Remediation of Pb2+, Cd2+ and Zn2+ Metal Ions in Wastewater Samples using Iota-Carrageenan

A. Dahlia C. Apodaca, Emerson John G. Tiu Ng and Ailyn S. Villa

Heavy metal contamination has been recognized as a major environmental concern due to their pervasiveness and persistence. These heavy metals are not biodegradable hence the need to develop a remediation technique that is efficient, economical and rapidly deployable in a wide range of physical settings. Plants were found to have natural capacity to accumulate heavy metals at significant concentrations and have been the subject of various researches thereon. Biosorption or phytoremediation provides a basis for a new technology aimed at removing heavy metallic species from dilute solutions and/or recovery of at least some of these metals. Toxicity removal, an environmental aspect, and recovery of metals of value, a technological aspect, are the major reasons for the demand for the removal of metals from aqueous solutions.

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Development of Chelating resin based on Polysaccharide TKP Powder and its application

Vikal Gupta, A.V. Singh and Kuldeep Bana

TKP powder (obtained from seeds of Tamarind plant) a hydrophilic polysaccharide matrix has been used for preparation of new chelating resin. Tertiary amine derivative of TKP acts as flocculent cum metal ion exchangers and can be used as scavanger for toxic and hazardous metal ions from the effluents of mineral and metallurgical industries. The diethyl amine group was anchored on the TKP backbone in dioxanc medium. This ion selective resin has been used in removal of toxic metal ions from effluent of mineral and metallurgical industries.

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Distribution and Degradation of the Insecticide Carbaryl in Stored Grains and its Toxicological Effects to Mice

S.M.A.D. Zayed, M. Farghaly, S. El-maghraby

Under conditions of local practice, the recommended dose of the carbamate insecticide 14C-carbaryl 8 mg/kg seeds and its doublet were used for spraying grains of faba and soybeans before storage. The amount of external, internal and grain-bound insecticide residues was estimated during the 30 weeks of storage period. External residues were found to decrease with time to reach about one third of the initially applied dose in both grains by the end of experiment. The rate of penetration of the insecticide was more obvious in soybeans than faba beans and it was apparently dose dependent in both beans. The bound residues showed a slow increase with time and amounted to 4-6% of the applied dose. Chromatographic analysis of the internal extract of grains revealed the presence of carbaryl as main product in addition to three degradation products namely, 1-naphthol, 4-hydroxy carbaryl and 5-hydroxy carbaryl. On feeding mice for three months with a normal diet mixed with total internal residues of carbaryl in stored faba and soybeans, an inhibition of plasma (44%, 50%) and erythrocyte (25%, 32%) cholinesterase activity was observed in case of soy and faba beans, respectively. The maximum inhibition occured after one week of the experiment. The white blood cells count showed a marked decrease about 56% for faba and 43% for soybeans by the end of the experiment.

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Toxic Impact of the inorganic salt Zinc Chloride on the Skin (an accessory water breathing organ) of the Air-Breathing murrel Channa Striata

Sunita Chandra, Tarun Kumar Banerjee

Toxic impact of the inorganic salt Zinc Chloride on the skin of the Indian air-breathing fish Channa striata which inhabits the swamps and derelict water bodies and has acquired compensatory bimodal respiratory mechanism for exploitation of water as well as air has been studied. The skin constitutes one of the accessory respiratory organs (ARO) of this fish and acts as an important water-breathing organ and increases its respiratory surface area for absorption of additional quantity of oxygen. Along with the gills the skin also remains in direct contact with the water-borne xenobiotics and comprises the boundary tissue of the fish. Zinc chloride exposure causes marked toxico-pathological damages to the skin. As an immediate response the mucous cells (MCs) show great hyperplasia followed by decreased density. Due to high mucogenesis (due to increase in the density and dimension of the strongly AB 1.0 positive MCs) of the skin the damage rendered by the zinc salt is not great. The secretion of these cells envelops the fish with a copious amount of sulphated mucopolysachharides. Simultaneously the density of the sacciform granular cells (SGCs) also increases significantly with their secretory contents showing strong PAS reaction. Later the density of the MCs decreases. Subsequently they exhibit periodic fluctuations in their density, dimension and staining through out the remaining period of exposure. The subepithelial connective tissues of the ABO and skin also show stronger reaction for sulphated mucopolysachharides, which are known to bind with heavy metal salts and decrease the toxicity especially in the initial period of exposure.

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Nitration of Aromatic and Hetero-aromatic Molecules by some Transition metal Nitrito Complexes

Dilip K. Sanyal, Joseph M. Mofokeng

M(ONO)4 nitrito-complexes, where M= NO+Fe(III) and Zr(IV) were used as a nitrating reagent to nitrate a variety of aromatic and heteroaromatic molecules such as, anisole, benzene, chlorobenzene, nitrobenzene, pyridine, quinoline, toluene and m-xylene. The reaction products have been isolated and characterized by TLC, GC, GC-MS, IR and UV-VISIBLE techniques. With the exception of benzene, all the other nitration products consist of various nitro-isomers which were separated by TLC and analyzed by conventional methods. Para- isomers in general, were found to be main nitration produt ranging from, 90% for m-xylene, 52-62 % for anisole,72% for chlorobenzene, and 58% fortoluene. In the case of nitrobenzene 98% meta and 2% para isomers were detected. Due to the heterogeneous conditions of these reactions, kinetic data obtained for most reactions were not very conclusive. However, the rate constant for anisole, chlorobenzene and toluene were found to be 3 1 x 10-4 s 1. The proposed free radical nitration mechanism by ESR study was thwarted by very inconclusive response of the Instrument.

