Experiments were carried out in the laboratory and greenhouse to determine the growth inhibitory effects of Grassohopper's cyperus (Cyperus iria L.) on the seedlings of 5 Malaysian rice varieties namely MR211, MRQ74, MR220, MR84 and MR232. Three concentrations of the aqueous extract of the weed (12.5, 25.0 and 50.0 g/l) and weed debris (5, 10 and 20 g dry debris/1000 g soil) were used to test the allelopathic effect of C. iria on the growth of the rice plants. The weed leaf, stem and root extracts reduced the growth of the rice seedlings and showed selective activity in the varieties. The C. iria leaf and stem extracts showed comparatively higher growth inhibitory effects than those from the root. The weed extract caused more reduction in the root length of the rice plant compared to the shoot length. Among the rice varieties tested, MR232 was found to be more susceptible to the weed inhibitory effect. The leaf extract of C. iria at full strength caused root and shoot reduction of MR232 by 88.1% and 73.1% respectively (compared to the control). In most cases the fresh weight of the rice seedlings were more affected than the plant height. Weed debris caused significant reduction of leaf chlorophyll content in all the rice varieties tested with the exception of MR211. The chlorophyll content of MR232 was greatly affected by the weed debris which caused reduction of 36.4% compared to the control. The inhibitory effects of weed extracts and debris on rice growth parameters were found to be concentration dependent.
Concentrations of natural and fall-out radionuclides in the offshore seawater and sediment from some parts of the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh, were determined using a coaxial germanium detector. The average activities of (238)U, (232)Th, (40)K and (137)Cs were recorded as 31.2±5.8, 51.9±9.4, 686.4±170.5 and 0.5±0.6 Bq kg(-1) dry weight, respectively, for sediment, and 4.8±1.2, 5.4±1.2 and 39.1±8.6 Bq L(-1) for (238)U, (232)Th and (40)K, respectively, in seawater. The concentration of (137)Cs in seawater was below the detection limit. The concentration of sediment (238)U was found to be positively correlated with (232)Th ([Formula: see text], p<0.05) and (40)K (r=0.96, p<0.01), while (232)Th was positively correlated with (40)K (r=0.91, p<0.05). In sediment, the concentration of (238)U was negatively correlated (r=-0.86, p<0.05) with sea depth. In the seawater sample, the only significant relationship found was between concentration of (232)Th and water depth (r=-0.86, p<0.05). One-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the level of radioisotope concentrations of seawater and sediment was highly significant for (238)U (F=122, df=11, p=0.01), (232)Th (F=143, df=11, p=0.01) and (40)K (F=86, df=11, p=0.01). The results showed that the level of radioactivity decreased from coast to open sea. Imminent threat due to radioactivity was not observed in these parts of the Bay of Bengal.
Macrobenthos in coastal environment that play a significant role in the food web. It could also use as a good indicator of aquatic ecosystem health. The abundance and composition of macrobenthos in Bakkhali channel system, Cox's Bazar were conducted in relation to the soil parameters. Samples were collected using Ekman Berge bottom grab from five different stations of Bakkhali channel. Macrobenthos were comprised of five major groups namely Polychaeta (9.96-30.31%), Oligochaeta (3.68-59.707%), Crustacea (0.02-58.40%), Bivalvia (1.40-82.09%) and Gastropoda (0.08-4.25%). Total number of macrobenthos was higher at station I (9000 individuals m(-2)) and station II (8517 individuals m(-2)) compared to other stations. Shannon diversity index among the stations ranged from 0.65-1.04. Soil pH and soil moisture ranged from 6.1-6.4 and 23.44-31.29%, respectively. The highest organic carbon concentration was observed at station I (2.11%) and lowest at station III (1.40%). Maximum fraction of sand by weight was found at stations II (81.88%) and III (87.88) while the highest fraction of clay (21.52%) and silt (8.0%) were recorded in station I. It was observed that benthic bivalves were positively correlated (r = 0.891, p > 0.05) with silt fraction of the sediments.
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.