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AbstractMicroplastics (MPs) possess a strong capacity to adsorb and biodegrade slowly, resulting in substantial harm to the environment and potential health risks. In recent years, a flourishing study of MPs has led to valuable advancements. This review article presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of global microplastic pollution, providing a deep understanding of published data, current progress, research trends, and focal points. We conducted extensive searches in the Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection databases from 2012 to 2021, utilizing the widely used R software for analysis. Our findings demonstrate a significant increase in micro(nano)plastic publications, with a growth rate of 73.0% from 2012 to 2021. China emerges as the predominant contributor in this field. The journal Science of the Total Environment has published the highest proportion of relevant articles (16.1%) and received the most citations (9801). The analysis further emphasizes polymer products and MPs as key research areas in the past decade. This study serves as a fundamental basis for future investigations into micro(nano)plastic pollution’s impacts on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human activities around or within national highways, combined with atmospheric mixing, produce road dust, which can cause health problems through a variety of exposure routes. Thus, the study was aimed to investigate the contamination, spatial distribution, potential ecological and human health risks of various toxic heavy metals such as lead (Pb), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni) and arsenic (As) in road dusts samples collected from traffic load and land-use types along the hectic Kushtia-Jhenaidah national highway, Bangladesh. The mean concentrations of Pb, Cu, Cr, Cd, Zn, Ni and As were found as 50.8 ± 15.7, 82.6 ± 17.2, 20.1 ± 5.7, 0.18 ± 0.06, 126.2 ± 40.7, 14.1 ± 4.7 and 0.12 ± 0.04 mg/kg, respectively, whereas Pb, Cu, Cd and Zn were evidently several times higher than the respective background values. The values of variance of coefficient (VC) exhibited that magnitudes of metal pollutions across the study sites were dominated by anthropogenic activities, while the principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) identified vehicular and industrial emissions as the major sources of heavy metals in road dusts. The geo-accumulation index (Igeo) values indicated that most of the dust samples were unpolluted to moderately polluted by heavy metals. The contamination factor (CF) values were found in the following order: Cu > Pb > Zn > Cd > Ni > Cr > As, while the contamination degree (CD) values indicated moderate to considerable level of contamination. Furthermore, the study site posed low to moderate ecological risks, despite the fact that non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic threats from various pathways of exposure appear insignificant, with children being more vulnerable than adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An effective toxicological assessment of soil-metal bioavailability and plant translocation processes is needed in view of the growing negative impact of trace element pollution on the terrestrial environment and human health. This study was conducted to assess the toxicological processes that regulate the plants' trace element absorption into their tissues, the suitability for human use, the potential sources of trace elements, and the risk to human health, using an integrated research methodology. Soils and sweet potato plants were collected from agricultural fields near the tannery waste disposal sites of Dhaka City, Bangladesh and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometers (ICP-MS) were used to analyze the essential and toxic elements. The mean concentrations of total elements in soil followed the descending order of Fe > Zn > Mn > Cr > Ni > Pb > Cu > As > Cd and in plant Fe > Zn > Cu > Cr > Ni > Mn > Pb > As > Cd. In the edible tissues of sweet potato, the concentrations of essential and toxic elements exceeded the maximum permissible levels, indicating not safe for human consumption. The translocation factor (TF) revealed that studied elements are more accumulated in the leaves than tubers. The enrichment factor revealed minimal to very high enrichment of essential and toxic elements in the plant parts while the contamination factor showed low to very high contamination. Considering the health risk of toxic elements from plant samples, As and Pb caused non-cancer and cancer risk on human health. However, the present results suggested that regular monitoring of these essential and toxic elements in soil and plants as well as other food materials around the abandoned tannery waste disposal sites are necessary to prevent excessive build-up of these elements in the food chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports the anthelmintic potential and membrane stabilization activity of distinct fractions (methanol, chloroform, and n-hexane extracts) using Soxhlet extractor of Randia dumetorum (R. dumetorum) leaf extracts. Paralyzed time and death time as significant indicators were used for monitoring anthelmintic activity of the examined extracts and compared with standard albendazole drug, which is applied against Bangladeshi adult earthworm (Pheretimaposthuma). Human red blood cells were used to prove the efficacy of stability activity