Journal Articles - Environment and Environmental Protection - 2021

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Browsing Journal Articles - Environment and Environmental Protection - 2021 by Title

  • Publication
    A step toward reducing air pollution in top Asian economies: The role of green energy, eco-innovation, and environmental taxes
    ( 2021)
    Fengsheng Chien
    ;
    Muhammad Sadiq
    ;
    Muhammad Atif Nawaz
    ;
    Muhammed Sajjad Hussain
    ;
    Tai Duc Tran
    ;
    Tiep Le Thanh
    Environmental degradation is significantly studied both in the past and the current literature; however, steps towards reducing the environmental pollution in carbon emission and haze pollution like PM2.5 are not under rational attention. This study tries to cover this gap while considering the carbon emission and PM2.5 through observing the role of renewable energy, non-renewable energy, environmental taxes, and ecological innovation for the top Asian economies from 1990 to 2017. For analysis purposes, this research considers cross-sectional dependence analysis, unit root test with and without structural break (Pesaran, 2007), slope heterogeneity analysis, Westerlund and Edgerton (2008) panel cointegration analysis, Banerjee and Carrion-i-Silvestre (2017) cointegration analysis, long-short run CS-ARDL results, as well as AMG and CCEMG for robustness check. The empirical evidence in both the short- and long-run has confirmed the negative and significant effect of renewable energy sources, ecological innovation, and environmental taxes on carbon emissions and PM2.5. Whereas, non-renewable energy sources are causing environmental degradation in the targeted economies. Finally, various policy implications related to carbon emission and haze pollution like PM2.5 are also provided to control their harmful effect on the natural environment.
  • Publication
    A Study on Legal Policies and Solutions for Ship Ballast Water Treatment
    ( 2021)
    Nguyen Viet Linh Le
    ;
    Dinh Tuyen Nguyen
    ;
    Abdel Rahman M Al Tawaha
    ;
    Dinh Tung Vo
    This short review presents current regulatory policies and solutions for ballast water treatment. Some challenges and prospects for future regulatory policies and solutions for ballast water treatment are also outlined.
  • Publication
    Agar/maltodextrin/poly(vinyl alcohol) walled montmorillonite composites for removal of methylene blue from aqueous solutions
    ( 2021)
    Thuong Thi Nguyen
    ;
    Bich Ngoc Hoang
    ;
    Thuan Van Tran
    ;
    Dai Van Nguyen
    ;
    Trinh Duy Nguyen
    ;
    Dai-Viet N. Vo
    Nowadays, the impact of textile pollutants such as methylene blue on aquatic systems is intensively serious over the world. There is a growing interest in the mitigation of these textile compounds using recyclable, high-efficiency, and biodegradable materials. Herein, we report a facile casting method for preparing agar/maltodextrin/poly(vinyl alcohol) walled montmorillonite (AMP–MMT) composites. Specifically, sodium montmorillonite clay was incorporated into hydrogel membranes with the loading rates of 0–30% (w v–1). Composite membranes were physicochemically characterized with physicochemical techniques such as X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and zeta potential measurement. Other measurements of contact angle, moisture, and swelling degree were also conducted. Moreover, the effect of operating parameters such as montmorillonite loading, solution pH, contact time, concentration, and temperature on dye adsorption was explored. Plausible mechanisms of cation exchange, H–bonds, and n–π interactions might shed light on the adsorption of methylene blue on AMP–MMT composite. Nonlinear kinetic and isotherms were used to gain insight into adsorption nature. Composite membrane in our study exhibited high uptake capacity (71.51 mg g–1), good recyclability (at least five cycles), and easy desorption with green eluent of mixed water and ethanol. This work is expected to encourage the use of recyclable, eco-friendly, and biodegradable hydrogel membranes in the water purification.
