5^th International Conference on Pollution Control & Sustainable Environment March 14-16, 2019 | SHERATON HEATHROW HOTEL, LONDON, UK

Layla Salih Al Omran has completed her PhD degree in 2016 in the field of Environmental Chemistry at University of Birmingham, UK, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Division of Environmental Health and Risk Management. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry, College of Science at University of Basrah, Iraq. Previously she worked at Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, College of Agriculture. She has more than 30 years of academic experience in the field of environmental chemistry and analytical chemistry.

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are synthetic chemicals added to a wide range of consumer products. Because they are used additively, they can transfer from such products into the environment. Evidence of their persistence and capacity for bioaccumulation has led to concerns about human exposure. Of the main exposure routes, indoor dust ingestion is a major pathway of exposure to such chemicals. It has been suggested that higher dust loadings will lead to dilute BFR concentrations in dust. On the other hand, as lipophilic compounds, BFRs are usually expected to sorb to dust particles with higher organic carbon contents. Thus, the study aims to test the hypothesis that any differences in BFR concentrations between different countries may attribute to differences in organic carbon content and dust loading. Thirteen BFR compounds were measured in 24 dust samples collected from Birmingham, UK and from Basrah, Iraq. With the exception of BDE-183 and BTBPE, average concentrations of BFRs in the UK dust samples were higher than those in Iraqi dust samples and significantly (P<0.05) higher for BDE-99, Σtri-hexa-BDEs, BDE-209, BEH-TEBP and ΣNBFRS. The organic carbon contents (TOC) of UK dust samples (26.2-56.1%) exceeded significantly (p<0.05) those of Iraqi dust samples (1.54-3.66%). In contrast, dust loading of Iraqi dust samples (1.05-2.95 g/m2) exceeded significantly (p<0.05) those of UK dust samples (0.22-0.64 g/m2). Significant negative correlation was observed between log concentrations of BFRs and log dust loading for Iraqi dust samples and significant positive correlation was observed between log concentrations of BFRs and TOC for UK dust samples. Our findings in both UK and Iraqi dust samples revealed that, higher organic carbon contents and lower dust loading in UK dust samples could contribute to the higher concentrations of BFRs in the UK as compared with Iraq.

Fahed Ayed N Aloufi is a Lecturer in the Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Meteorology, Environment and Arid Land Agriculture in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He obtained his BSc in 2007, Environmental Science. In 2011, he received an MSc on the research entitled ‘Sustainable Energy and Environment’, Engineering School, University of Cardiff. His research study is focused on atmospheric pollution and environmental management. He is currently a PhD researcher at Interface Analysis Centre (IAC), University of Bristol. His current research involved the study of the effect of climate change and atmospheric pollution on historical buildings in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. During his research, he gained experience on the art of analytical techniques including X-ray tomography (XRT), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and focused ion beam (FIB) and laser Raman spectroscopy (LRS).

The atmospheric pollution is one of the biggest challenges in Saudi Arabia. Particulate matter (PM) is one of the most problematic pollutants observed; this is due to the congested traffic and industrial activities. It can cause adverse health effects and material degradation. Moreover, the characterization of particulate matter is also influenced by meteorological conditions, including temperature, humidity, rainfall and wind speed. This work represents the characterization of these particle pollutants. The samples were collected from the historical site and southern industrial area in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The chemical composition of the PM were analysed using the techniques of scanning electron microscopy combined with energy-dispersion X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and dual beam - focused ion beam microscopy (DB-FIB). The results gathered from the historical site were identified where in large amounts of spherical particles consisted of carbon, Fe, Cu and Zn. In addition, Al, Si, Ca, Na and Cl were also identified. The results from the industrial southern area revealed large amounts of Zn and Fe and small amount of Mn and Cu. In addition, S K, Ca and Ti were also identified.

Mohamed Abouleish has completed his PhD from Tennessee Technological University (USA), MSc from University of Northern Iowa (USA). He is an Associate Professor at the American University of Sharjah (UAE), and previously worked as Product Coordinator at Shimadzu Scientific Instruments (USA). He has published several research works in reputed journals, such as Water Quality Research Journal and PloS ONE. The results of the research was presented at both international and regional conferences, such as International Conference on Environmental Sustainability, Development, and Protection (Spain) and National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (USA).

Treatment of wastewater and reuse, is a solution for the ever increasing demand for water and choosing a suitable and sustainable method is important, for meeting the sustainable goals of any country. Alongside the treatment process comes the removal of heavy metals that may pose a threat to the environment and human health. This research investigates the biosorption of heavy metal e.g. Lead (Pb), from wastewater, using novel plant material. The fruit of the plant is used as the biosorbent material, and the optimum conditions, such as pH, amount of plant material, metal concentration, and contact time, were investigated. Results, demonstrated that 90% of the Lead was removed at the following optimum conditions, pH 3, 0.7 g of the adsorbent plant material, 2.5 mg/L metal concentration and 2 h contact time respectively.

