Latest news with #EnvironmentalScienceandPollutionResearch
Time of India
28-04-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Hit by rapid depletion, Mansa groundwater now faces nitrate, fluoride contamination: Study
Chandigarh: With groundwater depletion worsening in Punjab, a study has raised serious concern over groundwater quality in Punjab's Mansa district. It has highlighted a growing threat from nitrate and fluoride contamination posing significant public health risks in one of the state's most water-stressed regions. As groundwater depletion and contamination worsen in southwestern Punjab, primarily due to heavy reliance on underground water in the absence of adequate surface water, the study was undertaken to assess the extent of nitrate and fluoride pollution in Mansa. Researchers collected 246 randomly selected, grid-based groundwater samples and conducted a comprehensive analysis of key physicochemical parameters, including cations, anions, nitrate, and fluoride concentrations. The findings were concerning: 23.2% of the samples showed nitrate levels exceeding the recommended limits, while 12.6% had fluoride concentrations above permissible levels. According to the Water Quality Index (WQI), 24.6% of groundwater samples were classified as unsuitable for drinking, 36.6% as very poor, 27.2% as poor, and only 11.8% were considered good. The southern blocks of Budhlada, Jhunir, and Sardoolgarh emerged as the most severely affected, while Bhikhi block in the north was the least impacted. Although fluoride presented a relatively lower health risk across most areas—except Sardoolgarh, where children were particularly vulnerable—nitrate pollution was found to be a district-wide concern. Drinking water with nitrate levels above 45 mg/L is known to cause methemoglobinemia, or "blue baby syndrome", in infants. Hydrogeochemical analysis identified sodium-chloride as the dominant groundwater type, followed by mixed and sodium-sulfate-bicarbonate compositions. Elevated electrical conductivity and total dissolved solids indicated high concentrations of total salts, suggesting intensified geochemical activity. The study, titled 'Hydrogeochemical Characterisation and Geospatial Assessment of Groundwater Quality in the Alluvial Aquifer of Southwestern Punjab in Association with Health Risk Assessment Due to Nitrate and Fluoride Pollution', was conducted by Jashandeep Singh Sidhu, Sumita Chandel, Sashikant Sahoo, Dhanwinder Singh, Kuldip Singh, Mohit Arora, and Harsimran Kaur. It was published in the journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research. Researchers strongly advocate for immediate and sustained intervention. Key recommendations include promoting integrated nutrient and water management to limit fertiliser overuse, encouraging a shift from high nitrogen-demanding crops to legumes, adopting more efficient irrigation techniques such as micro and furrow irrigation, and prioritising drought-tolerant, short-duration crop varieties to reduce nitrate leaching. The study also calls for regular groundwater quality monitoring to guide targeted management strategies. Highlighting elevated health risks, especially for children, researchers stressed the need for investigation into sustainable, cost-effective solutions to mitigate groundwater pollution. The findings serve as a timely warning for policymakers, environmental authorities, and the agricultural community to prioritise water safety and public health before the situation worsened.
The Guardian
28-04-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Synthetic opioids linked to spate of overdose deaths found in wastewater across Australia
Synthetic opioids a thousand times stronger than morphine and an animal sedative used to lace street drugs have been detected in Australia's wastewater. The discovery has been described as a 'red flag' and comes as the deadly class of synthetic opioids – nitazines – claims dozens of lives in Australia. Researchers tested 180 wastewater samples from 60 sites nationwide and detected five different nitazenes in 3-6% of samples. These synthetic opioids have become one of the fastest-growing psychoactive substances in the world since emerging in the illicit market in the late 2010s. The use of nitazenes, either intentional or not, has resulted in overdoses in Australia, with compounds sometimes mixed into illicit drugs such as heroin and ketamine as well as MDMA, also known as ecstasy. The study of Australian wastewater collected from 60 sites over three days last August also found high rates of xylazine, a sedative used by vets on animals and not approved for human use in Australia. It was detected in one in four samples. 'Given the potency of nitazenes and the health complications associated with xylazine, even low-level detections are a red flag,' the study's co-first author, University of South Australia academic Emma Keller, said on Monday. The researchers developed a highly sensitive method to detect the substances in wastewater, providing a potentially vital early warning tool to health authorities. 'This is the first time a comprehensive suite of nitazene compounds and xylazine has been monitored in Australian wastewater,' co-first author Corbus Gerber said. Dr Keller and Dr Gerber's method could be quickly updated to detect new derivatives as they emerge. That would be an essential capability as drug manufacturers continue to tweak chemical structures to evade legislation, the university said. The research was published on 22 April in the latest issue of peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Afternoon Update: Election 2025 Free daily newsletter Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key election campaign stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion One funder was the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, which is among several public authorities alarmed at the surging use of nitazenes. Since 2021, nitazenes have been detected in every state and territory, and have been linked to at least 23 overdose deaths in Victoria and seven in South Australia alone. A coroner in recent weeks concluded four people, one as young as 17, who died in the same Melbourne house in June 2024 had overdosed on cocaine laced with nitazenes. Health authorities in New South Wales and South Australia have issued multiple urgent warnings about nitazenes being sold as black-market oxycodone or other substances. Customs officials intercepted more than 60 imports of the killer group of drugs in 2023 and 2024, largely originating from Hong Kong, the UK and Canada. Australian federal police have described nitazenes 'like playing Russian roulette' with lives.
