Prevalence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products, microplastics and co-infecting microbes in the post-COVID-19 era and its implications on antimicrobial resistance and potential endocrine disruptive effects.

The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic's steady condition coupled with predominance of emerging contaminants in the environment and its synergistic implications in recent times has stoked interest in combating medical emergencies in this dynamic environment. In this context, high concentrations of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs), microplastics (MPs), antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and soaring coinfecting microbes, tied with potential endocrine disruptive (ED) are critical environmental concerns that requires a detailed documentation and analysis. During the pandemic, the identification, enumeration, and assessment of potential hazards of PPCPs and MPs and (used as anti-COVID-19 agents/applications) in aquatic habitats have been attempted globally. Albeit receding threats in the magnitude of COVID-19 infections, both these pollutants have still posed serious consequences to aquatic ecosystems and the very health and hygiene of the population in the vicinity. The surge in the contaminants post-COVID also renders them to be potent vectors to harbor and amplify AMR. Pertinently, the present work attempts to critically review such instances to understand the underlying mechanism, interactions swaying the current health of our environment during this post-COVID-19 era. During this juncture, although prevention of diseases, patient care, and self-hygiene have taken precedence, nevertheless antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) efforts have been overlooked. Unnecessary usage of PPCPs and plastics during the pandemic has resulted in increased emerging contaminants (i.e., active pharmaceutical ingredients and MPs) in various environmental matrices. It was also noticed that among COVID-19 patients, while the bacterial co-infection prevalence was 0.2-51%, the fungi, viral, protozoan and helminth were 0.3-49, 1-22, 2-15, 0.4-15% respectively, rendering them resistant to residual PPCPs. There are inevitable chances of ED effects from PPCPs and MPs applied previously, that could pose far-reaching health concerns. Furthermore, clinical and other experimental evidence for many newer compounds is very scarce and demands further research. Pro-active measures targeting effective waste management, evolved environmental policies aiding strict regulatory measures, and scientific research would be crucial in minimizing the impact and creating better preparedness towards such events among the masses fostering sustainability.

Ecological and health risk assessment associated with translocation of heavy metals in Lycopersicum esculentum from farmland soil treated with different composts.

To meet the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, agricultural soil which is a non-renewable natural resource must be carefully managed. Heavy metals present in agricultural soil may imperil food security and instigate extreme risks to human health. Organic wastes have been long known for valuable amendments to soil thereby, improving overall soil health. In the present study, Echhornia crassipes, Hydrilla verticillata, and vegetable waste, was utilized to prepare compost amendments. Lycopersicum esculentum was used to metal uptake from compost amended soils. 5%, 10%, 15%, 25%, and 35% compost: soil (w/w) were studied to understand metal translocation in plants. Potential Ecological risk indices showed that while the degree of risk was medium for the natural soil, it reduced to slight for the soil amended with WHC and VWC for all compositions. The non-carcinogenic risks associated with the human health reduced on application of the composts, however, they still remained substantial for Fe, As, and Pb for WHC, HVC, and VWC composts at higher application ratios, especially among children. On the other hand, the carcinogenic health index values which were calculated to estimate the risk associated with ingestion of L. esculentum, showed a decrease in risk for all the metals studied, upon soil amendment. Soil amended with HVC compost showed an increase in carcinogenic risk for As, Pb, and Cr. Finally, we conclude that biological soil remediation is economical and a sustainable land management strategy that may lead to green and clean remediation solutions for metal contaminated soil.

Screening of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) along wastewater treatment system equipped with root zone treatment: A potential model for domestic waste leachate management.