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A Novel Ionophoretic Technique in the Study of Binary and Ternary Metal-Salicylate Complexes

R.K.P. Singh and R.P. Patel

Ionophoretic technique has been used for the study of Fe(III)/, Cu(III)/, Ni(II)/, Co(II)-Salicylate binary and Fe(III)/, Cu(II)/, Ni(II)/, Co(II)-Salicylate-NTA ternary complexes. The stability constants of metal-salicylate binary complexes are found to be 103.61, 102.48, 102.38 and 102.33 and the stability constants of metal-salicylate-NTA ternary complexes have been found to be 106.35, 106.34, 106.08 and 105.89 for Fe(III), Cu(II), Ni(II) and Co(II) complexes respectively at m=0.1M (NaClO4) and 25C.

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Scalp Hair Cobalt Levels and Its Relation to Various Parameters

Rita Mehra, Meenu Juneja

Cobalt concentrations in the hair of male subjects have been determined by Atomic Absorption Spectro-photometer. Food habit, smoking habit and place of residence are found to influence the cobalt concentration of hair. It was observed that Co hair levels were high in smokers as compared to non-smokers. As regards food habit Co levels were significant in non-vegetarian subjects as compared to vegetarian subjects. In subjects residing in high traffic area, hair Co levels were low as compared to subject of less traffic area. In all parameters Co hair metal concentration increased with increasing age with a few exceptions.

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Removal of Colour Alizarin Red S From Dye Waste Waters Using Waste Material (Mahua Hulls Activated Carbon)

P. Chiranjeevi, K.N. Jayaveera, K. Suresh Kumar, H. Radha, K. Ram Mohan, D. Venkata Subba Reddy

A series of tests were conducted to find how far the activated carbon of Mahua hulls acts as an adsorbent for the removal of dye Alizarin Red S from synthetic waste water. In this process, the adsorbent activated carbon of Mahua hulls performance has been thoroughly examined under various parameters such as dye concentration, adsorbent dosage, contact time. Further its adsorbent capacity was compared with that of activated

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Quantitative equilibrium Studies on Binary Complexes of 3-Hydroxy quinazolin-4-one with inner transition metal ions

P. Narendra, D. Sudarshan Reddy, P. Madhava Reddy, B. Satyanarayana

Equilibrium studies on the binary complex formation of LaIII, PrIII, NdIII, SmIII, EuIII and UO2III with 3-Hydroxy quinazolin-4-one (HQO) provides evidence of binary complexes in solution. Formation constants of the binary complexes (M-HQO) have been determined potentiometrically in 10% (v/v) aqueous methanol medium at 30C and I=0.1 M KNO3. The proton-ligand, metal ligand complexes formation constants were also evaluated at different ionic strengths (0.1 M, 0.2 M and 0.3 M KNO3) and also at different temperatures (20C, 30C and 40C). Thermodynamic parameters computed for the complexation reactions studied in this investigation were free energy (DG), enthalpy (DH) and entropy (DS) changes. These have been calculated by using Vant Hoff isotherm, Gibbs-Helmholtz equation and Vant Hoff equation respectively. The order of formation constants of binary chelates follows the order LaIII

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Applications of Conductimetric Titrations

P. Ramasami, P. Ramburrun

Acid-base conductimetric titrations have been carried out for an acid with a base, a base with an acid, mixture of acids with a base and mixture of bases with an acid. Acid-base conductimetric titration has been used to obtain amount of hydrogen ions in different samples of vinegar. Precipitation conductimetric titrations have been carried for halide ions with silver nitrate and mixture of halide ions with silver nitrate. Conductimetric titrations of salt of weak electrolytes with strong electrolyte have also been investigated. The results of the conductimetric titrations have been interpreted in terms of availability of ions in solution and there is a good correlation with those titrations, which could be performed using a suitable indicator. These titrations may be used for quantitative environmental analysis.

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Chemical Composition of Water of some Streams in Jammu Province-I

Bindiya Langar, H.N.Sheikh, B.L. Kalsotra

Chemical composition of water samples from three locations in July, 1995 is reported. Samples were analysed for major ions viz. Na, K, Ca, Mg, HCO3, Cl, SO42, NO3, PO43, Fand trace elements viz. Al, Ba, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Sr, Ti and Zn. Electrical conductivity and pH were measured in the field. Calcium plus magnesium dominate sodium plus potassium in all locations indicating that weathering of carbonate and sulphur containing minerals is the primary chemical process in the catchment areas of streams. Phosphate and nitrate appear in moderate concentrations in all waters, though they are too low in concentration to make water harmful for human consumption.

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Polishing of Treated Spentwash By Fungal Strains

Anita Rajor, Parveen Kalia, R. P. Mathur

Two fungal strains Rhizopus microsporus(X) and Rhizomucor pusillus(W) have been found to possess capacity for decolorization and biodegradation of effluent. The study was carried out using glucose, maltose, lactose, mannitol and sorbitol as extra source of carbon. It has been observed that before utilization, the species convert the non-reducing sugars into reducing ones. Further, better removal efficiency is obtained with lesser amounts of extra carbon source.

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Short Communication : High Performance Liquid Chromatographic determination of Midazolam in midazolam injection

R.S. Lokhande, Dhanaji Patil, Swati Wabgaonkar

A simple, fast and accurate High Performance Liquid Chromatographic method has been developed for the determination of Midazolam in Midazolam injection. The analysis was carried out on Shimadzu PDA HPLC. The Column used was 25cm x 4.6mm, 5, C8 Hypersil, BDS column .The detector used was PDA detector. The validation of proposed method was also carried out.

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