Over 30 years ago, Environmental Science and Technology published a feature article, “Wildlife Toxicology”, which posed the hypothesis that “Human health is believed to be threatened by exposure to such chemical contaminants as agricultural pesticides and industrial waste. Does it not stand to reason, therefore, that the health of wildlife could be affected similarly by toxic chemical pollutant...

Sporolactobacillus laevolacticus DSM442 is an efficient polymer-grade d-lactic acid producer from low-cost agricultural waste cottonseed powder as the sole nitrogen source. Here we present a 3.59-Mb assembly of its genome sequence, which might provide useful information to further improve the strain for higher production titers.

The use of plant biomass is a sustainable alternative to the reduction of CO₂ emissions. Agricultural residues are interesting bioenergy feedstocks because they do not compete with food and add extra value to the crop, which might help to manage these residues in many regions. Breeding crops for dual production of food and bioenergy has been reported previously, but the ideal plant features are...

Pyrolysis of agricultural waste to produce fuel gas involves formation of tars as noxious by-products. In this paper the qualitative analysis of tars formed during pyrolysis of rice husks is presented, based on identification by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and interpolation of retention times on a polyaromatic hydrocarbon index scale. The influence of some reaction parameters on produc...

The meeting of phosphorus recycling organised in the frame of the ANR Phosph’OR research project by MidiPyrénées Innovation brought together scientists, industry, water companies and agricultural organisations to exchange on perspectives for recovery of phosphorus from waste streams, and market and agronomic criteria for distribution and reuse of recycled phosphorus as fertilisers according to ...

Recent scientific data indicate that nanotechnology has the potential to positively impact the agrifood sector, minimizing adverse problems of agricultural practices on environment and human health, improving food security and productivity (as required by the predicted rise in global population), while promoting social and economic equity. In this context, we select and report on recent trends ...

At present, there is growing interest in using low cost, commercially available materials for the adsorption of heavy metals. The major advantages of adsorption technologies are its effectiveness in reducing the concentration of heavy metal ions to very low levels and the use of inexpensive adsorbent materials. In this review, agricultural and forest waste adsorbents were used to remove Pb ions...

Improper management of hospital waste has been reported to be responsible for several acute outbreaks like the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). In spite of these challenges, hospital wastes are sometimes not properly handled in Nigeria. To date, there has not been an adequate study on the effect and fate of burnt hospital waste on agricultural soil. The effect of burnt hospital wastes ...

The purpose of this study was to utilize low quality date syrup, a rich and available source of nutrient in Iran, for the production of bacterial cellulose using Gluconacetobacter xylinus. Static batch fermentationfor the purpose of cellulose production by G. xylinus (PTCC, 1734) was studied using low quality date syrupand sucrose solution (Bx. 10%) as fermentation media at 28°C. Re...