Faculty of Applied Sciences
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://ir-dev.dut.ac.za/handle/10321/5
Browse
4 results
Search Results
Item The potential of fungi in the bioremediation of pharmaceutically active compounds : a comprehensive review(Frontiers Media SA, 2023-07-12) Amobonye, Ayodeji; Aruwa, Christiana E.; Aransiola, Sesan; Omame, John; Alabi, Toyin D.; Lalung, JaparengThe ability of fungal species to produce a wide range of enzymes and metabolites, which act synergistically, makes them valuable tools in bioremediation, especially in the removal of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) from contaminated environments. PhACs are compounds that have been specifically designed to treat or alter animal physiological conditions and they include antibiotics, analgesics, hormones, and steroids. Their detrimental effects on all life forms have become a source of public outcry due their persistent nature and their uncontrolled discharge into various wastewater effluents, hospital effluents, and surface waters. Studies have however shown that fungi have the necessary metabolic machinery to degrade PhACs in complex environments, such as soil and water, in addition they can be utilized in bioreactor systems to remove PhACs. In this regard, this review highlights fungal species with immense potential in the biodegradation of PhACs, their enzymatic arsenal as well as the probable mechanism of biodegradation. The challenges encumbering the real-time application of this promising bioremediative approach are also highlighted, as well as the areas of improvement and future perspective. In all, this paper points researchers to the fact that fungal bioremediation is a promising strategy for addressing the growing issue of pharmaceutical contamination in the environment and can help to mitigate the negative impacts on ecosystems and human health.Item A study of toxic metals in kerb-side soils(2003) Msukwini, Johannes Themba; Moodley, Kandasamy Govindsamy; Southway-Ajulu, F. A.In urban environments motor vehicles are by far the largest source oflead. In areas subjected to heavy and slow moving vehicular traffic, the amount of lead exhausted may be quite high. Since exhaust fumes settle on kerb-sides, soil samples from these areas may not only give a good measure of the accumulation of lead but also eliminate the need to risk expensive sampling equipment in collecting air samples. In order to determine the levels of lead and other toxic metals such as chromium, cadmium, nickel, copper and aluminium, soil samples were collected from kerb-sides and road islands around the City of Durban and along the national road N3 in the vicinity of Shongweni. City, peri-urban and rural roads were selected for sampling. In a preliminary study, kerb-side dust from one of the streets with very heavy vehicular traffic was collected. It is also a street where many vendors have food stalls. The horizontal distribution of metals as a function of distance from the kerb was determined by analyzing samples which were collected at various distances from the edge of a road. The determination of vertical distribution of metals in the soil was also performed. Samples for this work were collected by digging 0 to 2 cm, 10 to 15 cm and 20 to 25 cm deep at various points along the National Highway (N3). 111 Some sub-samples were leached at pHs found in soils using a Hazardous Waste Filtration System while other sub-samples from the same gross sample were aciddigested in a Microwave Digester. The analyses were done using ICP-ABS, AAS and GF-AAS. As expected the values for lead were the highest for urban sites and lowest for rural ones and values from leaching experiments were lower than those for digested samples from the same site. Taken over all sites, the values for lead ranged from 0.02 to 298 ppm for leached samples and from 25 to 1900 ppm for digested samples.Item The accumulation of heavy metals by aquatic plants(2003) Maharaj, Saroja; Moodley, Kandasamy Govindsamy; Southway-Ajulu, F. A.; Baijnath, HimansuThe pollution of water bodies by heavy metals is a serious threat to humanity. The technique known as phytoremediation is used to clean up these polluted water bodies. The accumulation of heavy metals by aquatic plants is a safer, . cheaper and friendlier manner of cleaning the environment. The aquatic plants -studied in this project are A.sessilis, P.stratiotes, R.steudelii and T.capensis. The accumulation of heavy metals in aquatic plants growing in waste water treatment ponds was investigated. The water, sludge and plants were collected from five maturation ponds at the Northern Waste Water Treatment Works, Sea Cow Lake, Durban. The samples were analysed for Zn, Mn, Cr, Ni, Pb and Cu using ICP-MS. In general it was found that the concentrations of the targeted metals were much lower in the water (0.002 to 0.109 mg/I) compared to sediment/sludge (44 to 1543mg/kg dry wt) and plants (0.4 to 2246 mg/kg dry wt). These results show that water released into the river from the final maturation pond has metal concentrations well below the maximum limits set by international environmental control bodies. It also shows that sediments act as good sinks for metals and that plants do uptake metals to a significant extent. Of the four plants investigated it was found that }t.sessi[ir (leaves, roots and stems) and }A.sessilis (roots and stems) are relatively good collectors of Mn and Cu respectively. These findings are described in the thesis. The concentration of heavy metals in the stems, leaves and roots of the three plants were compared to ascertain if there were differences in the ability of the plant at different parts of the plant to bioaccumulate the six heavy metals studied.Item The evaluation of liquid hydrocarbon contamination of soil around petrochemical tank farms at a Durban refinery(2004) Ramluckan, KrishanThe primary objective of this study was to determine the levels of liquid hydrocarbon contamination present in the soil within the SAPREF refinery. The secondary objective arising from this was the development of a gas chromatographic (GC) method using a fifty metre PONA (Paraffin, Olefin, Naphthalene and Aromatic) capillary column and the split injection technique, for the analysis. Toluene was the solvent selected, with the Standard method for the BÜCHI extraction system, to extract the hydrocarbons present in the soil samples taken at the five different tank farm sites in the refinery. The main purpose of the analysis and evaluation was to enable the refinery to establish environmental control measures to reduce the contamination of the soil in the area.