Honey, a supersaturated natural product of honey bees, contains complex compounds with antioxidant properties and therefore has a wide a range of applications in both traditional and modern medicine. In the present study, the protective effects of Sundarban honey from Bangladesh against acetaminophen- (APAP-) induced hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity in experimental rats were investigated. Adult male Wistar rats were pretreated with honey (5 g/kg) for 4 weeks, followed by the induction of hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity via the oral administration of a single dose of APAP (2 g/kg). Organ damage was confirmed by measuring the elevation of serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), total protein (TP), total bilirubin (TB), urea, creatinine, and malondialdehyde (MDA). Histopathological alterations observed in the livers and the kidneys further confirmed oxidative damage to these tissues. Animals pretreated with Sundarban honey showed significantly markedly reduced levels of all of the investigated parameters. In addition, Sundarban honey ameliorated the altered hepatic and renal morphology in APAP-treated rats. Overall, our findings indicate that Sundarban honey protects against APAP-induced acute hepatic and renal damage, which could be attributed to the honey's antioxidant properties.
Tannery sludge, heavy metals (HMs) enriched hazardous solid waste, is produced extensively in many regions of the world. Even though the sludge is hazardous, it can be considered a material resource, if organic matter and HMs in the sludge can be stabilized to minimize its negative environmental impacts. This research aimed to evaluate the efficacy of using subcritical water (SCW) treatment for tannery sludge treatment through immobilization and thus reduction of HMs to mitigate their potential environmental risk and toxicity. HMs in the tannery sludge were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and the average concentration of HMs (mg kg-1) was found in the following decreasing order of Cr (12 950) > Fe (1265) > Cu (76) > Mn (44) > Zn (36) > Pb (14) with very high Cr concentration. The result of toxicity characteristics leaching procedure and sequential extraction procedure tests revealed that the raw tannery sludge leachate contained 11.24 mg L-1 Cr, which classified the raw tannery sludge into a very high-risk category. After SCW treatment, the concentration of Cr in leachate was reduced to 1.6 mg L-1 indicating risk reduction to a low-risk category. The eco-toxicity levels of other HMs also decreased considerably after SCW treatment. X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis were employed to identify the effective immobilizing substances formed in the SCW treatment process. The favorable formation of immobilizing orthorhombic tobermorite (Ca5Si6O16(OH)2·4H2O) at 240 °C in the SCW treatment process was confirmed by XRD and SEM analysis. The results confirmed that the formation of 11 Å tobermorite is capable of strongly immobilizing HMs in the SCW treatment process. Further, both orthorhombic 11 Å tobermorite and 9 Å tobermorite were successfully synthesized by SCW treatment on a mixture of tannery sludge including rice husk silica and Ca(OH)2 with water under rather mild conditions. Hence, it can be concluded that SCW treatment of tannery sludge with supplementary silica from rice husk can effectively immobilize the HMs and significantly reduce their environmental risk through tobermorite formation.