A total of 40 dairy cows in early lactation (60 to 90 days) of four different breeds were selected, comprising 10 animals each from Holstein Friesian (HF), Jersey (J), Achai (ACH) and F 1 (HF x Sahiwal). All cows were multiparous with body weight 250-400 kg and milk production ranged from 3 to 12 kg/day. Blood samples were collected from each animal at fortnight intervals for 90 days. In the present study, 65 % of cows reestablished estrus while 35 % cows remained anestrous, 80 % of Holsteins showed estrus followed by 70 % of Jersey and F 1 cows while in Achai breed showed only 40 % and 60 % cows remained anestrous. Blood glucose and daily milk yield significantly affected post partum estrus (P<0.01) while serum total protein and triglycerides concentration in blood did not affect post partum estrus. The serum glucose level was lower (39.93 ± 3.14 mg/dl) two months before and showed an increasing trend (49.63 ± 2.47 mg/dl) towards commencement of estrus as well as during estrus (48.20 ± 2.42 mg/dl) and then a declining trend was observed. Mean concentration of serum glucose was significantly higher in Jersey (52.50 ± 2.09 mg/dl) followed by F 1 (39.68 ± 1.45 mg/dl), HF (38.85 ± 1.77 mg/dl) and Achai (33.30 ± 2.17 mg/dl) respectively. Breed type significantly affected blood glucose (P < 0.05) in jersey cows whereas both blood glucose and triglycerides were significantly affected (P < 0.001 and P < 0.05, respectively) in F 1 cows.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were determined in domestic, commercial and industrial soot samples via HPLC. The study showed that benzo[a]pyrene (bap) was not present in most of the samples. The highest quantity of BaP was found in Pakistan Particle Board where its concentration was 259.12 mg/kg. The high quantity of other PAHs such as chrysene (CHR), anthracene (ANT), fluorene (FL), naphthalene (NAP), phenanthrene (PHE), acenaphthylene (ACP) and flouranthene (FTH) were found in tandoor, kabab karayi, tabakhee, brick kiln and motor car soot samples. The low concentration of most of the PAH compounds in most of the samples might be due to their photooxidative, biological and microbial degradation.

The heavy metals such as manganese (Mn), cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu) and iron (Fe) were determined in domestic, commercial and industrial soot samples via atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The vehicle soot samples showed highest concentration of investigated heavy metals as compared to other soot samples. It was also found that the concentration of Fe was high in the soot samples (range 5.75–1105 mg/Kg) followed by Cu (70–990 mg/Kg) while the concentration of Ni was lower (range 0.5–3 mg/Kg). It was also found that the concentration of Mn and Fe was decreased as decreased the size of the soot samples while the concentration of other investigated heavy metals increased as decreased the size fraction.

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