  • Publication
    Assessing the efficiency of constructed wetlands in removing PPCPs from treated wastewater and mitigating the ecotoxicological impacts
    ( 2021)
    Mohamed Bayati
    ;
    Thi L. Ho
    ;
    Danh C. Vu
    ;
    Fengzhen Wang
    ;
    Elizabeth Rogers
    ;
    Craig Cuvellier
    ;
    Steve Huebotter
    ;
    Enos C. Inniss
    ;
    Ranjith Udawatta
    ;
    Shibu Jose
    ;
    Chung-Ho Lin
    The prevalence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in municipal wastewater has led to increased concerns about their impact on both human health and ecosystem. The constructed wetlands have been recognized as one of the cost-effective and green mitigation approaches to remove the PPCPs in the municipal wastewater. In this study, the effectiveness of a full scale constructed wetlands treatment system (CCWTs) in removing the 36 PPCPs was investigated. The load mass of PPCPs discharged by the wastewater treatment plant into the CCWTs was calculated. Removal efficiencies of PPCPs were evaluated based on physicochemical properties such as octanol-water partition coefficient (Log kow), molecular weight (MW, g mol-1) and the acid dissociation constant (pKa).. The CCWTs are especially efficient in removing azithromycin, sertraline, tolfenamic acid, and diphenhydramine with removing efficiency > 88%. However, the removal efficiencies of PPCPs in CCWTs exhibit a large variability, depending on physical and chemical properties of the molecules, with 4.7-96.7% for antibiotics, 5-86% for antidepressant and antiseizure drugs, 3.5-88% for NSAIDs, 29-77% for β- blockers and statins and 5.5-94% for other types of PPCPs. In addition, the environmental risk assessment showed that majority of the PPCPs (excluding sulfamethoxazole) in the effluent yielded low aquatic risk (risk quotient, RQ ≤ 0.1) due to the efficiency of CCWTs. The toxicity index scores were calculated by integration of the predicted and available toxicological hazard data into the prioritization ranking algorithm through Toxicological Prioritization Index (ToxPi).
  • Publication
    Assessing the impact of green fiscal policies and energy poverty on energy efficiency
    ( 2021)
    Fengsheng Chien
    ;
    Ching-Chi Hsu
    ;
    YunQian Zhang
    ;
    Tai Duc Tran
    ;
    Li Li
    This article estimates the ties between green fiscal policies and energy efficiency in COVID-19 era. For this purpose, data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach is considered and applied. The study findings show that green fiscal policies, such as public supports and tax rebates, have significant role in reducing energy poverty of different international countries by advancing energy efficiency. Therefore, a panel data ranging from 2010 to 2020 is used. Our findings indicate that the aggregate degree of green fiscal policies help to decline energy poverty. Renewable energy companies had larger series of net fiscal competence and size efficiency, and their levels of energy efficiency were greater than 0.457%, with the 16%effect of current public supports and 11% effect of taxation rebates supported to diminish energy poverty with 29.7% in different international economies. This is a positive effect by green fiscal policies. The study also presented policy implications suggesting effectively implementing green fiscal policies for more efficient carbon reduction and making climate change supportive for peoples in post COVID-19 period.
  • Publication
    Improving green performance of construction projects through supply chain integration: The role of environmental knowledge
    ( 2021)
    Tho Pham
    ;
    Hai Pham
    The implementation of green supply chain integration (GSCI) to achieve green performance (GP) has been confirmed by prior research in many industries, especially manufacturing industries. Despite this fact, very limited research has been performed to investigate the effects of green integration and environmental knowledge (EK) on green performance of construction projects. Therefore, the current study was conducted to fill this gap in the literature. A framework of many hypotheses regarding interactions between green integration (i.e., supplier, internal, and customer integration), environmental knowledge, and green performance was developed and validated by data collected from 19 construction projects in Vietnam, with the support of Structural Equation Modeling. The findings show that environmental knowledge is a significant antecedent to the development of green integration strategies. Moreover, customer integration and supplier integration have direct effects on green performance, whereas internal integration has an indirect effect on green performance through supplier integration. It is surprising to see that internal integration does not have direct effects on both customer integration and green performance. Theoretically, this study is one of the first efforts in construction that develops a framework of green supply chain integration in which the roles of integration and environmental knowledge to achieve green project objectives are highlighted. Practically, our study suggests that construction firms need to accumulate environmental knowledge and develop integration within their firms before implementing green integration strategies at the supply chain level.
  • Publication
    Photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange dye by Ti3C2–TiO2 heterojunction under solar light
    ( 2021)
    Vu Quang Hieu
    ;
    Thanh Khoa Phung
    ;
    Thanh-Quang Nguyen
    ;
    Afrasyab Khan
    ;
    Van Dat Doan
    ;
    Vy Anh Tran
    ;
    Van Thuan Le
    Photocatalytic activity is a feasible solution to tackle environmental pollution caused by industrial pollutants. In this research, Ti3C2–TiO2 composite with a unique structure was fabricated successfully via a hydrothermal method. Especially, the in-situ transformation of TiO2 from Ti3C2 MXene creates an intimate heterostructure, which leads to prolonging separation and migration of charged carriers. Thus, this Ti3C2–TiO2 composite enhances effectively methyl orange (MO) degradation efficiency (around 99%) after 40 light-exposed minutes. Besides, the optimal concentration of MO solution was estimated at 40 mg/L and Ti3C2–TiO2 photocatalyst also exhibited good stability after five runs. Moreover, the radical trapping test and the MO photodegradation mechanism over Ti3C2–TiO2 system were also demonstrated. This research illustrates the potential of MXenes as effective co-catalysts for photocatalysis and extends the applications of two-dimensional materials.
