Heavy metal dispersion in groundwaters of Ankaleshwar Industrial Estate, south Gujarat displays colossal temporal variability in both degree and space. In order to facilitate the quantitative measure for site-specific variations, Normalized Difference Dispersal Index (NDDI) maps for five en ironmentally sensitive heavy metals (Ni, Zn, Cu, Mn and Pb) were generated by clutching geochemical analyses and GIS-based raster images.

This communication is the first attempt at contributing to monitoring and systematic gathering of information on the heavy metal profile of the environment, i.e. retrospective study of the environmental metal data (Pb, Fe, Zn, Cd and Ni) of the past 100 years, i.e. 1895

Think about this next time you upgrade your PC: toxic metals from old electronic goods are finding their way into school grounds in China. Seventy per cent of the world's discarded phones and computers are exported to China. Most are processed in family-run workshops, where the circuit boards are ripped out of old equipment and heated over open fires. This melts the solder, allowing individual components to be removed and resold. The bare circuit boards are then burned.

The goal of this study was to assess the phytoremediation potential of transgenic Indian mustard plants. The increase in metal accumulation as a result of these genetic engineering approaches is typically two-to-threefold more metal per plant, which potentially enhances phytoremediation efficiency by the same factor. The significance of this finding is that it is the first to demonstrate an enhanced capability of transgenic plants to phytoextract environmental soil containing a mixture of metals.

The huge amount of solid waste generation and their disposal has become a major case of concern at present. In Guwahati city about 500 metric tonnes of solid wastes are generated daily. The solid wastes collected from the various parts of the city has different heavy metal content dependeing upon the nature and type of solid wastes. Heavy metal contamination results from anthropogenic as well as natural activities and creates health hazards when entered the food chain through their application to soil.

Pot experiments was conducted to observe the impact of CdCl2, CuCl2, Pb(NO3)2 and ZnCl2 on chlorophylls of Brassica juncea, Brassica rapa, Lactuca sativa, Lepidium sativum and Daucus carota. Present studies suggest that depletion of essential micronutrients like Zn and Fe; or Zn and Cu; or Fe and Mn in the plant body after heavy metal accumulation may be one of the causes for chlorophyll loss.

Fly ash is an industrial waste generated from thermal power plants. A large part of fly ash produced is disposed of with very high environmental risk.

Toxic effects of chromium on pure culture of Salmonella paratyphi-B and Shigella flexneri isolated from sewage effluent were studied.