Research Journal of Chemistry and Environment

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Vol. 7(1) March 2003

Pentachlorophenol biodegradation by the bacteria Enterobacter cloacae

A. Nguyen, M. Martin, Shyam S. Shukla, R. Shukla, J. L. Margrave and J. Parga

The potential of various organisms to catabolize and metabolize organic compounds has been recognized as potentially effective means of disposing of hazardous wastes. Pentachlorophenol (PCP) has long been used in herbicides, fungicides and especially wood preservatives because of its remarkable germicidal and insecticidal properties. Although PCP is photolyzed under sunlight, the compound is quite recalcitrant and persistent in the absence of sunlight. This is a cause of some concern because of the high toxicity of this compound and the potential for biomagnification. Bioremediation of PCP has been recognized as a potential solution for the disposal of PCP due to its scaleability, cost effectiveness and simplicity. It has recently been discovered that the bacteria Enterobacter cloacae possesses the ability to metabolize PCP. This paper describes the process for this identification of this bacteria as an effective organism for the biodegradation of PCP and proposes a pathway for its metabolism

Trace Metal Characterization of Environmental Matrices by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometric Technique

.S. Raghav*, Tuhina Tripathi, C.S. Sharma, S.D. Makhijani and Satya Prakash

The anthropogenic activities are influencing the trace metal loading of the environment and of concern since several trace metals are toxic in nature. The detection of trace metals in environmental matrices are accomplished by various methods viz. Colorimetric, polarographic, inductively coupled plasma, atomic absorption spectrophotometry etc. but trace metals analysis using atomic absorption spectrophotometric technique is relatively simple, versatile, accurate and free from interferences. The detection of presence of various trace metals such as Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in various industrial effluents, water and sludge from textiles, refinery, electroplating and several other industries are regularly carried out through atomic absorption spectrophotometry for characterization of effluents during environmental assessment and monitoring. In the present paper, the analytical aspects of trace metals in environmental matrices by atomic absorption spectrophotometry have been discussed. The aspect of processing, analysis and precision during AAS measurement and the range of analytical concentrations observed in various industrial effluents, water, sludge, hazardous waste etc. have been presented in present paper.

Bioactive Constituents from Calophyllum mucigerum

G.C.L. Ee* and K.N. Ng

The anthropogenic activities are influencing the trace metal loading of the environment and of concern since several trace metals are toxic in nature. The detection of trace metals in environmental matrices are accomplished by various methods viz. Colorimetric, polarographic, inductively coupled plasma, atomic absorption spectrophotometry etc. but trace metals analysis using atomic absorption spectrophotometric technique is relatively simple, versatile, accurate and free from interferences. The detection of presence of various trace metals such as Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in various industrial effluents, water and sludge from textiles, refinery, electroplating and several other industries are regularly carried out through atomic absorption spectrophotometry for characterization of effluents during environmental assessment and monitoring. In the present paper, the analytical aspects of trace metals in environmental matrices by atomic absorption spectrophotometry have been discussed. The aspect of processing, analysis and precision during AAS measurement and the range of analytical concentrations observed in various industrial effluents, water, sludge, hazardous waste etc. have been presented in present paper.

Bioremediation Potential of Hydrocarbonoclastic Bacteria in Cuddalore Harbour Waters (India)

