Air pollution is a severe problem in the modern world. Urbanization, industrialization, and traffic emit air pollutants such as carbon monoxide (CO), nitrous oxides (NOx), hydrocarbons (HCs), and particulate matter into the environment. Plants can absorb air pollutants through stomata. They adversely affect the various metabolic and physiological processes of plant species. This review describes the impact of air pollution on plant health, morphologically, physiologically, and genetically, and the tolerance ability of plants located along roadside areas. Many morphological effects, like chlorosis, necrosis, leaf area, stomatal clogging, plant productivity, leaf falling, and reduction in flower yield, are observed due to the influence of air pollution. Air pollutants also damage the DNA and affect the biochemicals of the plants, as well as pH, relative water content (RWC), simple sugar, ascorbic acid (AA), total chlorophyll content (TCH), proline, and polyamines. Some plants located under pollution stress can mitigate air pollution. Plants with higher APTI values are more tolerant of air pollution, while those with the lowest APTI values can be used as an indicator of the rate of air pollution. There is much morphological, biochemical, and DNA damage noted in this review. Different strategies can be used to diagnose the effects of air pollution in the future and develop green belts to mitigate air pollution in pollution-stressed areas.

Synthetic food colors are important ingredients in the food industry. These synthetic food colorants are azo dyes, majorly acidic in nature such as Allura red and Tartrazine. They are present in sweets, carbonated drinks, meat products, and candies to attract the consumers. This review article is an attempt to explain the adverse effects of azo dyes and their association with oral cavities and cardiovascular disorders. These synthetic dyes (azo dyes) have staining effects on dentin. Poor dental care accelerates the bacterial accumulation on the dental crown (Gram-negative bacteria P. gingivalis, T. denticola, and T. forsythia and Gram-positive bacteria Strep. Gordonii), causing the washing of enamel, forming dental plaque. Bacterial pathogens (P. ginigivalis and F. nacleatum) release different chemicals (FadA and Fap2) that bind to protein on the cell by producing an inflammatory response through different line-host defenses, such as Gingival epithelial cells (ECs), Hemi-desmosomes, and desmosomes, which helps the bacterium migration from the cell–cell junction. This makes the junctions slightly open up and makes the whole vessel permeable, through which the bacterium enters into the blood stream line. This leads to different major arteries, such as the carotid artery, and causes the accumulation of plaque in major cardiac arteries, which causes different cardiovascular disorders. These bacterial species present in gums cause cardiovascular diseases, such as ischemic heart disease, coronary artery disease, heart attacks and strokes, and arrhythmias, which can lead to death.

Microplastics (MPs) contaminate every conceivable terrestrial and aquatic environment including high peaks and deep marine trenches. Agricultural lands alone are expected to receive plastic up to 23 times more than ocean basins. In this study, soil samples were collected from peri-urban agricultural lands of Lahore on four sides including Kala Shah Kaku (KSK), Punjab University (PU), Dera Gujran (DG), and Sagian (SG). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) protocol was used for MPs extraction and analysis. Extracted MPs were analyzed under microscope at 40X magnification and their composition was analyzed using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. A considerable concentration of MPs was recorded at all sites. The highest contamination was found at SG with 876 ±194 MPs/kg of soil, and the lowest contamination was recorded at PU with 672 ±235 MPs/kg of soil. However, these differences among the sites were not statistically significant (p = 0.29). The overall predominant shape of MPs was fibers (613±71, 79.73%) followed by sheets (125±55, 16.28%), fragments (30±5, 3.9%) and foam particles (1±2, .09%). The differences in the distribution of MPs in various types were statistically significant (p = 0), while differences between sites were insignificant (p = 0.13). About 95% of MPs were less than 2 mm and 85% were less than 1 mm size. The distribution of MPs in various sizes (p = 0) and differences of this distribution between sites (p = 0.037) were both statistically significant. A good diversity of nine colored MPs was recorded, however majority of the MPs were transparent (89.57%). Six polymer including Polyethylene (PE), Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Polypropylene (PP), Polystyrene (PS), Polycarbonate (PC), and Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) were identified by FTIR. The current levels of MPs pollution are higher than in many other parts of the world. Composition of MPs (types, colors, sizes, and polymer types) indicates the diversity of their sources and their possible implications on agricultural ecosystem.

