Browsing by Author "Huma Vaseem"

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9

Biochemical Alteration in the Labeo rohita Tissues Following Exposure to the Effluent Generated during Extraction of Metals from Polymetallic Sea Nodules
(Wiley-VCH Verlag, 2014) Huma Vaseem; Tarun K. Banerjee
Effect of the effluent generated during extraction of precious metals from polymetallic sea nodules have been illustrated by analyzing the biochemical alterations in freshwater fish Labeo rohita. Increase or decrease in the different biomolecules in various tissues (skin, muscles, gills, liver, kidney, and brain) observed was discussed in the light of stress caused by exposures of this effluent. Decrease in concentration of glycogen, total lipids, cholesterol, and total protein in most of the tissues indicate their role in providing the continuous energy requirement under toxic stress in the exposed fish. Reduced DNA and RNA concentration in exposed fish showed effluent toxic effect on DNA synthesis and transcriptional level. With the prolongation of exposure, reduction in activities of aspartate amino transferase, alanine amino transferase, and alkaline phosphatase were observed in all the exposed tissues indicating their cellular degeneration. In conclusion, the sea nodule effluent was found to be very toxic and have negative health impact on the fish. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
Contamination of metals in different tissues of rohu (labeo rohita, cyprinidae) collected from the Indian River Ganga
(2013) Huma Vaseem; T.K. Banerjee
In the present paper, accumulation of zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), manganese (Mn) and lead (Pb) was determined in different tissues (skin, muscles, liver, gills, kidney and brain) of rohu (Labeo rohita) collected from the River Ganga in Varanasi, India. Concentrations of Cu (except gills), Fe and Cr (except brain for Cr) in most of the tissues were above the permissible safe limits for human consumption suggested by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO 1983). Concentrations of all metals were higher in River Ganga fish than those from the University fish farm. With the exception of Zn in skin, muscle and brain tissue, the studied metals were bioaccumulated in all tissues. The total metal accumulation or metal pollution index was highest in liver (20.8 ± 0.50) followed by kidney (16.8 ± 0.44), gills (15.2 ± 0.15), muscles (12.1 ± 0.08), skin (10.5 ± 0.53) and brain (7.0 ± 0.02). © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.
Contamination of the River Ganga and its toxic implication in the blood parameters of the major carp Labeo rohita (Ham)
(2013) Huma Vaseem; T.K. Banerjee
A field study was conducted to examine different physicochemical properties of water and various haematological and biochemical parametres of the fish Labeo rohita collected from the Ganga River (National river of India) at Varanasi district, India. The water was found to be greatly contaminated with a number of dissolved metals (Fe, Cr, Zn, Cu, Mn, Ni and Pb) whose concentrations were above the safe limits suggested by Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS 1991) for drinking water (Fe, 1,353.33 %; Cr, 456 %; Mn, 553.33 %; Ni, 4,490 % and Pb, 1,410 %). The metal accumulation in the fish blood was very high (Fe, 2,408 %; Cr, 956.57 %; Zn, 464.90 %; Cu, 310.57 %; Mn, 1,115.48 %) in comparison to the control fish maintained under strict quality control. Lower values of the various haematological parameters (total erythrocytes count, haemoglobin, haematocrit, mean corpuscular volume and O2-carrying capacity) in the river fish in comparison to the control indicate toxic manifestation exerted by the contaminated river water on the fish. The higher level of total leucocytes count further illustrates stressed condition of the river fish. The toxic impact of the Ganga water is also expressed in the fish by the presence of higher levels of cholesterol, glucose, elevated activities of the enzymes aspartate amino transferase and alanine amino transferase, and lowered protein concentration. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
Efficacy of phytoremediation technology in decontaminating the toxic effluent released during recovery of metals from polymetallic sea nodules
(Springer Verlag, 2015) Huma Vaseem; T.K. Banerjee