R. Thavasi and S. Jayalakshmi

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the biodegradation potential of the indigenous bacterial population of Cuddalore fishing harbour waters against oil pollution. 14 strains identified up to the species level were screened for emulsification activity (D610) against crude oil, kerosene, diesel, anthracene and naphthalene. All the strains showed emulsification activity in the order of crude oil > kerosene > diesel > anthracene > naphthalene. Corynebacterium kutscheri showed highest activity in crude oil (0.971) and diesel (0.581), where as in kerosene, anthracene and naphthalene the highest emulsification activity was shown respectively by Escherichia coli (0.969), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (0.112) and Lactobacillus casei (0.033). The emulsification activity value and the rate of degradation of crude oil coincided in most of the strains. Statistically highly significant positive correlation was obtained (r = 0.248312; p<0.10). The maximum degradation activity was shown by Branhamella catarrhalis (91.37%), followed by Enterobacter aerogenes (91.22%), Bacillus megaterium (90.13%) and the lowest degradation activity was shown by Citrobacter intermedius (79.33%). When fertilizer was used only in 4 strains the rate of degradation was slightly improved (1.3%-3.4%). The study revealed the occurrence of highly potent strains and the possibility of using them in bioremediation of polluted areas.

Use of Iron (III) Oxide in Photocatalytic Bleaching of Azure-B

Rajat Ameta, Mayank R. Mehta, Jitendra Vardia and Suresh C. Ameta

Wastewater from dyeing and printing industries was causing water pollution. Most common treatment methods prevailing today for removing the dyes from the wastewater stream suffers from one or other drawback. Photocatalytic degradation has been considered to be an efficient process for degradation of organic pollutants, where semiconductor particles act as photocatalyst or as short-circuited microeletrodes on excitation, thus initiating various redox processes of substrate absorbed on the surface of the semiconductor. For this the photocatalytic degradation of azure-B was carried out in the presence of semiconducting iron (III) oxide and was observed spectrophotometrically. The effect of various parameters like pH, concentration of dye, amount of semiconductor, light intensity, particle size, stirring etc. on the reaction rate was observed. A tentative mechanism for the photocatalytic bleaching of azure-B has been proposed.

Copper accumulation in Grapes and Vineyard soils and its impact on groundwater

K.M.S. Sumathi and S. Mahimairaja

Copper fungicide, particularly Bordeaux mixture (CuSO4), is being used extensively to control powdery mildew disease in grapes. Copper (Cu), being a heavy metal, is likely to accumulate in grape fruits and therefore may enter into the food chain. Accumulation of Cu in grapes and vineyard soils and its impact on ground water quality were examined. A grape growing area in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu was selected for the study. Samples of grapes, soils from vineyards and groundwater were collected and quantified for Cu concentration. Adsorption of Cu in vineyard soil and thus its potential in polluting groundwater was assessed through laboratory batch experiments. The results showed that irrespective of fields, grapes collected from Thondamuthur area had less Cu concentrations. Washing with good quality water reduces the Cu concentrations. Surface soils contained significantly higher Cu than subsurface soils which may lead to surface as well as groundwater contamination through leaching. However, as the vineyard soils exhibited a high Cu adsorption capacity, the leaching of Cu from soil is expected to be low. This may be the reason why the ground water samples had relatively lesser concentration of Cu. However, Cu concentration in the ground water samples from few locations exceeded the maximum permissible limit prescribed for drinking and irrigation purposes

Growth performance of Westiellopsis prolifica, A Blue-green algae in response to Fly-ash Leachate

P.C. Mishra, Shakti Kanta Panda, B. Anjan Kumar Prusty and Akash Mahapatra

A nitrogen fixing blue-green algae namely Westiellopsis prolifica was selected as the test organism to evaluate the growth response of the species to fly-ash leachate. Laboratory studies of the species in the culture medium amended with fly-ash leachates collected at pH 5,6, and 7 reveals no detrimental effect of fly-ash leachate on the growth of the algae in terms of increase in chlorophyll, carotenoid and protein content. However, algae grown in medium with leachate collected at more acidic water had a retarded growth in comparison to neutral medium indicating the possibility of the effect of more toxic metals in the leachate of acidic water which is an important factor to consider while disposing either the acidic fly-ash to land or fly-ash to acidic land environment.

Studies on a Polysaccharide from the Fruit Rind of Punica Granatum

M. Jahfar, K.K. Vijayan and P.Azadi

Glycosyl composition and glycosyl linkage composition of the polysaccharide from Punica granatum are carried out.