We present the use of root zone treatment (RZT) based system for the removal of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) from domestic wastewater. The occurrence of more than a dozen PPCPs were detected in an academic institution wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) at three specific locations, i.e., influent, root treatment zone, and effluents. The comparisons of observed compounds detected at various stages of WWTP suggest that the presence of PPCPs, like homatropine, cytisine, carbenoxolone, 4,2',4',6'-tetrahydroxychalcone, norpromazine, norethynodrel, fexofenadine, indinavir, dextroamphetamine, 3-hydroxymorphinan, phytosphingosine, octadecanedioic acid, meradimate, 1-hexadecanoyl-sn-glycerol, and 1-hexadecylamine, are unusual than the usual reported PPCPs in the WWTPs. In general, carbamazepine, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole, caffeine, triclocarban, and triclosan are often reported in wastewater systems. The normalized abundances of PPCPs range between 0.037-0.012, 0.108-0.009, and 0.208-0.005 in main influent, root zone effluent, and main effluents, respectively, of the WWTP. In addition, the removal rates of PPCPs were observed from -200.75% to ∼100% at RZT phase in the plant. Interestingly, we observed several PPCPs at later stages of treatment which were not detected in the influent of the WWTP. This is probably owing to the presence of conjugated metabolites of various PPCPs present in the influent, which subsequently got deconjugated to reform the parent compounds during the biological wastewater treatment. In addition, we suspect the potential release of earlier absorbed PPCPs in the system, which were absent on that particular day of sampling but have been part of earlier influents. In essence, RZT-based WWTP was found to be effective in removing the PPCPs and other organic contaminants in the study but results in stress the need for further comprehensive research on RZT system to conclude the exact removal efficacy and fate of PPCPs during treatment in the system. As a current research gap, the study also recommended RZT to be appraised for PPCPs in-situ remediation from landfill leachates, an underestimated source of PPCPs intrusion in the environment.

Understanding the underestimated: Occurrence, distribution, and interactions of microplastics in the sediment and soil of China, India, and Japan.

Microplastics (MPs) are non-biodegradable substances that can sustain our environment for up to a century. What is more worrying is the incapability of modern technologies to annihilate MPs from om environment. One ramification of MPs is their impact on every kind of life form on this planet, which has been discussed ahead; that is why these substances are surfacing in everyday discussions of scholars and researchers. This paper discusses the overview of the global occurrence, abundance, analysis, and remediation techniques of MPs in the environment. This paper primarily reviews the event and abundance of MPs in coastal sediments and agricultural soil of three major Asian countries, India, China, and Japan. A significant concentration of MPs has been recorded from these countries, which affirms its strong presence and subsequent environmental impacts. Concentrations such as 73,100 MPs/kg in Indian coastal sediments and 42,960 particles/kg in the agricultural soil of China is a solid testimony to prove their massive outbreak in our environment and require urgent attention towards this issue. Conclusions show that human activities, rivers, and plastic mulching on agricultural fields have majorly acted as carriers of MPs towards coastal and terrestrial soil and sediments. Later, based on recorded concentrations and gaps, future research studies are recommended in the concerned domain; a dearth of studies on MPs influencing Indian agricultural soil make a whole sector and its consumer vulnerable to the adverse effects of this emerging contaminant.

Sewage surveillance for SARS-CoV-2: Molecular detection, quantification, and normalization factors.

The presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in wastewater systems provides a primary indication of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spread throughout communities worldwide. Droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (dd-PCR) or reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) administration of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewaters provides a reliable and efficient technology for gathering secondary local-level public health data. Often the accuracy of prevalence estimation is hampered by many methodological issues connected with wastewater surveillance. Still, more studies are needed to use and create efficient approaches for deciphering the actual SARS-CoV-2 indication from noise in the specimens/samples. Nearly 39-65% of positive patients and asymptomatic carriers expel the virus through their faeces however, only ∼6% of the infected hosts eject it through their urine. COVID-19 positive patients can shed the remnants of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA virus within the concentrations ∼103-108 copies/L. However, it can decrease up to 102 copies/L in wastewaters due to dilution. Environmental virology and microbiology laboratories play a significant role in the identification and analysis of SARS-CoV-2 ribonucleic acid (RNA) in waste and ambient waters worldwide. Virus extraction or recovery from the wastewater (However, due to lack of knowledge, established procedures, and integrated quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) approaches, the novel coronavirus RNA investigation for estimating current illnesses and predicting future outbreaks is insufficient and/or conducted inadequately. The present manuscript is a technical review of the various methods and factors considered during the identification of SARS-CoV-2 genetic material in wastewaters and/or sludge, including tips and tricks to be taken care of during sampling, virus concentration, normalization, PCR inhibition, and trend line smoothening when compared with clinically active/positive cases.

Game of transmissions (GoT) of SARS-CoV-2: Second wave of COVID-19 is here in India.