Changes taking place along the shoreline are attributed to several physical and dynamical processes. Sindh Coast of Pakistan particularly Karachi is continuously under the process of morphological changes due to anthropogenic activities and natural processes. This study examined spatiotemporal morphological changes over five decades (1972–2020) along Karachi Coast bordering Arabian Sea using SRS and GIS techniques. This study reveals major morphological changes along the shoreline of Karachi in the vicinity of Karachi Port, Clifton Beach, Bundal Island and Port Qasim, which have been calculated in the form of erosion and accretion using erase tool of ArcGIS software. Quantitative analysis shows highest accretion of >15.50 km², at the Eastern End of Clifton Beach due to human intervention. Natural processes caused major erosion (10.95 km²) and accretion (19.50 km²) during 1972–2020 in the vicinity of Bundal Island. During 2011–2020, significant change (2.40 km²) is observed opposite to Port Qasim causing damage to mangrove vegetation of 1.40 km² calculated using NDVI. Highest rate of erosion (0.31 km²year⁻¹) and highest rate of accretion (0.70 km²year⁻¹) are found in Bundal Island during 1972–1987 and 1987–1999, respectively. Maximum increase in the length of shoreline (6.78 km) is depicted at Eastern End of Clifton Beech between 1999–2010.

Wheat productivity is drastically affected by late sowing, as it faces high temperatures during grain filling which decreases the crop yield. In this experiment, several seed priming agents were used to improve performance of two wheat varieties under normal and late sowing regimes. Hydropriming, Osmopriming with 2% calcium chloride and hormonal priming with salicylic-acid (50 mg/L) used as seed priming treatments. All treatments resulted in better seedling establishment, physiological attributes, growth and yield as Salicylic-acid proved superior in synchronized seedling stand establishment by reducing time required for 50% emergence and mean emergence under both sowings. Overall, growth and yielding traits were improved in both varieties subjected to seed priming with salicylic-acid and CaCl2 under normal and late sowings. Salicylic-acid and CaCl2 priming showed highest proline, sugars, phenolics, chlorophyll and relative water contents in Sarsabz and Khirman, while hydro-priming gave maximum glycine-betaine and membrane thermo-stability. Sarsabz showed more tolerance against high temperature. Seed priming improved high temperature tolerance under late sowing; however, CaCl2 and salicylic-acid priming remained more effective in mitigate drastic effects of high temperature by maintaining better growth and yield as well as improved physiological attributes in both varieties. These enhancers can give more production under adverse climatic conditions.

Sodium hydrosulfite is conventionally used for the color stripping of reactive dyes in the textile industry. However, research has been focused on eco-friendly processes to reduce wastewater generation in recent years. This study is aimed at estimating the color stripping efficacy of ozone according to reactive dyes’ chromophore groups. The dyed cotton-knitted fabric with three reactive dyes that have phthalocyanine (Reactive blue 21), diazo (Reactive black 5) and monoazo (Reactive yellow 84) chromophores was treated with ozone. The effect of the experimental parameters (pH, ozone dose and treatment time) was examined on the dyed fabric samples in terms of lightness and bursting strength properties. The results show that the decolorization efficiency of ozone varies with the type of chromophore group. The maximum color removal was achieved for the Reactive blue 21 dye of the phthalocyanine group at optimum process conditions (pH 3, Ozone dose 7 g/h, exposure time 40 min) followed by the reactive dyes that have dioazo and monoazo chromophore groups, respectively. The bursting strength of the fabric sample decolorized using ozone remained stable throughout the study. Moreover, the ozone-stripping effluent meets the environmental quality standards and can be reused up to at least four cycles without affecting the stripping efficiency. Hence, it can provide a sustainable alternative to reduce water consumption in the textile sector.