Bulletin of Environmental Studies

63-68

Authors: Muhammad Zia ur Rehman, Inaam Ullah*, Sajid Abdullah

This study was performed to determine acute toxicity of a mixture of five water-borne metals (iron, zinc, lead, nickel and manganese) to fresh water fish species Cirrhina mrigala L. We performed acute toxicity assays to determined LC50 (concentration at which 50% fish die) and LC95 (concentration at which 95% fish die) of the metals mixture after 96 hours of exposure to one-month old fish specimens. All the assays were performed in glass aquaria of 100 liters volume. We found significant difference between LC50 (26.84 mg L-1) and LC95 (70.42 mg L-1) of metals mixture for C. mrigala. The amount of total sodium, potassium and calcium increased with increasing concentration of the metals mixture, as did total ammonia in the test medium however, concentration of magnesium decreased significantly. We also observed increased use of oxygen by the fish under stress of heavy metals mixture, and in turn accelerated carbon dioxide release into the water that increases water pollution. We conclude that the tested metals mixture is highly toxic to C. mrigala. Further work is recommended to unearth molecular basis of, and synergistic effects of the metals toxicity to fish fauna.

75-81

Authors: Rabia Arshad*, Almas Hamid, Asrar Ahmad Kazi, Nikhat Khan

The heavy metal contamination from an occupational origin is of major concern due to its accumulation in living organisms leading to long term toxic effects. The present study estimated the quantities of manganese and chromium in blood, urine, and hair of welders and non-welders (n = 25) (ages ranged from 16 to 50 years) in Lahore, Pakistan. The results indicated that both manganese and chromium were higher in all the samples compared to the international norms by world health organization (WHO), (i.e., 20-80 ppb in blood, 1-8 ppb in urine, and 300 ppb in hair for manganese while 20-50 ppb in blood, 0.24-1.8 ppb in urine and 100-1000 ppb in hair respectively). Though one of the subject was of 50 years and had 32 years of experience, his manganese and chromium amounts were less because he was the owner of the shop and was currently less exposed to the fumes. The statistical data was in accordance with the finding of the study; whereas control group showed manganese and chromium levels within limits.

88-89

Authors: Muhammad Arslan*, Inaam Ullah

Meta-analysis is a modern statistical approach that combines the results from multiple studies to enhance the power of data, improves the quality of estimates, and the magnitude of the effect of a treatment. In bio/phyto-remediation studies, some authors adopt general ways to present research outcomes such as percentages, means, and graphs. This type of data has multiple limits, non-availability of comparative statistical significance and publication bias are the most imperative. In addition, such data creates big hindrances to perform metaanalysis in a cluster of other studies. Consequently, such datasets restrict the statistical comparison between similar studies, and quantitative assessment of variables. Hence, newcomers in the field of bioremediation find it difficult to design effective test protocols, and at the end, have to content with unconvincing results. Therefore, we suggest presentation of actual data along with statistical analyses of observations, and comparison with the control for robust translation of results. Otherwise, the authors must be directed to publish original datasets as supporting material or appendices with the manuscript.

39-42

Authors: Muhammad Tahir Haidry*, Arif Malik

The present study aims to investigate the therapeutic effects of Senna plant (Cassia angustifolia L.) in a cadmium induced hepatotoxicity assay by evaluating the activity of alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and total protein (TP) in the albino rats’ serum. A total of 30 white albino rats were taken and divided into three groups; each group comprising ten rats. The group A was taken as a control group; group B was given cadmium chloride concentration of 5 mg/kg (body weight) for 42 days; and group C was given cadmium chloride 5 mg/kg body weight for first 21 days and then extract of C. angustifolia 100 mg/kg (body weight) was given for remaining 21 days. The analysis were performed twice i.e., on 21st day and 42nd day. Results illustrated that the concentration of cadmium was significantly elevated (P<0.05) at the levels of serum biochemical markers namely ALT, AST, ALP which lowered the protein levels in albino rats. Moreover, treatment with the standard extracts of C. angustifolia observed to reverse the effects of the cadmium significantly (P<0.05). It is concluded that the C. angustifolia had hepatoprotective effects and therapeutic potential against the cadmium induced hepatotoxicity in albino rats.