Corona virus disease (COVID-19) pandemic had taken the humankind by surprise, yet the world laid out a historical battle against all the odds. Laboratory findings have never been so rapidly made available to common public and authorities. Experimental data on COVID-19 from across the globe was directly made accessible worldwide. The second wave of the pandemic in India caused unprecedented havoc and it can be stated that all the knowledge of the game of transmission of COVID-19 acquired and shared was not played with right precision and preparations. Rapid spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in the second phase made us rethink if the choice of information given to the common people pertaining to the selective transmission restriction pathways with pressing concern on lethality were inadequate. Most of the governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) including the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended droplet-based and airborne transmission restrictions as the major steps to control rapid spread of the virus. While, no caution was advised for other plausible pathways like sewage, wastewater-based and non-ventilated indoor air-based transmissions, which are still unknown or not well investigated, and are equally dangerous. The main focus of this article is to analyse the past development about SARS-CoV-2 transmission pathway related recommendation(s) provided by WHO and track the trajectory to alert all the concerning stakeholders and policymakers to rethink and to collect adequate scientific data before they recommend or neglect any specific or all the possible transmission pathways to control the spread of infectious agents further.

Spectre of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the ambient urban waters of Ahmedabad and Guwahati: A tale of two Indian cities.

COVID-19 positive patients can egest live SARS-CoV-2 virus and viral genome fragments through faecal matter and urine, raising concerns about viral transmission through the faecal-oral route and/or contaminated aerosolized water. These concerns are amplified in many low- and middle-income countries, where raw sewage is often discharged into surface waterways and open defecation is common. Nonetheless, there has been no evidence of COVID-19 transmission via ambient urban water, and the virus viability in such aquatic matrices is believed to be minimal and not a matter of concern. In this manuscript, we attempt to discern the presence of SARS-CoV-2 genetic material (ORF-1ab, N and S genes) in the urban water (lakes, rivers, and drains) of the two Indian cities viz., Ahmedabad (AMD), in western India with 9 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and Guwahati (GHY), in the north-east of the country with no such treatment facilities. The present study was carried out to establish the applicability of environmental water surveillance (E-wat-Surveillance) of COVID-19 as a potential tool for public health monitoring at the community level. 25.8% and 20% of the urban water samples had detectable SARS-CoV-2 RNA load in AMD and GHY, respectively. N-gene > S-gene > ORF-1ab-gene were readily detected in the urban surface water of AMD, whereas no such observable trend was noticed in the case of GHY. The high concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 genes (e.g., ORF-1ab; 800 copies/L for Sabarmati River, AMD and S-gene; 565 copies/L for Bharalu urban river, GHY) found in urban waters suggest that WWTPs do not always completely remove the virus genetic material and that E-wat-Surveillance of COVID-19 in cities/rural areas with poor sanitation is possible.

Enhancement of soil physico-chemical properties post compost application: Optimization using Response Surface Methodology comprehending Central Composite Design.

The application of compost has been recognized as one of the most promising approaches for preserving soil quality and crop production. The present study exhaustively investigates the impact of Water Hyacinth Compost (WHC), Hydrilla verticillata Compost (HVC) and Vegetable Waste Compost (VWC) on soil nutrient quality and engineering properties [Bulk Density (BD), water retention and specific gravity]. For the study, six different proportions constituting 5, 10, 15, 25, 35 and 45% of the composts by weight of the soil were taken. The soil compost mixtures were evaluated at different periods (0, 15, 30, 45, 60 and 120 days) for various nutrients [Na, Mg, P, K, Ca, Total Organic Carbon (TOC), Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN)], BD, water retention capacity, change in specific gravity and Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) values. It was observed that when the percentage of compost was increased to 15-45%, it resulted in enhanced nutrient value of the soil. Also, for WHC, HVC and VWC 60 days was sufficient to improve the soil quality to its maximum extend. Based on the optimized physico-chemical properties generated from the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) model, it was found that compared to WHC and HVC, the VWC performed better results viz., generating low BD (0.87 g/cm3), high water retention capacity (45.63%) and degree of saturation (77.49%) of the soil. While WHC, HVC and VWC can be used to improve soil nutrient content and overall physico-chemical parameters in long terms, VWC could be more efficient and beneficial to degraded soil for restoring soil health.

Efficacy of agricultural waste derived biochar for arsenic removal: Tackling water quality in the Indo-Gangetic plain.

