Articles in Press

Contamination of the food chain by toxic metals is one of the main concerns for human health. Milk is part of a balanced diet; essential for proper growth, but can also contains hazardous chemicals and contaminants including heavy metals which can be a risk for health. The aim of this study is to estimate the concentration of heavy metals in goat’s milk and to assess infants and children health risks related to milk consumption in Jijel province. Metals, namely Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn were determined by FAAS. In parallel, an online survey was carried out to estimate the daily consumption of milk. Then, non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health risk values were calculated. The results indicated common to low levels of essential elements (Cu: 0.05 ± 0.001 mg/kg, Zn: 1.87 ± 0.069 mg/kg) in comparison with toxic elements (Cd: 0.018 ± 0.001 mg/kg, Pb: 0.38 ± 0.004 mg/kg). Cadmium content bordered its limit (0.01mg/kg), whereas, lead was higher twenty time the permissible limit. While, daily estimated intake of lead exceeds the limit value (282.35%), target hazard quotient and hazard index of the mixture were below one the safe limit, representing the absence of non-carcinogenic risk. Contrariwise, the carcinogenic risk of Pb and Cd, and their cumulative risk were observed higher than the acceptable limit (Pvalue < 0.001). Based on these results, the consumption of goat’s milk in Jije lprovince seems to be not safe for infants.

To investigate the combined toxic effects of microplastics and aluminum (Al) on ectomycorrhizal fungi, Lactobacillus delicious (Ld) was selected as the experimental subject to conduct research on monodisperse polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs) (0, 20, 100, 200 mg L-1) and Al3+ (40 mg L-1) single pollution on Ld growth, the antioxidant system and organic acid secretion, followed by their combined effect. The results showed that the growth of Ld was inhibited and the biomass decreased significantly (P < 0.05) under single exposure to PS-MPs or Al3+, and the contents of superoxide anion radical (O2·-) and H2O2 in mycelia increased significantly (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) activities were also significantly increased (P < 0.05), while catalase (CAT) activity was significantly decreased (P < 0.05), indicating that PS-MPs or Al3+ stress had different effects on antioxidant enzyme activities in Ld mycelia, which used highly active antioxidant enzymes to eliminate excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) and maintain their dynamic balance. In addition, the electrolyte leakage rate, proline and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents in Ld mycelia were significantly increased (P < 0.05). Under the combined exposure of PS-MPs and Al3+, compared with the control group, the combined exposure of high concentrations of PS-MPs and Al3+ (200+40 mg L-1) had a certain promoting effect on the biomass of Ld. In addition, the O2·-, H2O2, electrolyte leakage rate and malondialdehyde content in Ld mycelia increased significantly (P < 0.05), but these indices were significantly lower than those in the single PS-MPs exposure group at the same concentration. This indicates that the combined effect of PS-MPs and Al3+ could reduce the damage of single pollutants to the Ld biomass membrane and reduce the production of ROS to a certain extent. In addition, correlation analysis showed that H2O2 in Ld mycelia had a highly significant positive correlation with the oxalic acid and total hydrogen ion concentrations in the culture solution (P < 0.01). This indicates that strain Ld could respond to the oxidative damage caused by microplastics and Al by secreting oxalic acid and hydrogen ions into the culture medium.

By using a hybrid solar mineral water production setup to turn sea water into mineral water, this research intends to provide a comprehensive solution to the human need for drinking water. Before feeding seawater into the solar still, it also applies the proper pretreatment. In order to increase the rate of evaporation, this research maintains a thin layer of water. It also chooses or optimises the best PCM for night production and supports climatic fluctuations during day production. It chooses and refines the best absorber black coating for the basin in order to improve the quality and longevity of the absorption process. This article adapts the proper post treatment for fresh water to provide mineral water and has the necessary alterations to utilise the hybrid system anywhere there is feed water, if necessary. The computer-integrated data logger is used to properly infer real-time measurements. As a result, the hybrid effort increased both the yield of fresh water and the drinking water's quality. The highest yield was 6.273 kg per square metre per day in the winter and 9.715 kg per square metre per day in the summer. The design of the solar still with multiple trays, solar disc emphasis on the solar still, and cover cooling technique shall be supplemented the additional yield of fresh water from the sea water can further improve the system.

Pozzolanic material and a chemical admixture have been used in the current investigation; Nano Biomass Silica (NBS) and Poly-Carboxylate Ether (PCE). NBS produces 20% of the 590 million tonnes of paddy produced globally. Amorphous silica, a mineral component used in concrete, is present in sizable levels in these by-products (NBS). A binary and ternary of NBS with partial replacement of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and the addition of PCE with varying dosage by weight of cement were used. This study's goal is to determine how they affect paste Setting time (ST) and Standard consistency (SC), and hydration temperature evaluation conducted in hot weather with various percentage at NBS from 6, 12 and 18% and PCE with varying dosage from 0.8, 0.9 and 1%. The chemical bond & structure of pozzolanic and chemical admixture in the FTIR were analysed. While PCE showed very little impact on consistency, higher w/b ratios with higher NBS levels were required for the maintenance of OPC-NBS paste consistency standards. The Initial setting time (IST) & Final setting time (FST) for binary OPC-NBS pastes significantly raise to 6% NBS, followed by a decrease at 12% and 18% NBS. However, for OPC-PCE pastes, the IST increased to 0.8%PCE followed by decrease at 0.9% and 1% PCE. In cement paste, PCE can be added as an additive, but the FST increases with an increase in the PCE percentage. At the same time, the mineral admixtures NBS can be used as a cement paste to decrease the FST and also reduce agricultural waste. NBS will effectively use silica ash as a microstructure filler as an additive in manufacturing to produce a certain form of cement with specific IST and FST, in particular for the sustainability of building materials and in hot weather.