  • Publication
    Simulated Microgravity Induces the Proliferative Inhibition and Morphological Changes in Porcine Granulosa Cells
    ( 2021)
    Truong Xuan Dai
    ;
    Hoang Nghia Son
    ;
    Ho Nguyen Quynh Chi
    ;
    Hoang Nghia Quang Huy
    ;
    Nguyen Thai Minh
    ;
    Nguyen Thi Thuy Tram
    ;
    Nguyen Thi Thuong Huyen
    ;
    To Minh Quan
    ;
    Doan Chinh Chung
    ;
    Truong Hai Nhung
    ;
    Tran Thi Minh
    ;
    Tran Hong Diem
    ;
    Nguyen Thi Phuong Mai
    ;
    Le Thanh Long
    Astronauts are always faced with serious health problems during prolonged spaceflights. Previous studies have shown that weightlessness significantly affects the physiological function of female astronauts, including a change in reproductive hormones and ovarian cells, such as granulosa and theca cells. However, the effects of microgravity on these cells have not been well characterized, especially in granulosa cells. This study aimed to investigate the effects of simulated microgravity (SMG) on the proliferation and morphology of porcine granulosa cells (pGCs). pGC proliferation from the SMG group was inhibited, demonstrated by the reduced O.D. value and cell density in the WST-1 assay and cell number counting. SMG-induced pGCs exhibited an increased ratio of cells in the G0/G1 phase and a decreased ratio of cells in the S and G2/M phase. Western blot analysis indicated a down-regulation of cyclin D1, cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (cdk4), and cyclin-dependent kinase 6 (cdk6), leading to the prevention of the G1-S transition and inducing the arrest phase. pGCs under the SMG condition showed an increase in nuclear area. This caused a reduction in nuclear shape value in pGCs under the SMG condition. SMG-induced pGCs exhibited different morphologies, including fibroblast-like shape, rhomboid shape, and pebble-like shape. These results revealed that SMG inhibited proliferation and induced morphological changes in pGCs.
  • Publication
    The Individual and Synergistic Indexes for Assessments of Heavy Metal Contamination in Global Rivers and Risk: a Review
    ( 2021)
    Hong-Giang Hoang
    ;
    Chitsan Lin
    ;
    Chow-Feng Chiang
    ;
    Xuan-Thanh Bui
    ;
    Wisanukorn Lukkhasorn
    ;
    Thi-Phuong-Thuy Bui
    ;
    Huu-Tuan Tran
    ;
    Thi-Dieu-Hien Vo
    ;
    Van-Giang Le
    ;
    Long D. Nghiem
    This article provides an overview of heavy metal contamination in rivers and 35 assessment methods of their contamination and effects. According to literature, rivers 36 with heavy metal contamination in surface water are mainly found in developing 37 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean area, while rivers with 38 heavy metal contamination in sediments are mostly found in Europe. The increase in 39 heavy metal contamination in rivers has led to the adoption of individual and synergistic 40 assessment methods. Individual methods are useful in assessing the contamination and 41 effects for a single heavy metal, while synergistic methods assess the combined 42 contamination and effects of several heavy metals present in surface water and 43 sediments. These two approaches have been commonly used together in recent studies 44 to overcome the limitations of each other and provide a more comprehensive 45 assessment. The developments, equations, advantages, limitations, and future 46 perspectives of these methods are discussed in this review. Calculating indexes are 47 simple, easy-to-implement, and effective methods to provide early alerts for the 48 environmental changes and the adverse impacts on ecosystems and human health. 49 However, calculating indexes still have limitations due to the lack of background 50 concentrations of heavy metals in the study area. Therefore, this issue should be 51 addressed to overcome the limitations of these methods in the future. This review 52 provides a useful reference for future studies on heavy metal contamination in global 53 rivers and the assessment methods for heavy metal contamination and effects.