Arsenic (As), a geogenic and extremely toxic metalloid can jeopardize terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems through environmental partitioning in natural soil-water compartment, geothermal and marine environments. Although, many researchers have investigated the decontamination potential of different mesoporous engineered bio sorbents for a suite of contaminants, still the removal efficiency of various pyrolyzed agricultural residues needs special attention. In the present study, rice straw derived biochar (RSBC) produced from slow pyrolysis process at 600 °C was used to remove As (V) from aqueous medium. Batch experiments were conducted at room temperature (25 ± 2 °C) under different initial concentrations (10, 30, 50, 100 µg L-1), adsorbent dosages (0.5-5 µg L-1), pH (4.0-10.0) and contact times (0-180 min). The adsorption equilibrium was established in 120 min. Adsorption process mainly followed pseudo-second order kinetics (R2 ≥ 0.96) and Langmuir isotherm models (R2 ≥ 0.99), and the monolayer sorption capacity of 25.6 µg g-1 for As (V) on RSBC was achieved. Among the different adsorbent dosages and initial concentrations used in the present study, 0.2 g L-1 (14.8 µg g-1) and 100 µg L-1 (13.1 µg g-1) were selected as an optimum parameters. A comparative analysis of RSBC with other pyrolyzed waste materials revealed that RSBC had comparable adsorption ability (per unit area). These acidic groups are responsible for the electron exchange (electrostatic attraction, ion-exchange, π-π/n-πinteractions) with the anionic arsenate, which facilitates optimum removal (>60%) at 7 < pH < pHPZC. The future areas of research will focus on decontamination of real wastewater samples containing mixtures of different emerging contaminants and installation of biofilter beds that contains different spent adsorbents/organic substrates (including biochar) for biopurification study in real case scenario.

A chronicle of SARS-CoV-2: Seasonality, environmental fate, transport, inactivation, and antiviral drug resistance.

In this review, we present the environmental perspectives of the viruses and antiviral drugs related to SARS-CoV-2. The present review paper discusses occurrence, fate, transport, susceptibility, and inactivation mechanisms of viruses in the environment as well as environmental occurrence and fate of antiviral drugs, and prospects (prevalence and occurrence) of antiviral drug resistance (both antiviral drug resistant viruses and antiviral resistance in the human). During winter, the number of viral disease cases and environmental occurrence of antiviral drug surge due to various biotic and abiotic factors such as transmission pathways, human behaviour, susceptibility, and immunity as well as cold climatic conditions. Adsorption and persistence critically determine the fate and transport of viruses in the environment. Inactivation and disinfection of virus include UV, alcohol, and other chemical-base methods but the susceptibility of virus against these methods varies. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are major reserviors of antiviral drugs and their metabolites and transformation products. Ecotoxicity of antiviral drug residues against aquatic organisms have been reported, however more threatening is the development of antiviral resistance, both in humans and in wild animal reservoirs. In particular, emergence of antiviral drug-resistant viruses via exposure of wild animals to high loads of antiviral residues during the current pandemic needs further evaluation.

Coalescence of co-infection and antimicrobial resistance with SARS-CoV-2 infection: The blues of post-COVID-19 world.

In viral respiratory infections, bacterial co-pathogens are widely known to co-infect, and they significantly increase the morbidity and mortality rate. During the influenza season, the advent of 2019-nCoV (novel coronavirus) has led to the widespread use of oral and intravenous antibiotics and inhibitors of neuraminidase enzyme. Owing to causes such as extended intubation, the ubiquitous use of intrusive catheters, and compromised host immunity, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients are at heightened risk of secondary bacterial and fungal infections, leading to the difficulty in their treatment. Apart from the pandemic, the primary risk is a likely surge in multidrug resistance. In this work, we evaluated the coalescence of present co-infection alongside the COVID-19 and post-pandemic antimicrobial resistance due to high ongoing drug use for the treatment of COVID-19. We found that while there is currently limited evidence of bacterial infections in COVID-19, available proof supports the restricted use of antibiotics from an antibiotic stewardship viewpoint, primarily upon entry. Paramount attempts should be made to collect sputum and blood culture samples as well as pneumococcal urinary antigen monitoring in order to endorse stringent antibiotic usage. For antimicrobial stewardship, inflammatory markers like procalcitonin have been added, but such biomarkers are typically upraised in COVID-19. Antimicrobials cannot be completely removed in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and once they enter the water environment, possesses a great risk of inducing resistance to drugs in microbes. Hence, their prescription and administrations should be regulated and alternate solutions such as vaccines, preventive measures and personal hygiene should be given top priority. It is imperative to establish an antimicrobial strategy discrete to COVID-19, as this pandemic has caused an outbreak of numerous other associated diseases and has the potential to drive microbial resistance. Coordinated plans are essential for this at the citizen, health-care and policy levels.

Making Waves Perspectives of Modelling and Monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 in Aquatic Environment for COVID-19 Pandemic.

