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Use of municipal waste water (both treated and untreated) has now become a common practice in urban and peri-urban areas. Mostly vegetables in urban cities like Karachi are being irrigated by sewerage water. In this study a comparison of sewage and fresh water-irrigated vegetables has been made with respect to trace metals. Among commonly used vegetables, green onion, cabbage, pumpkin, eggplant, bird’s eye chili and okra were selected. Two sets of these vegetables were collected, one from local farm where irrigation was done with well water and other set of samples was collected from Malir, Karachi where irrigation was done with waste water. Samples were analyzed for heavy metals i.e. K, Na, Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd, Fe, and As by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. It showed that both sets of samples were found to contain metal concentrations beyond the limits set by WHO/EU. Apart from tomato, the concentration of only Cd was near the standard value for both sets. Similar results were obtained for K except for pumpkin in which the concentration for waste water irrigated samples was fairly high. Amount of Cu and Fe were moderately higher than the standard in both samples. Arsenic in all the samples was considerably high while maximum concentration was obtained for Pd against the limits. These findings suggest waste water irrigated vegetables pose high risk to human health. The concentrations of As and Pb were high in fresh water samples possibly, the well water may contain metals, therefore it is important to know the source.

The aim of this study was to assess the solubility of phosphorus from rock phosphate incubated with farmyard manure under laboratory condition.  The treatments were factorial combination of three rates each of RP (0, 2, and 4 tons ha-1) and farm yard manure (0, 10 and 20 tons ha-1). These treatments were applied to 100 g soil contained in plastic vials with three replications. Seven such sets of 27 vials each were prepared to represent seven incubation periods namely 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, and 90 days. The results showed that Olsen -P improved significantly with increasing rate of rock phosphate from 0 to 4 tons ha-1 and that of farmyard manure from 0 to 20 tons ha-1. Initial available P content of soil was 4.59 mg kg-1 which enhanced up to 10.55 mg kg-1 as a result of 90 days incubation. Addition of rock phosphate and farmyard manure increased it to maximum value of 23.03 mg kg-1 with incorporation of rock phosphate at 4 tons ha-1 and farmyard manure at 20 tons ha-1. Thus, positive response of rock phosphate and farmyard manure was clearly evident on Olsen-P values due to enhancement of soil organic matter. It is concluded that  there  is potential  for utilization of local rock phosphate by solubilising the P using farmyard manure. Soil incubation for the prolonged period of 90 days with rock phosphate and farmyard manure helped to enhance the solubility of P from rock phosphate. It is recommended that further experiments may be performed along with different bio-char, vermicompost, organic acids etc. which can help solubilise P from rock phosphate under field trials. For the first time, the feasibility of using agricultural fertilizer (manure) to increase the solubility of phosphorus from rock phosphate is experimentally substantiated. The practical value of this study is to achieve two effects simultaneously, namely, improving the fertility of agricultural lands depleted in phosphorus and utilizing agricultural fertilizer (manure).

The constant use of wrinkle-resistant cellulose fabrics in professional and everyday life can negatively affect the health state. This is because formaldehyde vapours, which contribute to allergies, persistent coughing, and irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, sleep disturbances, headaches, etc., pose a greater danger. In this study an attempt was made to achieve fabric stabilization from wrinkle resistant by formation ionic bonds of as replacement covalent bonds. And this is the main study purpose. Industrially Desized and Bleached 100 % pure cotton fabric with the weight of 110 g/m2, and the chemicals were used. Preparation of cationic glycerine, carboxymethylation of bleached fabric and application of antimicrobial finishes on the ionic cross-linked fabric was provided. Measurements were taken to determine of wrinkle recovery angle (WRA), of absorbency, of whiteness index, of flexural rigidity, of abrasion, of tensile strength. Wrinkle recovery angle was measured by standard method of AATCC 66 (option 2). AATCC Test Method 79-2000 was used to test the absorbency of fabric. The CIE whiteness index was determined using an Xrite Colour Eye 7000A spectrophotometer. Flexural Rigidity was measured through a testing cantilever method ASTM D-1388. Fabric abrasion was checked according to standard method for abrasion resistance of textile fabric ASTM 4966 on Martindale Abrasion Device M235. Mechanical strength of the fabric was measured under the standard method of ASTM D-5034. With the ionic cross-linking, the dry WRA was achieved an optimum of 118º and wet WRA up to 128º with increased fabric strength and whiteness. In addition to ionic cross-linking fabric was treated with Nano silver. Based on the results it was concluded that the fabric can be optimized first with ionic cross-link method and then it can be treated with the antimicrobial making the fabric cleaner and hygienic. This fabric treatment provides the necessary characteristics and is safe for the health of the people who use it.