Daily Tribune
08-04-2025
- Science
- Daily Tribune
'Alarming' microplastic pollution in Europe's great rivers
AFP | Paris " Alarming" levels of microplastic have been found in major rivers across Europe according to scientists in 14 studies published simultaneously yesterday. "The pollution is present in all European rivers" studied, said French scientist Jean-François Ghiglione, who coordinated the large-scale operation across nine major rivers from the Thames to the Tiber. "Alarming" pollution of on average "three microplastics per cubic metre of water" was observed in all of them, according to the results published in the journal of Environmental Science and Pollution Research. This is far from the 40 microplastics per cubic metre recorded in the world's 10 most polluted rivers -- the Yellow River, Yangtze, Mekong, Ganges, Nile, Niger, Indus, Amur, Pearl and Hai -- which irrigate countries where most plastic is produced or plastic waste is processed. But this does not take into account the volume of water flowing. 3,000 particles per second On the Rhone in Valence, France, the fast flow means there are "3,000 plastic particles every second", said Ghiglione. The Seine in Paris has around 900 per second. "The mass of microplastics invisible to the naked eye is more significant than that of the visible ones," said Ghiglione -- a result that "surprised" researchers. This was confirmed by analytical advances made during the studies, which began in 2019. "Large microplastics float and are collected at the surface, while in- visible ones are distributed throughout the water column and are ingested by many animals and organisms," said Ghiglione, head of research in marine microbial ecotoxicology at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). Samples were collected from the mouths of the rivers Elbe, Ebro, Garonne, Loire, Rhone, Rhine, Seine, Thames and the Tiber by some 40 chemists, biologists and physicists from 19 research laboratories. The researchers then made their way upstream until they reached the first major city on each of the waterways. "Microplastics are smaller than a grain of rice," said Alexandra Ter Halle, a chemist at the CNRS in Toulouse, who took part in the analysis. 'Mermaid tears' The particles are less than five millimetres in size, with the smallest invisible to the naked eye. These include synthetic textile fibres from washing clothes and microplastics released from car tyres or when unscrewing plastic bottle caps. Researchers also found virgin plastic pellets, the raw granules used to manufacture plastic products. One of the studies identified a virulent bacterium on a microplastic in the Loire in France, capable of causing infections in humans. Another unexpected finding was that a quarter of microplastics discovered in rivers are not derived from waste but come from industrial plastic pellets. These granules, dubbed "mermaid tears", can also sometimes be found scattered along beaches after maritime incidents. "What we see is the pollution is diffuse and established" and "comes from everywhere" in the rivers, he added. "The international scientific coalition we are part of (as part of international UN negotiations on reducing plastic pollution) is calling for a major reduction in the production of primary plastic because we know that plastic production is directly linked to pollution," he said.
