Environmental context Biosolids are nutrient-rich organic materials. They can be used as fertiliser and solid amendments in agriculture if treated according to regulatory requirements. If farming applications of biosolids decline due potential pollution from their heavy metal content, an alternative traditional methods biosolid disposal is required. In this context, thermal processing economica...

Samples of water and sediment from a conventional drinking-water-treatment (DWT) plant were analyzed for 113 organic compounds (OCs) that included pharmaceuticals, detergent degradates, flame retardants and plasticizers, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), fragrances and flavorants, pesticides and an insect repellent, and plant and animal steroids. 45 of these compounds were detected in sa...

This paper investigates gamma emitter radioactivity in a system consisting of soil and plants. Some selected samples of tissues of animals fed with the plants from these sites were also measured. In soil and plant samples artificial (Cs, Cs) and natural (thorium and uranium series) isotopes were detected. Despite the relatively high content of the natural isotopes in plants and their seeds, the...

OBJECTIVE To isolate Salmonella from curry samples and to evaluate the drug sensitivity of the food-borne Salmonella and its susceptibility to specific plant extracts. METHODS Salmonella was isolated from the curry samples by standard microbiological methods and was confirmed by biochemical tests. The antibiotic susceptibility test was conducted by disc diffusion method using commercially ava...

Stable isotopic analysis of water in plant, soil, and hydrological studies often requires the extraction of water from plant or soil samples. Cryogenic vacuum extraction is one of the most widely used and accurate extraction methods to obtain such water samples. Here, we present a new design of a cryogenic vacuum extraction system with 18 extraction slots and an innovative mechanism to aerate t...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and dissemination of human astroviruses (HAstV) in the environment by analyzing urban sewage samples from a wastewater treatment plant in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A one-year study was performed with a total of 48 raw and treated sewage composite samples, which were collected biweekly from an activated sludge plant. Virus part...