Comparative QSAR & QSPR Studies on Non Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptaes Inhibitors of HIV-1

Abhilash Thakur, Mamta Thakur, Anamika Jain and Rekha Killedar

In present stydy efforts have been made to develop a mathematical model for a set of 1-[(2-hydroxyethoxy)-methyl]-6-(phenylthio)thymine (HEPT) derivatives. The biological activity used in present investigation is cytotoxic concentration (logCC50). In this investigation structural (topological indices) and physicochemical properties are used separately to derive a mathematical model. logP is also used as descriptor separately to estimate cytotoxic concentration (logCC50). Indicator parameters are used to study the substituent effects.

Degradation of Dimethylphthalate by a Bacillus species

Niazi Javed Hussain, Manohar Shinde and T.B. Karegoudar

A Bacillus sp. isolated by 4-hydroxybenzoate-enrichment technique is capable of degrading dimethylphthalate (DMP) as a sole source of carbon and energy. A total of 25 mM DMP was completely degraded within 7 days of incubation at room temperature. Analysis of intermediates by thin layer chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography indicated the presence of monomethylphthalate (MMP), phthalate (PHTH) and protocatechuate (PCA). The washed cells grown on DMP and PHTH showed appreciable oxidation with DMP, MMP, PHTH and PCA. The enzyme activities in cell-free extracts of Bacillus sp. exhibited the presence of DMP-esterase, MMP-esterase, phthalate dioxygenase and protocatechuate 4,5-dioxygenase. The DMP-oxygenase and MMP-oxygenase activities were not found in the cell-free extracts. However, the glucose (GLU) grown cells failed to oxidize the DMP, PHTH and PCA and did not reveal the above enzyme activities in the cell-free extracts of glucose-grown cells. The protocatechuate is metabolized by meta-cleavage pathway leading to further degradation.

Measurement of Refractive Index of Liquids Using He-Ne Laser and Thin Transparent Glass Cell

Shyam Singh

We propose a very simple and efficient method for the measurement of the refractive index of a liquid using a He-Ne laser and a thin transparent glass cell. This method does not require the knowledge of the angle of incidence or angle of refraction or angle of deviation of the laser beam. Experimental values for the index of refraction of water and some liquids have been reported

Treatability Study of Pesticides Effluent

R.S. Jalukar , G.M. Malik and I.A. Ansari

A treatability study was carried out on the composite samples of pesticides effluent. The effluent was subjected to a detailed characterization and a tentative effluent treatment plant was evolved to give the effluent a complete treatment before discharging it into a public sewer or for land irrigation.

Informative Article : Hydrometallurgical Treatment of Metallic Minerals

Y. Prasanna Kumar and A.v.l.n.s.h. hariharan

Hydrometallurgy is an interdisciplinary field involving metallurgy, chemistry, and chemical engineering. It has assumed tremendous practical significance since the last three decades. In a country like India, with its vast unexploited mineral potential hydrometallurgy assumes a great national significance. Efforts are continuing all over the world to develop newer processes. The organizations like Sherritt Gordon, Sherritt-Cominco, and Kenecott Copper etc. are the pioneers in the field or developing, testing and commercializing new hydrometallurgical processes. In India too, considerable efforts are being made by various research and educational institutions and concerned industries for developing process routes to leach the desired metal values from ores/concentrates. Many pioneering R&D work on Hydrometallurgy with international reputation has been done with large number of trained scientists in the areas of non-ferrous metallurgy with international collaboration. A brief description of R&D efforts made in the field of leaching of metallic mineral is given in this paper.

Review Article : Mercury Pollution & Toxicity : An Update Review

Dushyant K. Joshi, Sangita Sharma, J. J. Vora & J. D. Joshi

Informative Article : Alternate Processes of Bleaching of Wheat Straw Chemical Pulp- an Approach to Reduce Chlorine Input

Sushma Mahajan and Sushma