Beyond the cradle - Amidst microplastics and the ongoing peril during pregnancy and neonatal stages: A holistic review.

Advancements in research concerning the occurrence of microplastics (MPs) in human blood, sputum, urine, and breast milk samples have piqued the interest of the scientific community, prompting further investigation. MPs present in the placenta, amniotic fluid, and meconium raise concerns about interference with embryonic development, leading to preeclampsia, stillbirth, preterm birth, and spontaneous abortion. The challenges posed by MPs extend beyond pregnancy, affecting the digestive, reproductive, circulatory, immune, and central nervous systems. This has spurred scientists to examine the origins of MPs in distinct environmental layers, including air, water, and soil. These risks continue after birth, as neonates are continuously exposed to MPs through everyday items such as breast milk, cow milk and infant milk powder, as well as plastic-based products like feeding bottles and breast milk storage bags. It is the need of the hour to strike a balance amidst lifestyle changes, alternative choices to traditional plastic products, raising awareness about plastic-related health risks, and fostering collaboration between the scientific community and policymakers. This review aims to provide fresh insights into potential sources of MP pollution, with a specific focus on pregnancy and neonates. It is the first compilation of its kind so far that includes critical studies on recently reported discoveries.

Comparative life cycle cost analysis of bio-valorized magnetite nanocatalyst for biodiesel production: Modeling, optimization, kinetics and thermodynamic study.

An active, high surface area, recyclable, magnetic, basic, iron oxide-based nanocatalyst was developed from banana leaves waste and used for microwave-assisted transesterification of soybean oil to biodiesel. According to the Hammett indicator, the catalyst has a high total basicity of 15 < H < 18.4. After optimization through the response surface methodology, the reaction allows 96.5 % biodiesel yield in the presence of 24:1 methanol to soybean oil molar ratio, 6 wt% BLW@Fe3O4, 0.5 h at 65 °C. The magnetic nature of the catalyst improves reusability for up to 6 cycles. Thermodynamic analyses showed that transesterification of soybean oil to biodiesel is an endothermic reaction. Moreover, the catalyst has the potential to reduce biodiesel production costs by utilizing abundant biomass waste materials. The calculated cost for 1 kg of catalyst is $1.14, while the biodiesel's cost per kg produced in this work is merely $1.05, showing high commercial viability.

Bio-organic fertilizer production from industrial waste and insightful analysis on release kinetics.

The present study has been designed to utilize industrial and agricultural solid waste for NPK (Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium) bio-organic fertilizer production and its optimized use. The collagenic material of wet blue leather (WBL) from leather industry was used as nitrogen source, after H3PO4 acid-mediated chromium removal. Chicken meat-bone meal (CMBM) and rice husk ash (RHA) are abundantly available locally, had used as P, K, and Ca sources. The presence of N, P, K, Ca in the produced bio-organic NPK fertilizer were 10.76, 11.03, 3.41, 13.64, respectively as per mixing ratio of ingredients. In this study it was effect on the chili plant (Capsicum annuum L.) growth and revealed 1.15 and 1.03 fold higher plant growth, 1.40 and 1.18 fold higher total chlorophyll content than untreated soil (control), and chemical fertilizer. The liberation of fertilizers components from their source, transport of fertilizer components in the soil, and absorption in plant roots have been studied using mathematical models indicating the optimum fertilizer use for better productivity and to reduce loss of extra fertilizer and eutrophication. The formulation showed excellent water retention capability (3.2 L/kg), which might increase soil water availability to the plants and eventually reduce water demand and labour cost. DNA intercalation study proved there is no harm to use this fertilizer.

Recirculating used cooking oil and Nagkesar seed shells in dual-stage catalytic biodiesel synthesis with C1-C3 alcohols.

