Introduction The freshwater clam, Galatea paradoxa (Born 1778) is a bivalve mollusc belonging to the family Donacidae (Purchon, 1963) andis usually restricted to the lower reaches of a few rivers in West Africa including the Volta inGhana (King and Udoidiong, 1991).It constitutes an important and affordable protein source to the riparian human communities of the Lower Volta,andhas for centuries been the basis of a thriving artisanal fishery and a means of livelihood for between 1000-2000 peop

Introduction The gravest environmental challenge that Jordan faces today is the scarcity of water. Indeed, water is the decisive factor in the population/resources equation. Whereas water resources in Jordan have fluctuated around a stationary average, the country’s population has continued to rise. A high rate of natural population growth, combined with periodic massive influxes of refugees, has transformed a comfortable balance between population and water in the first half of thi

Introduction Most pharmaceuticals are persistent in wastewater especially the effluent from pharmaceutical industries and also from hospital wastes. Considerable attention has been already devoted for the removal of these pharmaceuticals from wastewater. Ibuprofen (IBP) and paracetamol (PCM) are two important pharmaceutical drugs which are regularly used to cure from fever, migraine, and diseases resulted from inflammatory disorder.1-4 Figure 1 shows the chemical structure of IBP and

Introduction Water is fundamental human need; human life and existence of all eco system depends largely on the availability of water both in high quality and sustainable quantity supply, safe water is the water delivered to the consumers that can be used directly for drinking, cooking, and washing. It is the responsibility of authority at all levels to review, inspect, monitor and evaluate on continues basis the water supplied to the community, using constantly updated water standard John (1

Introduction Mexican glaciers of the Iztaccihuatl, Orizaba’s peak (Citlaltepetl) and Popocatepetl will disappear in the next 10 to 35 years, warns a study from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) (Lorenzo 1964). Mexico’s Glaciers focalize an unusual global interest, on one hand; they are the only one in latitude 19° north and exist due to the mountains that allocate then have heights higher than 5000 meters. International organization studying gl

Introduction The pulp and paper industry is one of the oldest industrial sectors in the world. It is a highly capital, energy and water intensive industry with highly polluting process and requires sustainable investments in pollution control methods and equipment. In the pulp and paper industry, a huge amount of water flowsthrough different processes. For environmental and economic reasons, the plant recycles the water as much as possible. Before recycling the water is purified to a certa

Introduction Two aspects of global climate change that directly influence plant physiology, growth and productivity; increasing in concentrations of ambient ozone (O3) and carbon dioxide (CO2).1,2 Atmospheric CO2 is projected to continue rising to at least 550 ppb by 2050.3 The current annual average (O3) is predicted to continue increasing by 0.5–2% per year over the next century, mainly due to increases in precursor emissions from anthropogenic sources.4,5 Gre

Introduction Global warming is the increase in the usual temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans since the late 19th century. Since the early 20th century, Earth's mean surface temperature has increased by about 0.8 °C (1.4 °F), with about two-thirds of the increase occurring since 1980. Warming of the climate structure is unambiguous, and scientists are certain that it is primarily caused by i

Introduction Heavy metals are important environmental pollutants, particularly in areas with high anthropogenic pressure. Their presence in the plants, atmosphere, soil and water, even in traces, can cause serious problems to all organisms. The presence of heavy metals in sewage sludge, used as agricultural fertilizer is a major problem for crop and environmental qualities and their impact on human health, because most of the heavy metals are persistent due to their immobile nature (Devkota e

Introduction Surface water is usually rain water that collects in surface water bodies, like oceans, lakes, or streams. Surface water can become contaminated in many ways, one of which is direct recharge can come from industries sources. A change in the water chemistry due to surface water contamination can negatively affect all levels of an ecosystem. It can impact the health of lower food chain organism and consequently the contaminated surface water can also affect the health of animals an

Introduction Certainly dust deteriorates the ecological condition and can be defined as the fluctuation in any atmospheric constituent from the value that would have existed without human activity (Tripathi and Gautam, 2007). Environmental degradation exerts significant pressure on human health; unfortunately these aspects are closely associated with the hazards to the environment and human caused by transport specially road transport (Dora and Phillips, 2000). The impact of dust pollution on

Introduction   Atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-striazine), is probably the most commonly used chlorinated herbicide in the world.1 Atrazine is a selective systemic and most popular herbicide introduced in 1958 by J.R. Geigy. It has a range of trade names including Marksman, Coyote, Atrazina, Atrazol and Vectal. Atrazine is used for the pre and post-emergence control of annual and broad leaved weeds and perennial grasses; it inhibits photosynthesis and interferes with

Introduction Narmada is originated from eastern Madhya Pradesh at Amarkantak (Situated at 20° 40', 80° 45' E), flows towards west and finally joins Arabian sea at Broach (Situated at 21°43', 72° 57' E).Dams, built to change natural flow regimes, are one of the most significant human interventions in the hydrological cycle. The construction of dam’s results in physical, chemical and biological changes to natural ecosyste

Introduction Aflatoxin is the metabolic by product of mols Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus.It is a toxic compound and the cause of high mortality in livestock, poultry and in some cases of human beings (Reed and Kasali., 1987, Montessano et al.1995). Toxicogenic A. Flavus. produces Aflatoxin B1 and B2 whereas A. Parasiticus  produces Aflatoxin G1 and G2.Aflatoxin B1 is classified as group I carcinogen by international agency for research on cancer. Effect of a

Introduction Water is a one of the most important renewable natural resources. Approximately 71% of the earth’s surface is covered with water. Fresh water is found as underground water in large reservoirs surrounded by rock called aquifers. This ground water has long been considered is one of the purest forms of water available in nature to meet the overall demand of rural and semi urban people.1 In India most of the population is dependent on ground water as it is the only