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in the aquatic environment pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic has been a global concern. Though SARS-CoV-2 is known as a respiratory virus, its detection in faecal matter and wastewater demonstrates its enteric involvement resulting in vulnerable aquatic environment. Here, we provide the latest updates on wastewater-based epidemiology, which is gaining interest in the current situation as a unique tool of surveillance and monitoring of the disease. Transport pathways with its migration through wastewater to surface and subsurface waters, probability of infectivity and ways of inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 are discussed in detail. Epidemiological models, especially compartmental projections, have been explained with an emphasis on its limitation and the assumptions on which the future predictions of disease propagation are based. Besides, this review covers various predictive models to track and project disease spread in the future and gives an insight into the probability of a future outbreak of the disease.

Biomedical application, drug delivery and metabolic pathway of antiviral nanotherapeutics for combating viral pandemic: A review.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a neoteric virus belonging to the beta coronavirus class has created a global health concern, responsible for an outbreak of severe acute respiratory illness, the COVID-19 pandemic. Infected hosts exhibit diverse clinical features, ranging from asymptomatic to severe symptoms in their genital organs, respiratory, digestive, and circulatory systems. Considering the high transmissibility (R0: ≤6.0) compared to Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and SARS-CoV, the quest for the clinical development of suitable antiviral nanotherapeutics (NTPs) is incessant. We are presenting a systematic review of the literature published between 2003 and 2020 to validate the hypothesis that the pharmacokinetics, collateral acute/chronic side effects of nano drugs and spike proteins arrangement of coronaviruses can revolutionize the therapeutic approach to cure COVID-19. Our aim is also to critically assess the slow release kinetics and specific target site chemical synthesis influenced competence of NTPs and nanotoxicity based antiviral actions, which are commonly exploited in the synthesis of modulated nanomedicines. The pathogenesis of novel virulent pathogens at the cellular and molecular levels are also considered, which is of utmost importance to characterize the emerging nano-drug agents as diagnostics or therapeutics or viral entry inhibitors. Such types of approaches trigger the scientists and policymakers in the development of a conceptual framework of nano-biotechnology by linking nanoscience and virology to present a smart molecular diagnosis/treatment for pandemic viral infections.

Recent advances in removal of lignin from paper industry wastewater and its industrial applications - A review.

Pulp and paper mill wastewater contains lignin related synthetic, aromatic and chlorinated chemical compounds. Extracting lignin from pulp and paper mill wastewater is one way of recovering valuable organic material. Due to its complex structure, lignin is difficult to break and provides economical and technical provocations in biomass recovery. The conventional wastewater treatment processes are seldom efficacious for the complete removal of lignin from paper mill effluents. A wide range of thermal, mechanical and physico-chemical methods have been reported for the removal of lignin. Moreover, biological method of lignin removal employed microorganisms including bacteria and fungi as a one-step treatment and/or amalgamation of various physico-chemical techniques. Compared with other methods, biological process for degradation of lignin is regarded as eco-friendly, cost-effective and sustainable. Therefore, this review will provide insight into the recent breakthroughs and future trends in lignin removal with special emphasis on biological treatment and scope of lignin utilization.

Prevalence of antibiotic resistance in the tropical rivers of Sri Lanka and India.

We evaluate the imprints of urbanization, landuse and lifestyle on the prevalence and provenance of antibiotic resistance in the tropical rivers of Sri Lanka (Kelani and Gin) and India (Sabarmati, and Brahmaputra River). The prevalence of E. coli in the Kelani, Sabarmati, and Brahmaputra Rivers was in the range of 10-27, 267-76,600, and <50 CFU ml-1 respectively. Isolated E. coli colonies were subjected to six antibiotics to assess their resistance. We found higher resistance to old generation antibiotics like tetracycline (TC), and sulfamethoxazole (ST) transcends the resistance for fluoroquinolones like norfloxacin (NFX), ciprofloxacin (CIP), and levofloxacin (LVX). Interestingly, both Indian rivers had exhibited relatively higher resistance to TC and ST than the Kelani river or Gin River, implying that the Sri Lankan situation is relatively less critical. At genetic level the resistance for ß-lactams, fluoroquinolones and sulphonamides, were detected in many samples, as reported globally. While the resistance genes for aac-(6')-1b-cr, qnrS and sul1 were detected in both Sri Lankan and Indian Rivers, blaTEM and ampC were specific to the Indian Rivers only. Decoupling of the prevalence of metal contamination and antibiotic resistance has been noticed in India and Sri Lanka. Study implies that urbanization, landuse, and lifestyle (ULL) are the three most critical factors governing multidrug resistance (MDR) and fecal contamination.

