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The rapid pace of urbanization and industrialization makes soil and environment polluted, which may cause a severe issue of food chain contamination. Discharge of heavy metal(oid)s from industrial and municipal wastewater streams, and groundwater contamination causes a reduction in crop yields, degradation of soils and ruin quality. Cultivated Asian rice and heavy metal(oid)s have two ways of interaction, either heavy metal(oid)s accumulation cause harmful effects on rice crop or rice plants possess their resistance mechanism to protect against the toxic effects of heavy metal(oid)s, their uptake, and translocation also detoxify the heavy metal(oids) contamination. Besides, several inorganic (liming and silicon) and organic (compost and biochar) amendments have been applied in the soils to reduce/immobilize heavy metal(oid)s stress in rice. Selection/development of rice varieties resistant to heavy metals stress and bioaccumulation, crop rotation, water management and exogenous application of microbes could be a reasonable approach to alleviate heavy metal(oid)s toxicity in rice. This article review that heavy metals, such as aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, mercury, and lead are the major environmental pollutants, mainly in the places having more significant anthropogenic pressure. In agricultural areas, accumulation of heavy metals is of primary concern because of their adverse effects. This review article also briefly discusses the impact of the heavy metals on human health, soil, plants, and their metabolic mechanisms induced by the biological and geological redistribution of heavy metals by soil and water pollution.

The goal of this study was to determine how surface and wastewater contribute to the contamination of the environment with an extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli (ESBL E. coli). Water samples (n = 32) were collected from eight different locations of Islamabad and processed for microbiological and molecular analyses of E. coli and ESBL E. coli. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was carried out to determine the resistance pattern of the isolates. A total of 21 water samples were contaminated with E. coli and 15 isolates were identified as ESBL producers harboring blaTEM (40%) and blaCTX-M (33.33%) genes. Interestingly, all the ESBL E. coli isolates showed the least resistance against second-generation Cephalosporins compared to other generations. Moreover, the study showed that the aquatic environment is harboring multidrug-resistant E. coli; therefore, it may act as a source of transmission to humans. The recovery of ESBL E. coli isolates resistant to higher generation Cephalosporins, Monobactam, and Carbapenems from water samples indicated an alarming situation. Thus, there is an urgent need to treat water efficiently for microbial decontamination to minimize the transmission of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacteria.

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This article describes the main impacts of the illegal logging activities with emphasis on the most important deforestation affected regions; Indonesia, Bangladesh, Australia, India, Peninsular Malaysia, and Pakistan. Although the discussion is concentrated on the socioeconomic, environmental and governance impacts, it must be stressed that the term deforestation is the roadmap where the environmental values, the economy, and welfare of forest-dependent communities are crushed without any kindness. Despite multiple efforts, the results in the combat of illegal logging are far from satisfactory. Furthermore, governments and businesses must implement the triple bottom line concept in order to achieve sustainability.

Anaerobic co-digestion (AcoD) has been practiced for decades to convert waste into value-added energy products, especially biogas. This study aimed to assess the potential of biogenic methane (CH4) production from the co-digestion of pretreated cotton gin trash (CGT), cow manure, and sludge. CGT contains high cellulosic content, making it a reliable feedstock for biogenic methane production. To further improve the biogas quantity and quality, the CGT was subjected to physical pretreatments, i.e., hot water (HW), ultra-sonication (US), and a combination of both (HW+US). After 91 days of AcoD, 79–110 L of biogas was produced by the treatments. Among the treatments, HW+US-pretreated CGT presented maximum biogas production capacity, at 110 L. Besides, this treatment showed the high-quality biogenic CH4 content, 52.4% of the total biogas volume, with an improved conversion rate of 0.37 L/g of volatile suspended solids consumed. In addition, this study discussed the structural changes in feedstock due to pretreatments and correlated them with the corresponding biogenic methane production. The study reports the potential of pretreated CGT conversion to CH4. It will impact the circular economy by contributing to on-farm energy requirements and reducing the financial expenditures incurred in this regard.

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