment, such accumulation and migration of MPs in sandy soil can increase the possibilities to the underlying groundwater contamination.

Exploring the Cytotoxic Effects of the Extracts and Bioactive Triterpenoids from Dillenia indica against Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Scientific Interpretation and Validation of Indigenous Knowledge.

Triterpenoids are ubiquitously distributed secondary metabolites, primarily scrutinized as a source of medication and preventive measures for various chronic diseases. The ease of isolation and excellent pharmacological properties of triterpenoids are notable reasons behind the exponential rise of extensive research on the bioactive triterpenoids over the past few decades. Herein, we attempted to explore the anticancer potential of the fruit extract of the ethnomedicinal plant Dillenia indica against oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and have exclusively attributed the efficacy of the extracts to the presence of two triterpenoids, namely, betulinic acid (BA) and koetjapic acid (KA). Preliminary in vitro screening of both BA and KA unveiled that the entities could impart cytotoxicity and induce apoptosis in OSCC cell lines, which were further well-supported by virtual screening based on ligand binding affinity and molecular dynamic simulations. Additionally, the aforementioned metabolites could significantly modulate the critical players such as Akt/mTOR, NF-κB, and JAK/STAT3 signaling pathways involved in the regulation of important hallmarks of cancer like cell survival, proliferation, invasion, angiogenesis, and metastasis. The present findings provide insight and immense scientific support and integrity to a piece of indigenous knowledge. However, in vivo validation is a requisite for moving to clinical trials and developing it as a commercial drug.

Patterns of animal and plant discoveries, distribution and endemism in India-implications on the effectiveness of the protected area network.

The main focus in biodiversity is to conserve species diversity with specific emphasis on endemic species. This study has analysed the distribution of endemic floral and faunal species and their representativeness in protected areas of India. The number of endemic species has been estimated as 29787 (30.35%) and 12696 (26.33%) of Indian fauna and flora respectively. Overall, 2055 animal species and 1983 plant species were discovered from India from 2009 to 2018. The number of new distributional records to India reported during the last decade is 1242 species of plants and 1086 species of animals. The species discovery data indicate that there are more species yet to be described. According to the Cramer coefficients, the elevation was strongly correlated with endemism, followed by precipitation, temperature, land cover, and biogeographic zone. The study of endemic floral and faunal species including new species and protected areas provides the first prototype national gap analysis in assessing the representativeness of coverage of protected areas. The patterns of geographic distribution of endemic species and the gap analysis present a novel finding for conservation priorities. The highest number of new species was discovered from protected areas i.e. Periyar, Mundathurai, Khangchendzonga, Mehao, Thattekadu Bird, Eravikulam, Mukurthi, Saddle Peak, Malabar, and Anamalai. Although the total area protected is significant in India, their geographic coverage is almost the contrary to patterns of endemism. The results provide a valued direction for the advancement of management strategies for biodiversity conservation.

Microplastics and other harmful substances released from disposable paper cups into hot water.

Disposable paper cups are popular for consuming beverages. These paper cups have an interior that is laminated with a hydrophobic film made of mostly plastic (polyethylene) and sometimes of copolymers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the degradation of these films as a result of exposure to hot water (85-90 °C). Due to deterioration of the films, ions like fluoride, chloride, sulfate, and nitrate were released into the water contained in the paper cups. Microplastic particles leaching into the liquid were identified and quantified. Fluorescence microscopy indicated the release of approximately 25,000 micron-sized microplastic particles into one cup of hot water in 15 min (100 ml) while scanning electron micrographs indicate 102 + 21.1 × 106 sub-micron-sized particles/ml into the same volume of liquid. Toxic heavy metals like Pb, Cr, and Cd were detected in the films which can be transferred into hot water. Elemental analysis shows a decrease in the percentage of elements like C, H, and N (by weight) due to exposure to hot water. Ingestion of microplastics, ions, and heavy metals regularly while consuming our daily dose of hot beverages like tea and coffee can expose us to potential health risks in the future.