Efficacy of phytoremediation using two macrophytes Azolla pinnata and Lemna minor in decontaminating the toxic effluent released during recovery of metals from polymetallic sea nodules was analysed by applying fish bioassay. The economically important fish, L. rohita, was exposed to both, the Azolla-phytoremediated effluent (APE) and Lemna-phytoremediated effluent (LPE) for assessment of metal bioaccumulation (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb, Cr and Cd) and alterations in biochemical (proteins, lipids, glycogen, cholesterol, AST (aspartate amino transferase), ALT (alanine amino transferase) and ALP (alkaline phosphatase) composition of various tissues. Accumulation of metals (e.g. Mn, Zn, Cu and Fe) decreased in most of the tissues exposed to both the phytoremediated effluents perhaps due to decontamination of metals by the two macrophytes. The significantly recovered concentrations of different biomolecules included glycogen, lipids, cholesterol and proteins. The activities of three marker enzymes (AST, ALT and ALP) in phytoremediated effluent-exposed fish also decreased due to lowering of the toxicity of the decontaminated effluents achieved by phytoremediation. The improvement in different biomolecules and reduction in metal concentration in the fish tissues were better in APE exposed fish. However, their concentrations in both the phytoremediated effluent-exposed fish failed to reach the levels of control fish. This study points towards the efficacy of phytoremediation in detoxification of metal-contaminated effluents often released following industrial activities. © 2015, The Author(s).
Evaluation of pollution of Ganga River water using fish as bioindicator
(Springer International Publishing, 2016) Huma Vaseem; T.K. Banerjee
Ganga River, life line of millions of people got heavily polluted due to uncontrolled anthropogenic activities. To monitor the effect of pollution of the river on its aquatic life, a field study was conducted by analyzing the different biomarker enzymes and biochemical parameters in the various tissues (muscles, liver, gills, kidney, brain, and skin) of the Indian major carp Labeo rohita collected from the River Ganga from different study sites of Varanasi district. Activities of antioxidant enzymes, e.g., superoxide dismutase, catalase, and level of lipid peroxidation were found to be higher in the fish collected from the river showing pollutant-induced oxidative stress in the fish. Disturbed health status of the river fish was also manifested by increased activities of aspartate amino transferase, alanine amino transferase, and alkaline phosphatase. Concentration of nutritionally important biomolecules (proteins, lipids, and moisture) and energy value were also found to be significantly lower in the tissues of the River fish indicating its decreased nutritional value due to oxidative stress caused by different pollutants. © 2016, Springer International Publishing Switzerland.
Exploring the Role of Mycorrhizae as Soil Ecosystem Engineer
(Springer Singapore, 2019) Antra Chatterjee; Shbbir R. Khan; Huma Vaseem
Growing population poses pressure on physical resources such as land, water and air. Today, a major challenge before ecologists and agriculturists is to provide food security to a growing population despite fast degrading landmass and deteriorating soil health. In this regard, the omnipresent mycorrhiza, abundantly available in most terrestrial ecosystems, and its symbiotic association with plants are worth exploring. “Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi” is a nutrient-enriching, growth-stimulant, phytoremediation bio-factor which provides protection to plants from diseases and resistance against draught, salinity stress and heavy metal toxicity. Presently, the role of mycorrhiza in soil aggregation is not duly acknowledged, and the restorative mechanisms of glomalin are not fully explained. Moreover, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi needs more focussed research as its colonisation has shown varied responses to nearby organisms. Its synergistic and antagonistic effects entirely depend upon its varying type/identity. Indiscriminate application of chemical insecticides/pesticides/weedicides in the field is disrupting natural symbiotic relations between plant and soil. Mycorrhiza are natural alternative that can be gainfully utilised for improving soil fertility and restoration and reclamation of degraded land. Awareness about its utility among policy makers and agriculturists is a step towards sustainable agriculture, reforestation, and climate change resilient farming and enhanced food security. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019.
