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Groundwater pollution is mostly caused by overuse of fertilizers, pesticides, contemporary agricultural practices, anthropogenic activities, home waste disposal, and the rapid expansion of the chemical industry. Drinking tainted water on a regular basis can have detrimental consequences on human health as well on environment. Nanoparticles (NPs) based contaminants alleviation strategy found to be most efficient, cost-effective and reliable. In this study, ZnO NPs were synthesized via citrus limon leaves extract as a sustainable/cost-effective method. Diverse microscopic and spectroscopic studies confirmed the formation of spherical ZnO NPs with size range 15–25 nm. Reactive green-19 (RG-19) was degraded photocatalytically under direct solar irradiation (degradation efficiency ∼ 92%, rate constant 0.03 min −1, 80 min) in the presence of ZnO NPs. These ZnO NPs also demonstrated highly substantial antibacterial action against two pathogenic Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis , zone of clearance: 8.6 mm) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli , zone of clearance: 9.8 mm) bacteria. Thus, the present study demonstrates the effective/sustainable NPs based platform for water remediation. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid growth of pollutants, both biological and non-biological, puts environmental systems in jeopardy. In view of this, the current study demonstrates the synthesis of undoped and Cobalt-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles (Co doped ZnO NPs) via co-precipitation method. The confirmation of incorporation of the Co dopant into ZnO NPs was verified through various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. UV-absorption spectra of cobalt-doped ZnO NPs revealed a red shift with change of absorption spectra from 356 nm to 377 nm as compared to undoped ZnO NPs. XRD studies inferred that the average crystallite size of 0.5% and 1% Co-doped ZnO powder was obtained to be ∼16 nm and 14 nm respectively. A drop in band gap value from 3.48 eV to 3.30 eV provided as substantive evidence of the successful integration of Co2+ ions inside the ZnO matrix. FESEM and HRTEM studies revealed that the obtained ZnO NPs are in narrow size distribution (15–20 nm) with a wurtzite crystal structure. The synthesized ZnO and Co–ZnO NPs showed excellent photocatalytic and antimicrobial potency towards reactive brown dye (RB-1) and two bacterial strains, respectively. 1% Co-doped ZnO demonstrated the maximum photocatalytic activity (∼95%), in contrast to 0.5% Co-doped ZnO and undoped ZnO. Thus, the findings of this work support the developed system has a dual role as the photocatalyst, and antibacterial agent for efficient environmental remediation. [Display omitted] • Bare and cobalt decorated ZnO NPs were prepared via simple co-precipitation method. • Integration of Co2+ ions in the ZnO matrix was verified via decrease in band. • Microscopic studies confirmed the wurtzite crystal structure of ZnO NPs (15–20 nm). • Co doped ZnO NPs showed enhanced photocatalysis and antibacterial potency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India being a developing country, confronts the issue of decayed teeth on a regular basis. However, baseline data on dentition status of rural population in Punjab is scarce. Methods: Adescriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to assess oral health status of 12 to 74 year old subjects in Ferozepur District. Results: Sample consisted of 340 subjects with 55.9% (n=190) females. Mean DMFT of the sample was 5.81±7.80. Dental decay was found to occur in 67.94% (n=231) of the total population with 60.17% (n=139) females and 39.81% (n=92) males having dental decay and this difference was significant (`7;2=5.38, PX04;0.01). Aone-way between subjects ANOVA revealed that there was a significant effect of age on dental caries prevalence (F (3,336)=17.92, P<0.001). Most affected teeth by dental caries were the first and second molars and made up for more than half of the total number of decayed teeth (53.4%, n=463). 95.88% (n=326) subjects required dental treatment and almost three fourth of the sample needed one or two surface fillings (77.94%, n=265). Conclusion: The caries experience and treatment needs of this cohort were comparative to those reported by other studies in rural India. Disproportionate distribution of dental professionals in the urban and rural areas along with lack of awareness, appear to be the prevailing causes of poor oral health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]