COVID-19 induced pandemic situations have put the bio-medical waste (BMW) management system, of the world, to test. Sudden influx, of COVID-infected patients, in health-care facilities, has increased the generation of yellow category BMW (Y-BMW) and put substantial burden on the BMW-incineration units of India. This study presents the compromising situation of the BMW-incineration units of India, in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, from 21 st March, 2020 to 31 st August, 2020. This analysis revealed that on an average each COVID-infected patient in India generates approximately 3.41 kg/d of BMW and average proportion of Y-BMW in it is 50.44%. Further, it was observed that on 13 th July, 2020, the total Y-BMW, generated by both the normal and COVID-infected patients, fully utilized the BMW-incineration capacity of India. Also, it was made evident that, during the study period, BMW-incineration emitted several pollutants and their concentration was in the order: NO x > CO >SO x > PM > HCl > Cd > Pb > Hg > PCBs > Ni > Cr > Be > As. Subsequently, life time cancer risk assessment depicted that with hazard quotient >10 -6 , Cd may induce carcinogenic health impacts on both the adults and children of India. Therefore, to mitigate the environmental-health impacts associated with the incineration of BMW, evaluation of various options, viz., alternative technologies, substitution of raw materials and separate treatment of specific wastes, was also done. It is expected that the findings of this study may encourage the global auditory comprising scientific community and authorities to adopt alternate BMW-management strategies during the pandemic.

Fluid volumes in fracturing treatments have increased substantially, while water supply has become more of a public concern. Rather than paying to treat and dispose of produced and flowback water, operators would like to reuse it in subsequent stimulation treatments. Produced water with high total dissolved solids (TDS) and high divalent cation content poses extreme challenges for emulsion friction reducers because cations hinder the inversion of friction reducers and cause loss of efficiency of friction reduction. Treating produced water to the quality suitable for conventional fracturing fluids is time-consuming and often cost-prohibitive.A salt-tolerant friction reducer was developed to address the challenges of high-TDS produced water. In a produced water sample with high TDS and high total hardness, the new polymer hydrates within 10 seconds and gives a friction reduction profile similar to that of current inverse-emulsion friction reducers in fresh water. The fluid is compatible with other common stimulation additives such as scale inhibitors, biocides, clay stabilizers, surfactants, and breakers.The paper discusses field test results and production response from slickwater fracturing operation in Delaware basin with produced water containing more than 250,000 ppm TDS and 60,000 ppm total hardness. Head-to-head comparison with conventional crosslinked fluids and friction reducers under field conditions showed significant oil and gas production improvement resulting from increased fracture complexity by pumping low viscosity fluids at higher pumping rate in extremely high-TDS produced water. It provides the oilfield industry a cost-effective solution of reducing produced water disposal and fresh water demands, thereby ultimately improving environmental and economic impacts of well operations.

In the preceding times, the number of enclosed parking garages has increased significantly in developing nations. The toxic emissions from vehicular exhausts are expected to drastically compromise the environmental conditions of the parking garages. Subsequently, exposure of humans to these accumulated pollutants is also expected to degrade their health. Therefore, in the present investigation, efforts were made to estimate the applicability of TiO2-mediated UV photocatalysis in degrading the concentration of vehicular emissions, viz., NOx and SO2, in the enclosed parking garages (EPGs). In this regard, an artificial EPGs’ environment was created and experiments were designed using the Box-Behnken design in combination with response surface methodology. The process parameters chosen for maximizing the degradation of the pollutants were a concentration of TiO2 emulsion (20 to 120 ml/m2), UV irradiance (1 to 5 mW/cm2), and relative humidity (10 to 50%). Optimization of the laboratory experiments revealed that at optimal conditions of the process parameters, i.e., a concentration of TiO2 emulsion = 77.50   ml / m 2 , intensity of UV irradiance = 3   mW / c m 2 , and relative humidity = 43.2 % , maximum degradation of the NOx and SO2, i.e., 61.24% and 55.05%, respectively, was achieved. Further, it was revealed that relative humidity may prove to be the limiting factor while using the TiO2-mediated UV photocatalysis in humid areas. Findings of this study may prove beneficial in urban planning as it may assist scientific auditory and local authorities in identifying the applicability of TiO2-based photocatalysis in mitigating the impacts of vehicular emissions.

Biomedical waste management is an essential aspect of human and environmental safety. The healthcare industries and the unfortunate pandemic have increased the generation of biomedical waste. If biomedical waste is not managed safely, it poses human health and ecological risks. Hence, the study aims to appraise the scenario of biomedical waste management in India and to identify its effect on human health and the environment. The study used a systematic approach to review all the rules and regulations related to biomedical waste management issued by the Government of India from time to time. Further, the study explored the strengths and weaknesses of the current BMW management rules using the SWOT analysis model. All recent and relevant literature was critically examined using scoping review approaches to better understand the health and environmental risks associated with poor biomedical waste management to propose the best practices and future direction. It was found that needle stick injury is a major hazard to human health during segregation. Poor segregation practices can lead to the mixing of biomedical waste with municipal solid waste. Hence, there is a need for proper training about the current biomedical waste rules with a specific focus on biomedical waste segregation at the time of generation. Each process involved in biomedical waste management can adversely impact the environment and human health if not managed well. The impact and gaps of poor biomedical waste management from generation to disposal have been identified. The study recommends routine awareness programs and capacity building for proper biomedical waste management and to minimize the associated environmental and human health risks. These risks could be minimized further through implementing scientific and systematic approaches in biomedical waste treatment and management, including regulatory compliance.