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Brick making is one of the growing industry of Pakistan which had great contribution in the development of country. In order to meet the demands of urbanization the industry's production rate is also increasing. This has lead to the combustion of enormous amount of coal and other materials thus deteriorating the quality of environment. Brick kilns in developing countries are considered as one of the important source of pollution. Heavy metals are one of the reported pollutants from brick kilns and are highly persistent, non-biodegradable in nature and are serious threat to the environment. The aim of the current study was to assess the level of heavy metals in the soil and vegetation around three selected brick kilns sites in Rawalpindi. The study was conducted from October 2013 to May 2014. The concentration of heavy metals in the soil and plants were determined with standard protocols. The investigated concentration of heavy metals in plants and soils were compared with the WHO standards. It was found that the concentrations of all studied metals were above the permissible limits especially at agriculture soil located adjacent to brick kilns. However, at few sites the concentrations were found below the permissible limits. The results of study showed that brick kilns have great potential of deteriorating the quality of environment so, it is recommended that the monitoring of soil and plants around brick kilns should be carried out on regular basis in order to develop control measures to prevent the impacts of heavy metals pollution.

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Sodium alginate (SA) is a progressive material for membrane fabrication. The technological development of SA-based membranes has made a significant contribution to the separation techniques, especially in aqueous organic solutions. The outstanding performance of SA is attributed to its outstanding structural flexibility and hydrophilicity. In view of structural characteristics, SA membranes have immense utilization in the pervaporation separation of organics. Among various organics, dehydration of aqueous ethanol is employed as a standard to check the success of pervaporation (PV) membrane. Because ethanol and water have comparable molecular sizes, thus difficult to extract water from aqueous ethanol mixtures than it is for other organics. A literature survey shows that wide-ranging data are available on the PV performance of SA and its modified membranes. In this context, the present review addresses the recent advances made in SA membranes for enhanced ethanol dehydration performance during the last decade.Available data since 2010 has been compiled for grafted, crosslinked, blend, mixed matrix, and composite hybrid sodium alginate membranes in terms of separation factor, permeation flux, and pervaporation separation index PSI. The data are assessed with reference to the effect of feed composition, membrane selectivity, flux, and swelling behavior.

Citrus fruits may serve as potential dietary exposure pathways to toxic levels of pesticides, with which they are treated. For possible protection of the consumers, pesticide residues in citrus fruits need strict and regular monitoring. This study aimed at investigating the pesticide residues status of the raw/fresh citrus fruits i.e. Kinnow Mandarin, along with evaluating exposure risks from the detected pesticides through Kinnow Mandarin consumption. Overall, 22.5% of the samples were non-complaint to the CAC-MRLs (Codex Alimentarius Commission’s established maximum residue limits) and 77.5% were exceeding the MRLs set by EU (European Union). Bifenthrin, with highest detection rate (53%), is a registered pyrethroid acaricide/insecticide for use on citrus fruits and is among the potential endocrine disrupting substances. The estimated acute/short-term (%aRfD) and chronic/long-term (%ADI) exposure values were in the range of 0.12–29.12% and 0.001–1.186%, respectively, not exceeding the hazard limit of 100% in any case. The cumulative toxicity evaluation performed for the detected neurotoxic pesticides belonging to pyrethroid, organophosphate and neonicotinoid group, indicated low potential long-term health risks from citrus fruits consumption. The results of the health risks’ estimations denote citrus fruits consumption a safer option for its consumers.

An analytical method was optimized and validated for the routine analysis of eighteen commonly used and widely reported pesticides in Tomato and Aubergine/Eggplant. Acetate-buffered QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe) extraction with PSA (primary secondary amines) cleanup through dispersive SPE (solid phase extraction) was employed. The analytical method was validated at three spiking levels (0.05, 0.01, 0.005mg/Kg) using GC-µECD (gas chromatograph-micro electron capture detector). GC-MSD (gas chromatograph-mass spectrometric detector) was used for both confirmation and quantification using SIM (selective ion monitoring) mode. The LOD and LOQ (limit of detection and quantification) for the studied compounds ranged from 0.0025 to 0.01mg/Kg. The recoveries ranged from 72 – 129% and 70 - 122% with an associated precision (%RSD) of -30 – 23% and -27 – 30%, in Tomato and Aubergine/Eggplant, respectively. The method was applied to fresh samples of Tomato (n = 33) and Aubergine/Eggplant (n = 27) collected from local markets of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Over 76% of the Tomato and 56% of the Aubergine/Eggplant samples were found positive. The chronic and acute health risk assessments have shown that both of these vegetables are unlikely to pose any unacceptable health threat to their consumers.

Citrus fruits may serve as potential dietary exposure pathways to toxic levels of pesticides, with which they are treated. For possible protection of the consumers, pesticide residues in citrus fruits need strict and regular monitoring. This study aimed at investigating the pesticide residues status of the raw/fresh citrus fruits i.e. Kinnow Mandarin, along with evaluating exposure risks from the detected pesticides through Kinnow Mandarin consumption. Overall, 22.5% of the samples were non-complaint to the CAC-MRLs (Codex Alimentarius Commission’s established maximum residue limits) and 77.5% were exceeding the MRLs set by EU (European Union). Bifenthrin, with highest detection rate (53%), is a registered pyrethroid acaricide/insecticide for use on citrus fruits and is among the potential endocrine disrupting substances. The estimated acute/short-term (%aRfD) and chronic/long-term (%ADI) exposure values were in the range of 0.12–29.12% and 0.001–1.186%, respectively, not exceeding the hazard limit of 100% in any case. The cumulative toxicity evaluation performed for the detected neurotoxic pesticides belonging to pyrethroid, organophosphate and neonicotinoid group, indicated low potential long-term health risks from citrus fruits consumption. The results of the health risks’ estimations denote citrus fruits consumption a safer option for its consumers.

| Peaches, similar to many other fruits and vegetables, are treated with different pesticides at various stages of their growth and development, under conventional agricultural practices especially in developing countries. Pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables have achieved considerable attention due to the unempirical utilization of pesticides. Fruits and their products can serve as potential sources of toxic constituents such as pesticide residues, as they are often consumed unprocessed. This study was designed to assess the pesticide contamination level in different varieties of peach collected from the Swat and Peshawar districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The analytical method was optimized for a total of nine different pesticides (Atrazine, parathion-methyl, chlorpyrifos, captan, α-endosulfan, dieldrin, β-endosulfan, endosulfan sulfate, and α-cypermethrin) of various chemical classes, using Agilent's Intuvo-9000 GC-µECD system. A total of thirteen peach samples, ten from fruit orchards and three from fruit markets, belonging to five different varieties were collected and analysed. 38% of the samples were found to be non-compliant to EU-MRL for chlorpyrifos, 8% for atrazine and parathion-methyl, whereas no non-compliance was observed for FAO/codex maximum residue limits (MRLs). The designed method for the multi-class pesticide residues was standardized for peaches via GC-µECD. Based on the results of the present study, it is the need of time to conduct more research in this field; disseminate results, and develop stringent policies to screen the use of pesticides sustainably for the benefit of the environment and mankind.