Microbes involved in arsenic mobilization and respiration: a review on isolation, identification, isolates and implications.

Microorganisms play an important role in arsenic (As) cycling in the environment. Microbes mobilize As directly or indirectly, and natural/geochemical processes such as sulphate and iron reduction, oxidative sulphide mineral dissolution, arsenite (AsO33-) oxidation and arsenate (AsO43-) respiration further aid in As cycle in the environment. Arsenate serves as an electron donor for the microbes during anaerobic conditions in the sediment. The present work reviews the recent development in As contamination, various As-metabolizing microbes and their phylogenetic diversity, to understand the role of microbial communities in As respiration and mobilization. It also summarizes the contemporary understanding of the intricate biochemistry and molecular biology of natural As metabolisms. Some successful examples of engineered microbes by harnessing these natural mechanisms for effective remediation are also discussed. The study indicates that there is an exigent need to have a clear understanding of environmental aspects of As mobilization and subsequent oxidation-reduction by a suitable microbial consortium.

Frontier review on the propensity and repercussion of SARS-CoV-2 migration to aquatic environment.

Increased concern has recently emerged pertaining to the occurrence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in aquatic environment during the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. While infectious SARS-CoV-2 has yet to be identified in the aquatic environment, the virus potentially enters the wastewater stream from patient excretions and a precautionary approach dictates evaluating transmission pathways to ensure public health and safety. Although enveloped viruses have presumed low persistence in water and are generally susceptible to inactivation by environmental stressors, previously identified enveloped viruses persist in the aqueous environment from days to several weeks. Our analysis suggests that not only the surface water, but also groundwater, represent SARS-CoV-2 control points through possible leaching and infiltrations of effluents from health care facilities, sewage, and drainage water. Most fecally transmitted viruses are highly persistent in the aquatic environment, and therefore, the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in water is essential to inform its fate in water, wastewater and groundwater and subsequent human exposure.

Bio-inherent attributes of water hyacinth procured from contaminated water body-effect of its compost on seed germination and radicle growth.

Compost is generally used for soil conditioning, growing plants and remediation of pollution. It is imperative to evaluate compost standard and toxicity test is a salient parameter for determining compost quality. Seed germination test is an essential method to discern the phytotoxicity of compost. Ecotoxicity of water hyacinth compost was inspected for the denouement of the compost quintessence and its concentration on seed germination indices. The aim of this paper was to assess seed emergence rate index, germination velocity coefficient and rate of germination of L. esculentum and B. oleracea at discrete concentrations of water hyacinth compost. The highest germination percentage achieved was 95% (L. esculentum) at 100 g/L and 100% (B. oleracea) at 32 g/L of the compost extract. The probability of inadvertent ceasing of germination was found to be < 0.0001 for either of the test species. Consequently, the water hyacinth compost aid plant growth and is recommended for substantially ameliorating languishing ecological idiosyncrasy.

Efficacy of vermitechnology integration with Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) and activated sludge for metal stabilization: A compliance study on fractionation and biosorption.

Efficacy of vermi-transformation for metal partitioning and transformation from Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) and Activated Sludge (AS) was investigated. Sludge samples were mixed with cow dung (CD) in two combinations (1:1 (UASB/AS:CD)) & (2:1(UASB/AS: CD)). Fractionation study revealed that Zn, Cd & Pb were associated with reducible fractions, and Cr, Cu with oxidizable fractions. Higher removal efficiency for 1:1 (UASB/AS: CD) combination over 2:1 (UASB/AS: CD) implies the non-significant contribution of cow dung during the metal stabilization process. After vermi-remediation, maximum metal removal was achieved at 1:1 ratio than 2:1 in AS. In UASB, 1:1 ratio worked better for Cr, Zn & Cd, whereas for Cu & Zn 2:1 ratio resulted in efficient removal. Overall for both AS and UASB, efficiency was found to be higher in 1:1 treatment ratio. The value of Kd (Bio sorption) was highest in Cu followed by Cr, which indicates the closer association with the metal bound organic matter (R2 ≥ 0.99). Based on the compliance study between two estimated sorption coefficients Kd (Biosorption & Fractions), vermi-remediation was found to be effective for AS than UASB. Therefore, the obtained results clearly validate the feasibility of integration of vermi-remediation as a potential promising ecological techniques for removing metal contaminant from the wastewater. Further research is required to study the decontamination of emerging contaminants with such integrated technology, which have physico-chemical properties different than metal ions.