Local Spain
07-04-2025
- Science
- Local Spain
Europe's great rivers hit by 'alarming' microplastic pollution
"Alarming" levels of microplastic have been found in major rivers across Europe according to scientists in 14 studies published simultaneously Monday. "The pollution is present in all European rivers" studied, said French scientist Jean-François Ghiglione, who coordinated the large-scale operation across nine major rivers from the Thames to the Tiber. "Alarming" pollution of on average "three microplastics per cubic metre of water" was observed in all of them, according to the results published in the journal of Environmental Science and Pollution Research. This is far from the 40 microplastics per cubic metre recorded in the world's 10 most polluted rivers -- the Yellow River, Yangtze, Mekong, Ganges, Nile, Niger, Indus, Amur, Pearl and Hai -- which irrigate countries where most plastic is produced or plastic waste is processed. But this does not take into account the volume of water flowing. '3,000 particles a second' On the Rhone in Valence, France, the fast flow means there are "3,000 plastic particles every second", said Ghiglione. The Seine in Paris has around 900 per second. "The mass of microplastics invisible to the naked eye is more significant than that of the visible ones," said Ghiglione -- a result that "surprised" researchers. This was confirmed by analytical advances made during the studies, which began in 2019. "Large microplastics float and are collected at the surface, while invisible ones are distributed throughout the water column and are ingested by many animals and organisms," said Ghiglione, head of research in marine microbial ecotoxicology at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). Samples were collected from the mouths of the rivers Elbe, Ebro, Garonne, Loire, Rhone, Rhine, Seine, Thames and the Tiber by some 40 chemists, biologists and physicists from 19 research laboratories. Zaragoza's cathedral next to the river Ebro in Zaragoza, in the Aragon region of Spain. Photo by PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP. The researchers then made their way upstream until they reached the first major city on each of the waterways. "Microplastics are smaller than a grain of rice," said Alexandra Ter Halle, a chemist at the CNRS in Toulouse, who took part in the analysis. 'Mermaid tears' The particles are less than five millimetres in size, with the smallest invisible to the naked eye. These include synthetic textile fibres from washing clothes and microplastics released from car tyres or when unscrewing plastic bottle caps. Researchers also found virgin plastic pellets, the raw granules used to manufacture plastic products. One of the studies identified a virulent bacterium on a microplastic in the Loire in France, capable of causing infections in humans. Another unexpected finding was that a quarter of microplastics discovered in rivers are not derived from waste but come from industrial plastic pellets. These granules, dubbed "mermaid tears", can also sometimes be found scattered along beaches after maritime incidents. "What we see is the pollution is diffuse and established" and "comes from everywhere" in the rivers, he added. "The international scientific coalition we are part of (as part of international UN negotiations on reducing plastic pollution) is calling for a major reduction in the production of primary plastic because we know that plastic production is directly linked to pollution," he said.
Local Italy
07-04-2025
- Science
- Local Italy
Europe's great rivers hit by 'alarming' microplastic pollution
"Alarming" levels of microplastic have been found in major rivers across Europe according to scientists in 14 studies published simultaneously Monday. "The pollution is present in all European rivers" studied, said French scientist Jean-François Ghiglione, who coordinated the large-scale operation across nine major rivers from the Thames to the Tiber. "Alarming" pollution of on average "three microplastics per cubic metre of water" was observed in all of them, according to the results published in the journal of Environmental Science and Pollution Research. This is far from the 40 microplastics per cubic metre recorded in the world's 10 most polluted rivers -- the Yellow River, Yangtze, Mekong, Ganges, Nile, Niger, Indus, Amur, Pearl and Hai -- which irrigate countries where most plastic is produced or plastic waste is processed. But this does not take into account the volume of water flowing. '3,000 particles a second' On the Rhone in Valence, France, the fast flow means there are "3,000 plastic particles every second", said Ghiglione. The Seine in Paris has around 900 per second. "The mass of microplastics invisible to the naked eye is more significant than that of the visible ones," said Ghiglione -- a result that "surprised" researchers. This was confirmed by analytical advances made during the studies, which began in 2019. "Large microplastics float and are collected at the surface, while invisible ones are distributed throughout the water column and are ingested by many animals and organisms," said Ghiglione, head of research in marine microbial ecotoxicology at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). Samples were collected from the mouths of the rivers Elbe, Ebro, Garonne, Loire, Rhone, Rhine, Seine, Thames and the Tiber by some 40 chemists, biologists and physicists from 19 research laboratories. Zaragoza's cathedral next to the river Ebro in Zaragoza, in the Aragon region of Spain. Photo by PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP. The researchers then made their way upstream until they reached the first major city on each of the waterways. "Microplastics are smaller than a grain of rice," said Alexandra Ter Halle, a chemist at the CNRS in Toulouse, who took part in the analysis. 'Mermaid tears' The particles are less than five millimetres in size, with the smallest invisible to the naked eye. These include synthetic textile fibres from washing clothes and microplastics released from car tyres or when unscrewing plastic bottle caps. Researchers also found virgin plastic pellets, the raw granules used to manufacture plastic products. One of the studies identified a virulent bacterium on a microplastic in the Loire in France, capable of causing infections in humans. Another unexpected finding was that a quarter of microplastics discovered in rivers are not derived from waste but come from industrial plastic pellets. These granules, dubbed "mermaid tears", can also sometimes be found scattered along beaches after maritime incidents. "What we see is the pollution is diffuse and established" and "comes from everywhere" in the rivers, he added. "The international scientific coalition we are part of (as part of international UN negotiations on reducing plastic pollution) is calling for a major reduction in the production of primary plastic because we know that plastic production is directly linked to pollution," he said.