J Lang pursued his PhD from Technical University of Ostrava (Czech Republic) in 2018. He is currently a Junior Researcher at the Institute of Environmental Technology of the same university and also works as Postdoctoral Researcher at National University of Engineering (Peru). His major research interests are synthesis and preparation of photocatalysts and adsorbents for pollution remediation.

Statement of the Problem: Lack of access to clean drinking water is affecting billions and finding ways to cost-effective decontamination is essential. The filtration of water appears to be effective and economically viable way for water decontamination. The activated carbon filters show good results for removing chlorine, sediment particles and VOCs but struggle with mineral salts and dissolved inorganic substances. The combination of activated carbon or biochar with metal oxides such as ZnO could lead to improved performance. Aim: The purpose of this study is to prepare and characterize composites of ZnO and biochar for water purification. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: The biochars were prepared by pyrolysis of agrowastes (corn cob, coffee husk) at 600°C for 2 h under nitrogen flux (150 ml/min). The biochars impregnation was done by precipitation of colloid Zn(OH)2 and subsequent ultrasonication. The Zn content was determined using X-ray fluorescence. The textural parameters of the composites were determined by physisorption and the structure was analyzed using X-ray diffraction method. The adsorption kinetic experiments of Pb(II) were conducted. Findings: The ZnO/biochar composite from corn cob showed almost 16-times higher content of Zn than the one from coffee husk and Zn was present as crystalline ZnO. Compared with unmodified biochars, the adsorption of Pb(II) was 4.5 times and 2 times more in both the ZnO/biochar composites, with coffee husk, and corn cob respectively. But the absolute highest adsorption of Pb(II) was observed for ZnO/biochar composite from corn cob. Conclusion & Significance: The presence of ZnO significantly improved the adsorption of Pb(II) in both coffee husk and corn cob biochars. The most promising material appears to be the ZnO/biochar composite from corn cob. The use of ZnO impregnation on biochar appears to be a successful method to boost adsorption of heavy metals from water.

Viveca M Vélez Negrón is passionate about environmental neuroscience. Her participation in this project using zebrafish has encouraged her to develop her research skills. Currently, her goal is to study pharmacy and combine it with research to take her career to the next level.

Rapid and cost-effective screens for waterborne pollutants that affect the flora and fauna, as well as human health are needed. We propose to develop an up-scalable assay to test watershed contamination using sensitized zebrafish larvae focusing on two environmental toxicological endpoints: (1) the development and the regeneration of a superficial sensory organ, the lateral line (LL), and (2) larval swimming behavior. Using CRISPR-Cas9 technology we generated at least one null allele in 4 different genes. Cannabis receptors 1 and 2 (cnr1, cnr2), necessary for proper functioning of the CNS, which will predictably be affected in swimming behaviors. Tnks1bp1 and atf5a involved in development and regeneration of the LL. We expect that in the absence of the respective gene products larvae will exhibit greater susceptibility to waterborne pollutants. To identify alleles for the genes and grow stable mutant lines into the F2 and F3 generation, we systematically genotyped potential heterozygote or homozygote carriers. To do so, we prepare genomic DNA (gDNA) from fin clips of juvenile and adult fish or from whole embryos and larvae. We designed PCR primers to amplify the targeted region in the gene and sequence the amplicons looking for insertions or deletions (INDELs) that will create a translational frame shift and eventually introduce an early stop codon. Three out of the four identified alleles are homozygote viable, meaning that unchallenged animals which are completely lacking the given gene products, are developing into healthy and fertile adults. Both, adult fish and larvae from those 3 lines will be ideal for testing water quality and are expected to display increased sensitivity in the presence of potential contaminants and can therefore serve as sensitized environmental sentinels in up-scalable environmental toxicology screens.

Reem Albilali is an Assistant Professor of Physical Chemistry at IAU University, Saudi Arabia since 2012. Her research interests are the synthesis and characterization of supported metal nanoparticles and their catalytic applications, the conversion of biomass derived molecules to biofuel. In September 2015, she joined Cardiff Catalysis Institute at Cardiff University, UK, as a Visiting Postdoctoral Researcher for 2 years. She has many publications in both Arabic and English language, and she is a (MRSC) member in the Royal Chemical Society (RSC) and a member in the American Chemical Society, Saudi Chemical Society and the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE).

The hydrogenation of biomass derived furfural using a series of supported palladium nanoparticles prepared via sol immobilization technique was investigated under mild conditions. The effect of support type as a major factor influencing the chemoselectivity of the formyl group was investigated using silica, alumina and titania as supports. It was found the highest selectivity towards the desired product (tetra hydrofurfuryl alcohol) was observed using the immobilization on titania support. Furthermore, the effect of metal loading was investigated, and the results indicated that best catalytic performance was observed using the 1% Pd/TiO2. The catalysts were characterized using TEM, XPS and XRD and the structure-activity relationship was discussed.