Microplastics are the newly emerged contaminants with a presence in almost every part of the globe. Despite being small in size, microplastic particles have proved to be harmful for plants, animals, humans, and for the ecosystem in general. Water is one of the most important routes through which microplastics transfer from one place to another. Moreover, water is also an important route for the ingestion of microplastics in human, which results in various health issues, such as cancer, mutagenic and teratogenic abnormalities. Thus, microplastics in water is an emerging public health issue which needs attention and, hence, it is important to investigate removal techniques for microplastics in wastewater. Although, there are some biological, chemical/electrochemical, and physical techniques to remove microplastics, their wide scale applicability and cost–effectiveness is an issue. In this review, we have discussed the existing and upcoming treatment technologies for the removal of microplastics from wastewater and also tried to present an overview for the future approaches.

Microplastics are one of the emerging contaminants which have received attention in recent decade due to their adverse effects on human health and the environment. Though microplastics are primarily found in abundance in oceans; freshwater sources and drinking water are not unaffected. Nevertheless, it's not only the microplastics which are harmful; rather their ability to transport contaminants is another serious issue of concern. The contaminant transport ability is affected by various environmental and physico-chemical parameters of microplastics. Lack of effective and microplastics’ targeted water treatment technologies lead to its intake by humans resulting in a variety of health issues. Though, a few regulatory attempts have been made in the direction of curtailing the production and use of microplastics, there is still a long way to go. This paper focuses on various aspects of microplastics’ presence in drinking water, focusing on their contaminant transport ability, human health risks, removal technologies, and global scenario of concern.

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Background:The traditional teaching learning methods involve a one way process of transmission of knowledge leaving the students lacking behind in creative abilities. Medical schools need to change their teaching strategies to keep the interest of students and empower them for future self- learning and critical thinking.Objective:To assess the impact of mind mapping technique in information retrieval among medical college students in Puducherry.Methods:A pilot study was conducted using experimental study design among sixth semester MBBS students (n = 64) at a medical college in Puducherry, India. One group (n = 32) followed the text reading method and another group (n = 32) followed the mind mapping technique to learn the same passage given to them. The knowledge about the topic was assessed using a pre designed questionnaire at baseline, day 0 and day 7. The knowledge gain is the primary outcome variable and is compared between two groups. The feedback regarding the teaching methods was obtained from the participants.Results:Mean knowledge score in the text group was lesser than the mind map group at baseline (2.6 Vs 3.5; p = 0.08). On Day 0, the mean score in text group was slightly lesser than the mind map group (8.7 Vs 9.0; p = 0.26). On Day 7, the mean score in mind map group is significantly more than the text group (8.9 Vs 8.5; p = 0.03).Conclusion:The mind mapping technique is an innovative and effective method in remembering things better than the routine way of reading texts.

Background Segregation of household waste at the source is an effective and sustainable strategy for management of municipal waste. However, household segregation levels remain insufficient as waste management approaches are mostly top down and lack local support. The realisation and recognition of effective, improved and adequate waste management may be one of the vital drivers for attaining environmental protection and improved health and well-being. The presence of a local level motivator may promote household waste segregation and ultimately pro-environmental behaviour. The present cluster randomized control trial aims to understand if volunteer based information on waste segregation (I-MISS) can effectively promote increased waste segregation practices at the household level when compared with existing routine waste segregation information in an urban Indian setting. Methods This paper describes the protocol of an 18 month two-group parallel,cluster randomised controlled trialin the urban setting of Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India. Randomization will be conducted at ward level, which is the last administrative unit of the municipality. The study will recruit 425 households in intervention and control groups. Assessments will be performed at baseline (0 months), midline (6 months), end line (12 months) and post intervention (18 months). The primary outcome will be the comparison of change in proportion of households practicing waste segregation and change in proportion of mis-sorted waste across the study period between the intervention and control groups as assessed by pick analysis. Intention to treat analysis will be conducted. Written informed consent will be obtained from all participants. Discussion The present study is designed to study whether an external motivator, a volunteer selected from the participating community and empowered with adequate training, could disseminate waste segregation information to their community, thus promoting household waste segregation and ultimately pro-environmental behaviour. The study envisages that the volunteers could link waste management service providers and the community, give a local perspective to waste management, and help to change community habits through information, constant communication and feedback. Trial registration The study is registered prospectively with Indian Council of Medical Research- Clinical Trial Registry of India (CTRI/2020/03/024278).