48-54

Authors: Maida Kanwal, Muhammad Arslan

Worldwide contamination of surface waters with microbial pathogens is of substantial health concern. These contaminants are usually transmitted by improper sanitation measures, unsafe waste disposal, excretions from patients, and physical contacts, i.e., sexual and nonsexual. Majority of these microbial pathogens have been categorized into three classes, i.e., bacteria, viruses and protozoa. Pakistan, being a developing country, is facing a noteworthy threat due to microbial contamination. In Pakistan, bacterial contaminants are reported extensively followed by viral and protozoa contaminants. The health issues associated with bacterial population includes dysentery, abdominal pain, headache, diarrhea etc.; and usually includes faecal and total coliforms, E. coli, Salmonella, Shigella and Campylobacter. The cases related to viral contamination are lesser but chronic and evidenced the presence of HCV, HAV, HEV viruses causing hepatitis, and other hepatic disorders. Lastly, the health impacts associated with protozoans are least reported; and a number of diseases such as giardia, cryptosporidium and toxoplasma have been linked with this class of contaminants. The current review compiles information of these biological contaminants along with their health issues in Pakistan. Moreover, potential sources and fate of microbial contaminants are also discussed.

61-62

Authors: Saddam Akber Abbasi

NA

1-9

Authors: Muhammad Arslan*, Michael A. Kaminski, Amjad B. Khalil

The benthic foraminifera are among the major carbonate producers in modern Arabian Gulf waters and are found living in all marine habitats. They have been recognized as proxies to assess paleoenvironmental changes, however, their biological behavior in modern environments needs to be further studied. The current study attempts to explain the biology of benthic foraminifera in terms of their living behaviors (locomotion, survival, response to external stimuli, and reproductive strategy), from different regions of the western side of the Arabian Gulf. Accordingly, two major groups of benthic foraminifera, namely rotaliids and miliolids, are examined under laboratory conditions. Results illustrate that the rotaliids are more resistant to environmental changes than miliolids, as their granular reticulopodial network is stronger than among the miliolids, with high cytoplasmic streaming. The pseudopodia extend out from both primary and secondary apertures, and aid the organism in locomotion by attaching to the wall of hard substrate. As a result, they drag their whole bodies toward the direction of motion. In rotaliids, the movement rate is high and is attributed to the extension of pseudopodia through all apertures, compared with miliolids in which pseudopodia extend out from the primary aperture only. The innate behavior of both groups was observed as a function of external stimulus, i.e., light, nutrients, and availability of substrate. Lastly, the observation on the average life span indicates that the rotaliids are able to survive longer than miliolids. It is suggested that further studies on living behaviors should be conducted for different species towards better understanding of foraminiferal responses.

18-28

Authors: Hamna Saleem

Petroleum hydrocarbons are harmful to living organisms when they are exposed in natural environment. Once they come in contact, it is not an easy to remove them because many of their constituents are persistent in nature. To achieve this target, different approaches have been exploited by using plants, bacteria, and plant-bacteria together. Among them, combined use of plants and bacteria has gained tremendous attention as bacteria possess set of catabolic genes which produce catabolic enzymes to decontaminate hydrocarbons. In return, plant ooze out root exudates containing nutrients and necessary metabolites which facilitate the microbial colonization in plant rhizosphere. This results into high gene abundance and gene expression in the rhizosphere and, thus, leads to enhanced degradation. Moreover, high proportions of beneficial bacteria helps plant to gain more biomass due to their plant growth promoting activities and production of phytohromones. This review focuses functioning and mechanisms of catabolic genes responsible for degradation of straight chain and aromatic hydrocarbons with their potential of degradation in bioremediation. With the understanding of expression mechanisms, rate of degradation can be enhanced by adjusting environmental factors and acclimatizing plant associated bacteria in plant rhizosphere.

36-38

Authors: Muhammad Riaz, Tahir Mahmood, Muhammad Arslan

This current report intends to highlight the importance of considering background assumptions required for the analysis of real datasets in different disciplines. We will provide comparative discussion of parametric methods (that depends on distributional assumptions (like normality)) relative to non-parametric methods (that are free from many distributional assumptions). We have chosen a real dataset from environmental sciences (one of the application areas). The findings may be extended to the other disciplines following the same spirit.