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Iodine is essential for thyroid hormone synthesis. Individuals adhering to vegan and vegetarian diets have been found to be vulnerable to iodine deficiency. Yet, iodine has not been monitored in these groups across time. This study aims to investigate iodine status, intake and knowledge in vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores and determine changes between 2016-17 and 2019. Dietary intake (µg day−1) was estimated by three-day food diaries (FD), and iodine food frequency questionnaires (FFQ). Urinary iodine concentration (UIC), analysed by ICP-MS, assessed iodine status according to World Health Organisation (WHO) criteria. Iodine knowledge was scored by an adapted questionnaire. IBM SPSS was used for statistical analysis. Ninety-six adults (18-60 y) were recruited in October 2016-17 (vegans; 12, vegetarians; 5, omnivores; 43) and June 2019 (vegans; 7, vegetarians; 10, omnivores; 19). Median dietary iodine was below the Reference Nutrient Intake (RNI) for all groups. Vegans and vegetarians had the lowest iodine intake. Vegans had significantly lower iodine intake than omnivores (2016-17; P = 0.032, 2019; P = 0.001). Omnivores had the highest iodine status (2016-17; 79.4 µg L−1, 2019; 72.4 µg L−1), and vegans the lowest (2016-17; 31.2 µg L−1, 2019; 12.2 µg L−1). Iodine knowledge was poor, but did not differ between dietary groups (2016-17; P = 0.219, 2019; P = 0.532). Vegans and vegetarians continue to be at risk of iodine deficiency. Further, iodine intake in the UK is poor independent of dietary choice. Iodine education is needed along with, research into improving iodine nutrition at national level.

To prevent eutrophication of surface water, phosphate needs to be removed from sewage. Iron (Fe) dosing is commonly used to achieve this goal either as the main strategy or in support of biological removal. Vivianite (Fe(II) 3 (PO 4 ) 2 *8H 2 O) plays a crucial role in capturing the phosphate, and if enough iron is present in the sludge after anaerobic digestion, 70 to 90% of total phosphorus (P) can be bound in vivianite. Based on its paramagnetism and inspired by technologies used in the mining industry, a magnetic separation procedure has been developed. Two digested sludges from sewage treatment plants using Chemical Phosphorus Removal were processed with a lab-scale Jones magnetic separator with an emphasis on the characterization of the recovered vivianite and the P-rich caustic solution. The recovered fractions were analyzed with various analytical techniques (e.g., ICP-OES, TG-DSC-MS, XRD and Mössbauer spectroscopy). The magnetic separation showed a concentration factor for phosphorus and iron of 2-3. The separated fractions consist of 52% to 62% of vivianite, 20% of organic matter, less than 10% of quartz and a small quantity of siderite. More than 80% of the P in the recovered vivianite mixture can be released and thus recovered via an alkaline treatment while the resulting iron oxide has the potential to be reused. Moreover, the trace elements in the P-rich caustic solution meet the future legislation for recovered phosphorus salts and are comparable to the usual content in Phosphate rock. The efficiency of the magnetic separation and the advantages of its implementation in WWTP are also discussed in this paper.

Three different kinds of plastic bags HL, VHL, and VN1 with different chemical nature were degraded by a novel thermophilic bacterial strain isolated from composting agricultural residual in Vietnam in shaking liquid medium at 55 °C after 30 d. The new strain was classified in the Bacillus genus by morphological property and sequence of partial 16Sr RNA coding gene and named as Bacillus sp. BCBT21. This strain could produce extracellular hydrolase enzymes including lipase, CMCase, xylanase, chitinase, and protease with different level of activity in the same media. After a 30-d treatment at 55 °C with Bacillus sp. BCBT21, all characteristics including properties and morphology of treated plastic bags had been significantly changed. The weight loss, structure and surface morphology of these bags as well as the change in the average molecular weight of VHL bag were detected. Especially, the average molecular weight of VHL bag was significantly reduced from 205 000 to 116 760. New metabolites from the treated bags indicated biodegradation occurring with the different pathways. This finding suggests that there is high potential to develop an effective integrated method for plastic bags degradation by a combination of extracellular enzymes from bacteria and fungi existing in the composting process.