The presented study discusses biodiesel synthesis by utilizing two wastes: Mesua ferrea Linn (MFL) seed shells (inert support for developing catalysts) and used cooking oil (feedstock). The MFL shells were used for heterogeneous acid and base catalyst development through carbonization, steam activation and subsequent doping of H2SO4 or KOH, which upon instrumental examination showed effective doping of functional groups on the MFL char. The conversion approach uses methanol with sulfonated char (SC) for esterification, while the second stage utilizes 2-propanol for transesterification with KOH-doped char (KC) as a catalyst. Both stages optimize 5 controlling parameters such as mixing intensity, duration of reaction, catalyst load, alcohol concentration and reaction temperature in an L16 Taguchi experimental matrix. Thus, the obtained biodiesel has an ester content of 99.16%, while 97.35% of the free fatty acids (FFA) were converted, resulting in the product showing improved physico-chemical properties as assessed through fuel characterization tests. Reusability tests for the catalysts showed 4 reuses for acid catalyst compared to 9 reuses for base catalyst. Catalyst development costs were only $1.27/kg for activated char, while due to reuse, the prepared catalysts cost only $0.53/kg of biodiesel. Hence, the catalytic process holds great potential for commercialization if scaled up appropriately.

Transforming wet blue leather and potato peel into an eco-friendly bio-organic NPK fertilizer for intensifying crop productivity and retrieving value-added recyclable chromium salts.

An attempt has been made to address two important issues, the solid waste management of leather industry and soil fertility. The SEM images revealed altered surface-morphology.The EDS elemental analysis exhibited presence of about 13.2% nitrogen (N), 50.56% carbon (C), 2.69% phosphorus (P) in the collagenous material of wet blue leather (WBL) after chromium removal. In potato peel biochar (PPB) prepared the EDS analysis corroborated the presence of N P K in 5%, 1.4% and 21.64% respectively. In the formulated bio-organic NPK fertilizer, using chromium free WBL and PPB, the percentage of N, P, K, was in 13.10, 2.41, 20.20% respectively which was authenticated by EDS. Its effect on okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) plant showed higher growth (1.11 fold fruit size) and total chlorophyll content (1.61 fold) than in untreated soil (control) but displayed similar result as in presence of chemical fertilizer. The released free ammonia in soil with bio-organic NPK was more (37.02%) than with chemical fertilizer (6.10%). DNA intercalation study showed the non-hazardous impact on soil. The FTIR, XRD, SEM-EDS, AAS further specified the conversion of the WBL extracted acidic chromium-rich solution by MgO into crystalline chromium for commercial use.

Cetylpyridinium bromide assisted micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration for treating enrofloxacin-laden water.

The presence of a fluoroquinolone base veterinary antibacterial drug enrofloxacin in aqueous media poses a major threat due to its ecotoxicity on aquatic microbiota. Hence, for the first time, an attempt was made to remove enrofloxacin (ENX) from its aqueous solution by employing micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF) where cetylpyridinium bromide (CPB), a cationic surfactant was used for micellization. Response surface methodology (RSM) with central composite design (CCD) approach was applied to design the experiment, and to optimize the process parameters, namely, ENX concentration (3-15 mg/L), transmembrane pressure (2-6 kgf/cm2), recirculation flow rate (5.5-7.5 L/min) and CPB concentration (1.4-4.2 mM). The objective of this study was to maximize the permeate flux and rejection coefficient and to find out the optimal process condition for the removal of enrofloxacin from aqueous solution. Though maximum 68.23 L/m2 h of permeate flux and 94.20% of rejection coefficient were achieved at different process conditions, the optimization study reveals that the predicted optimal values of permeate flux and rejection coefficient are 67.53 L/m2 h and 89.67% respectively. Modelling was also carried out with the aid of artificial neural network (ANN) to validate the prediction of RSM. The predictability of the model by RSM and ANN was compared statistically by evaluating root-mean-square error (RMSE), absolute average deviation (AAD) and mean absolute error (MAE), where ANN exhibited better predictability. The following set of parameters was proposed for industrial scale up: ENX concentration of 8.4 mg/L, TMP of 5 kgf/cm2, recirculation flow rate of 6 L/min and CPB concentration of 2.1 mM.