China 
Africa 
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Waste Prevention: Its Impact and Analysis
Published in Biswaranjan Acharya, Satarupa Dey, Mohammed Zidan, IoT-Based Smart Waste Management for Environmental Sustainability, 2022
Arjyadhara Pradhan, Sarita Samal, Babita Panda, Biswaranjan Acharya
The harmful toxin which comes from burning plastics causes carcinogenic diseases. Waste from chemical plants and nuclear plants mostly contains cadmium, arsenic, chromium nickel, dioxins, and PAHs, which are highly carcinogenic and can even create mutations in the genes and body. The central nervous system of the human body is also affected by these types of substances produced from waste. Pollutants like SO2 and PM10 affect morbidity and mortality rates depending on the duration of exposure and mostly affect elderly people. Different types of chemical compounds like organo-chlorines and dioxins are lipophilic in nature and get accumulated inside the fatty tissues. This causes reproductive and endocrine problems. Studies show that low birth rates and neonatal deaths are commonly found near areas where large hazardous wastes have been dumped.
Plastic Waste in the Aquatic Environment
Published in Leo M. L. Nollet, Khwaja Salahuddin Siddiqi, Analysis of Nanoplastics and Microplastics in Food, 2020
Isangedighi Asuquo Isangedighi, Gift Samuel David, Ofonmbuk Ime Obot
Plastics are considered to be biochemically inert because of their macromolecular structures; they neither react with nor penetrate the cell membrane of an organism [4]. However, most plastics are not pure. Besides their polymeric structure, they consist of a variety of chemicals that all contribute to certain properties of the plastics they comprise [4]. Additives are mostly of small molecular size and are often not chemically bound to a polymer and are, therefore, able to leach from the plastics. Being primarily lipophilic, they penetrate cell membranes, interact biochemically and cause toxic effects. Moreover, plastics debris in the marine environment not only contains additives, but also contains chemicals (contaminants) adsorbed from the surrounding water [4]. The hydrophobic surface of plastics has an affinity for various hydrophobic contaminants, and these are taken up from the surrounding water and accumulate on, and in, the plastics debris. This mechanism receives great attention for microdebris or microplastics, because they are easily ingested by organisms and constitute a pathway for chemicals to enter an organism [103].
A Proposed Approach to Regulating Contaminated Soil: Identify Safe Concentrations for Seven of the Most Frequently Encountered Exposure Scenarios
Published in Edward J. Calabrese, Paul T. Kostecki, Principles and Practices for Petroleum Contaminated Soils, 2019
Dennis J. Paustenbach, Renee Kalmes, Rená Bass, Paul Scott
Runoff of contaminated soils into streams, creeks, and lakes is the second most important concern when evaluating an agricultural scenario. This is not surprising, given the millions of acres treated with a myriad of chemical products and the proximity of most farmland to streams, lakes, and other waterways. For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimated that from 1968 to 1977, 11 million acres of land were treated annually with mirex bait,29 yet it is a relatively small volume pesticide compared to others. Thousands of tons of many chemicals, especially herbicides, are applied annually to agricultural sods. As before, compounds that are lipophilic and environmentally persistent (e.g., stable) pose the most significant hazard because of their propensity to bind strongly to soil, which becomes sediment and then accumulates in the tissues of aquatic organisms.17
Apparent molar volume, compressibility, and spectroscopic studies of ionic surfactants in aqueous solutions of antibiotic gemifloxacin
Published in Journal of Dispersion Science and Technology, 2023
Muhammad Sohail, Hafiz Muhammad Abd ur Rahman, Muhammad Nadeem Asghar, Saadia Shoukat
Surfactant micelles are aggregates containing a hydrophilic head group and a lipophilic core.[13–18] This dynamic heterogeneous architecture enables them to interact with a plethora of organic solutes with different polarities. The micellar hydrophilic outer layer interacts with the hydrophilic moieties of the drug, while the hydrophobic core shows affinity for the lipophilic parts of the drug. The polarity and chemical structure of the drug are among the major factors that dictate the spatial position of a solubilized drug within a micelle, i.e., polar molecules anchor at the head group region near the palisade layer, while the non-polar drugs reside somewhere in the palisade layer and lipophilic micellar core depending upon the extent of their non-polar nature. In principle, the locus of any entrapped molecule within micelles is determined by the surface region of the hydrophobic part of the drug and the magnitude of columbic forces between the micellar head groups and drug molecules.[19,20] Therefore, the insight into the drug-surfactant interactions offers an appropriate way of predicting the physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties of the drug. Figure 1 displays the structure of GMF, DTAB, and SDS.
Comparative analysis of remediation efficiency and ultrastructural translocalization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Medicago sativa, Helianthus annuus, and Tagetes erecta
Published in International Journal of Phytoremediation, 2023
Rapid urbanization and an industrialized economy have combined to cause soil pollution, negatively affecting ecosystems (Sun et al.2018). As a result, many hazardous pollutants are emitted into the environment, especially organic pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), crude oil, chlorinated solvents, and pesticides (Naidoo and Naidoo 2018; Sarma et al.2019). Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous toxic pollutants comprising carbon and hydrogen atoms. Their molecular structure is characterized by two to six fused aromatic rings (Al-Baldawi et al.2015). These aromatic rings make them hydrophobic, chemically stable, persistent, and challenging to remove from the environment (Rengarajan et al.2015). There are 16 PAHs that have been listed as the most toxic contaminants by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Hussar et al.2012). These pollutants are highly lipophilic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic and threaten human health and the environment. Therefore, great attention has been paid to developing effective and consistent remediation strategies to reduce PAH concentrations in contaminated soil (Maletić et al. 2019).
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in aquatic animals: a systematic review on analytical advances and challenges
Published in Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A, 2022
Ivelise Dimbarre Lao Guimarães, Francielli Casanova Monteiro, Júlia Vianna da Anunciação de Pinho, Paloma de Almeida Rodrigues, Rafaela Gomes Ferrari, Carlos Adam Conte-Junior
In general, these compounds have toxic effects on organisms through various toxicity mechanisms. Precisely because of their lipophilic property, these compounds interfere with the function of cell membranes, due to their binding to the double membrane layer of phospholipids, as well as with the enzymatic systems that are associated with this part of the cell, which can result in a change in membrane structure and cell function.[16,21,22] The action of PAHs occurs through activation by a biotransformation mechanism called metabolization (oxidation, reduction, hydrolysis, and conjugation reactions by enzymes). Thus, PAHs become electrophilic and more reactive, allowing them to associate with endogenous proteins, membranes, and DNA substrates, causing cell damage.[5,6]