There has been a rising global concern of mercury because of its persistent nature, long-range transport and toxicity. Mercury possesses serious health effects on living organisms and the environment. Mercury, mostly in inorganic form, is present in almost all categories of rocks. It may be released through natural occurrences and/or anthropogenic activities such as aluminum production. Stable organic mercury compounds, for example methyl mercury (CH3Hg), are formed by the attachment of mercury to one or two carbon atoms. Depending on the source of bauxite, a substantial amount of elemental mercury is released by aluminum industries. Emitted elemental mercury contributes to increasing global atmospheric reserve of mercury hence decreasing mercury emissions plays a key role in lowering the contribution of anthropogenic activities to the global atmospheric mercury budget. In general, all three forms of mercury (elemental, inorganic and organic mercury) have the potential of causing adverse health effects at sufficiently high doses. Mercury emissions are readily absorbed through the alveoli membranes and gastrointestinal tract affecting other systems. Fetuses and individuals often exposed to mercury (chronic exposure) are two classes of people who are more susceptible to harm caused by mercury. This paper discusses mercury metal and oxide emission from the aluminum industry.
Management of waste is a key concern in several communities in Ghana. The exponential growth in waste generation imposes serious threats such as environmental pollution, health risk and scarcity of dumping site to our society. A large variety of organic rich materials inherent in this waste have high potential to be treated by the use of anaerobic digestion. In this study, eight (8) Laboratory scale biodigesters were used for the anaerobic co-digestion of household and market waste with cow dung as inoculum, controlled at a pH range of 6.53-7.04 and at a mesophilic temperature of 35±2˚C. The study was also conducted in batch mode at a hydraulic retention time of 21 days. The anaerobic co-digestion process was developed and optimized at varying feedstock to inoculum ratio to determine the potential biogas yield from each proportion. The results obtained indicate sample S8, containing market waste and inoculum in the ratio of 6:1 produced the optimum concentration of methane (51% v/v biogas) while the least was recorded by sample S2 primarily made up of market waste. ANOVA results show that the concentration of methane produced from the substrate is significantly affected by the hydraulic retention time and pH value of the anaerobic digestion process.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.