Municipal solid waste (MSW) is the abridgment of the waste generated from domestic, commercial, and construction activities by natural persons that is collected and treated by municipalities. Exponential growth of population and urbanization, and the development of social economy, coupled with the improvement of living standard, have resulted in an increase in the amount of MSW generation throughout the world. On average the developed countries typically generate 521.95–759.2 kg per person per year (kpc) and 109.5–525.6 kpc typically by developing countries. Recent estimates suggest that the MSW generation globally exceeds 2 billion tons per year, which is a potential threat to environmental dilapidation. Therefore, MSW management (MSWM) seems to be one of the key topics for environmental protection in present days and also in the future. The authors have illustrated MSW generation and composition analysis and have provided a comprehensive review of MSWM in different countries throughout the world based on the available literatures. Some of the important aspects of waste management, such as composting, landfilling, and incineration, are illustrated.

The distribution pattern and fractionation of arsenic (As) in three soil profiles from tea (Camellia sinensis L.) gardens located in Karbi-Anglong (KA), Cachar (CA) and Karimganj (KG) districts in the state of Assam, India, were investigated depth-wise (0-10, 10-30, 30-60 and 60-100 cm). DTPA-extractable As was primarily restricted to surface horizons. Arsenic speciation study showed the presence of higher As(V) concentrations in the upper horizon and its gradual decrease with the increase in soil depths, following a decrease of Eh. As fractionation by sequential extraction in all the soil profiles showed that arsenic concentrations in the three most labile fractions (i.e., water-soluble, exchangeable and carbonate-bound fractions) were generally low. Most arsenic in soils was nominally associated with the organic and Fe-Mn oxide fractions, being extractable in oxidizing or reducing conditions. DTPA-extractable As (assumed to represent plant-available As) was found to be strongly correlated to the labile pool of As (i.e. the sum of the first three fractions). The statistical comparison of means (two-sample t-test) showed the presence of significant differences between the concentrations of As(III) and As(V) for different soil locations, depths and fractions. The risk assessment code (RAC) was found to be below the pollution level for all soils. The measurement of arsenic uptake by different parts of tea plants corroborated the hypothesis that roots act as a buffer and hold back contamination from the aerial parts.

Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) is a perennial acidophilic crop, and known to be a nonalcoholic stimulating beverage that is most widely consumed after water. The aim of this review paper is to provide a detailed documentation of selected micronutrient contents, viz. boron (B), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), and zinc (Zn) in made tea and tea infusion. Available data from the literature were used to calculate human health aspect associated with the consumption of tea infusion. A wide range of micronutrients reported in both made tea and tea infusion could be the major sources of micronutrients for human. The content of B, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, and Zn in made tea are ranged from 3.04 to 58.44 μg g⁻¹, below detectable limit (BDL) to 122.4 μg g⁻¹, BDL to 602 μg g⁻¹, 0.275 to 13,040 μg g⁻¹, 0.004 to 15,866 μg g⁻¹, 0.04 to 570.80 μg g⁻¹ and 0.01 to 1120 μg g⁻¹, respectively. Only 3.2 μg L⁻¹ to 7.25 mg L⁻¹, 0.01 μg L⁻¹ to 7 mg L⁻¹, 3.80 μg L⁻¹ to 6.13 mg L⁻¹, 135.59 μg L⁻¹ −11.05 mg L⁻¹, 0.05 μg L⁻¹ to 1980.34 mg L⁻¹, 0.012 to 3.78 μg L⁻¹, and 1.12 μg L⁻¹ to 2.32 μg L⁻¹ of B, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, and Zn, respectively, are found in tea infusion which are lower than the prescribed limit of micronutrients in drinking water by World Health Organization. Furthermore, micronutrient contents in tea infusion depend on infusion procedure as well as on the instrument used for analysis. The proportion of micronutrients found in different tea types are 1.0–88.9% for B, 10–60% for Co, 2.0–97.8% for Cu, 67.8–89.9% for Fe, 71.0–87.4% for Mn, 13.3–34% for Mo, and 34.9–83% for Zn. From the results, it can also be concluded that consumption of three cups of tea infusion per day does not have any adverse effect on human health with respect to the referred micronutrients rather got beneficial effects to human.