of the examined extracts based on hypotonic solution condition, whereas acetyl salicylic acid (ASA) was used as standard anti-inflammatory drug to compare the potentiality of extracts. Among three concentrations (10, 20, and 40 mg/mL) of the examined extracts, the n-hexane extract of leaf showed the best anthelmintic activity (time of paralysis 9.44 min and time of death 22.30 min) under investigation at 40 mg/mL. Significant variation (p < 0.05) was observed when compared with the standard. The chloroform extract recorded the highest membrane-stabilizing activity, which showed the highest inhibition (78.37 ± 0.08%), compared with methanol (50.96 ± 0.05%) and n-hexane (42.86 ± 0.06%). This result was attributed to the existence of the significant content of flavonoids in chloroform extract showing considerable and effective anti-inflammatory activities in vitro, which was compared with ASA (54.59 ± 0.03%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has imposed threats on both physical and mental health since its outbreak. This study aimed to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health among a representative sample of home-quarantined Bangladeshi adults. A cross-sectional design was used with an online survey completed by a convenience sample recruited via social media. A total of 1,427 respondents were recruited, and their mental health was assessed by the DASS-21 measure. The prevalence of anxiety symptoms and depressive symptoms was 33.7% and 57.9%, respectively, and 59.7% reported mild to extremely severe levels of stress. Perceptions that the pandemic disrupted life events, affected mental health, jobs, the economy and education, predictions of a worsening situation, and uncertainty of the health care system capacities were significantly associated with poor mental health outcomes. Multivariate logistic regressions showed that sociodemographic factors and perceptions of COVID-19 significantly predict mental health outcomes. These findings warrant the consideration of easily accessible low-intensity mental health interventions during and beyond this pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The southwestern coastal areas of Bangladesh have been severely suffering from the scarcity of safe drinking water due to the combined consequences of hydrogeological processes, groundwater depletion, saltwater intrusion, and adverse anthropogenic activities. This concern results in serious public health hazards, particularly for children at primary schools. This study was conducted to evaluate some physiochemical and bacteriological parameters of drinking water from tube wells (TWs) located at primary schools in Kalapara upazila, Patuakhali district, Bangladesh. Water samples were collected from 65 TWs. The levels of the examined parameters recorded the following ranges: pH 6.9–8.3, electrical conductivity 774.3–1987.0 μS/cm, Fe 0.12–15.78 mg/L, As 0.0–0.03 mg/L, and Cl− 9.0–354.0 mg/L. The results revealed that 11% of TWs exceeded the level of Fe recommended by the National Drinking Water Quality Standard in Bangladesh, while other physiochemical parameters fit with the national standards. The bacteriological analysis revealed that 60% of TWs delivered fecal coliform (FC)-free water, while 40% of TWs supplied total coliform (TC)-free water. However, about 26% of TWs had the potential to pose non-carcinogenic health problems for children from As, while only 5% of TWs were found to cause probable non-carcinogenic risks for adults. The calculated carcinogenic risks values for adult male and female were within the USEPA acceptable range (1 × 10−4–1 × 10−6), except for only one sampling point, while four sampling points (6.15% of TWs) exhibited carcinogenic risks for children. This result indicates that the ingestion of drinking water from those TWs may pose lifetime cancer risks to children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considerable amounts of heavy metals have contaminated the soil from potential manmade point and nonpoint sources such as industry, urbanisation and agriculture. In both managed and natural ecosystems, beneficial plant--microbe interactions play a significant role improving the growth and health of plants, and could be applied for improving soil fertility as well as crop productivity. Additionally, plant--microbe interactions could be utilised in bioremediation of heavy metal-contaminated soils. The efficiency of phytoremediation can be improved with the aid of plant-growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB), which can change metals to bioavailable and soluble forms. PGPB perform remediation through processes such as production of siderophores, organic acids and biosurfactants, biomethylation, redox processes, phosphorus solubilisation, nitrogen fixation and iron sequestration. These processes improve plant growth and increase plant biomass along with phytoremediation. A crucial solution to the problem of heavy metal contamination might be an appropriate understanding of hyperaccumulator plants and their interaction with microbes. Emerging strategies for either enhancing or reducing the bioavailability of heavy metals in the rhizosphere, such as improving plant establishment, growth and health can significantly accelerate the heavy metal bioremediation process. In this review, we feature the function of PGPB to assist phytoremediation of heavy metals as an eco-friendly and economical approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]