Heavy metal pollution due to coal washery effluent and its decontamination using a macrofungus, Pleurotus ostreatus
(Academic Press, 2017) Huma Vaseem; V.K. Singh; M.P. Singh
Release of the effluent generated during washing of coal became a major problem for coal industries due to presence of many toxic metals and other pollutants. These effluents are the main source of pollution in rivers and other water bodies. Therefore in this study, we tried to analyse the toxicity of coal washery effluent (CWE) collected from one of the washery plant situated in Dhanbad, India. CWE was found to be very toxic containing large amount of suspended particles and many heavy metals above than their permissible limits. Mycoremediation of CWE was also performed to decontaminate heavy metals from the CWE using a macrofungi Pleurotus ostreatus. Efficiency of Pleurotus for remediation of heavy metals was found to be highest in the 50% diluted effluent (57.2% Mn, 82.6% Zn, 98.0% Ni, 99.9% Cu, 99.3% Co, 99.1% Cr, 89.2% Fe and 35.6% Pb) followed by 25% diluted effluent (33.0% Mn, 55.1% Zn, 97.8% Ni, 99.7% Cu, 97% Co, 84.4% Cr, 87.1% Fe and 73.4% Pb) and raw effluent (23.3% Mn, 73.1% Zn, 78.7% Ni, 87.5% Cu, 59.3% Co, 64.6% Cr, 34.6% Fe and 11.3% Pb) respectively. Increased activity of antioxidant enzymes, lipid peroxidation, concentration of metallothionein proteins and changes in peaks of FTIR spectra were also observed in fungal mycelia grown on the CWE containing media due to accumulation of different metals. Overall this study suggests that Pleurotus can be used as promising option for removal of heavy metals from the effluent released from washery plants and dilution of effluent could increase the efficiency of remediation. © 2017 Elsevier Inc.
Nanotoxicity: Environmental fate and ecotoxicity of nanoparticles
(Nova Science Publishers, Inc., 2017) Huma Vaseem; V.K. Singh; M.P. Singh
Nanotechnology and the use of nanomaterials is a new area of science and is emerging rapidly day by day. Due to increased surface area, reactivity and advanced characteristics nanoparticles have many applications in diverse fields. Varieties of nanoparticles are manufactured like fullerenns, carbon nanotube, metals, metals oxides, q-dots, etc. These nanoparticles enter into the environment through waste products and cause negative effects on flora and fauna of the ecosystem. Due to small size and high reactivity, nanoparticles can enter into living organisms also and cause oxidative stress and inflammatory reactions. Number of studies have been carried out to manifest ecotoxicity of nanoparticles and were found to be highly toxic to the organisms. Therefore it is urgent need to undergo detailed research on the ecotoxicity of nanoparticles and to develop methods to remediate them from the environment. Otherwise situation may become worse in the future. © 2017 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Phytoremediation of the Toxic Effluent Generated During Recovery of Precious Metals from Polymetallic Sea Nodules
(2012) Huma Vaseem; T.K. Banerjee
Recovery of metals from the polymetallic sea nodules at the pilot plant at National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur, India has generated a highly toxic effluent. This effluent contains several metals like Mn, Cu, Zn, Fe, Pb, Cr, and Cd that pollute the neighboring water bodies when discharged. Hence detoxification of this effluent was practiced using two plants: Lemna minor and Azolla pinnata for 7 days. During investigation A. pinnata removed 96% of Mn, 97% of Cu, 98% of Zn, 70% of Fe, 96% of Pb, 93% of Cr, 78% of Cd, and was comparatively more effective than L. minor which removed 94% of Mn, 86% of Cu, 62% of Zn, 74% of Fe, 84% of Pb, 63% of Cr, 78% of Cd. During the 7 days of experiment chlorophyll content decreased by 51% and 59% in A. pinnata and L. minor respectively. Based on our findings we can suggest that these two plants have wide range of metal retention potentialities hence can be of routine use for purification of toxic effluents. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.