Nabeel Khan Niazi

University of Agriculture Faisalabad · Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences

Cobalt (Co) is a transition metal and is classified as a beneficial metal for plants, but its benefits for plants remain obscure. Cobalt has been reported to negatively affect plant physiochemical processes both at higher (toxic) and lower (deficient) applied levels. High concentrations of cobalt in plant organs cause irreversible changes to the pl...

Wastewater contamination with heavy metal(loids)s has become a worldwide environmental and public health problem due to their toxic and non-degradable nature. Different methods and technologies have been applied for water/wastewater treatment to mitigate heavy metal(loid)-induced toxicity threat to humans. Among various treatment methods, adsorptio...

Zeolite is a natural crystalline aluminosilicate which is found naturally in the sedimentary rocks but can also be synthesized artificially under controlled conditions. In past few decades, natural zeolite and surface-modified zeolites (SMZs) have emerged as sustainable and environmental friendly materials which have numerous applications in cement...

Agriculture is the primary contributor for greenhouse gas (GHG), with rice being a driver to global warming due to large number of GHGs emissions, having importance as a staple food for more than half of the world’s population. Global rice demand to fulfil hunger requirement will enhance GHG emissions due to its cultivation under paddy rice conditi...

Contamination of aquatic ecosystems with organic and inorganic contaminants is a global threat due to their hazardous effects on the environment and human health. Floating treatment wetland (FTW) technology is a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to existing treatment approaches. It consists of a buoyant mat in which wetland plants can grow...

Under paddy soil conditions, rice plants are vulnerable to arsenic (As) accumulation, thus causing potential threat to human health. Here we investigated the influence of foliar-applied phosphorus (P: 10 and 20 mg L-1), silicon (Si: 0.6 and 1.5 g L-1) and selenium (Se: 5 and 10 mg L-1) on As accumulation, morphological and physiological attributes...

Biochar plays a crucial role in enhancing soil ecological functions and productivity, and mitigating environmental pollution. Despite the available studies conducted through high-throughput sequencing to understand the effects of biochar on soil bacterial diversity and richness, a comprehensive understanding remains elusive. Our global meta-analysi...

For three years, a large amount of manufactured pollutants such as plastics, antibiotic and disinfectant has been released into the environment due to COVID-19. The accumulation of these pollutants in the environment has exacerbated the damage to the soil system. However, since the epidemic outbreak, the focus of researchers and public attention ha...

Promising strategies involving beneficial bacteria to promote plant growth which diminishes Cd phytotoxicity and reduces Cd bioaccumulation in edible parts are of great importance to conserve agricultural soils and food safety. The current study investigated the interaction between Acinetobacter sp. SG-5 and two maize cultivars {3062 (Cd tolerant),...

Global warming poses a serious threat to food security because of its impacts on thermosensitive food crop production. Rice is of paramount significance due to the world’s three-billion-population dependence on it as a staple food. It is well established that the high temperatures at day or night times during the grain-filling period can reduce ric...

Untreated wastewater is routinely used for agricultural activities in water-stressed regions, thereby causing severe ecological risks by various pollutants. Hence, management strategies are needed to cope with the environmental issues related to wastewater use in agriculture. This pot study evaluates the effect of mixing either freshwater (FW) or g...

Geogenic arsenic (As) contamination is an internationally important environmental and human health issue posing threat to over 250 million people globally, either through ingestion of As‐contaminated drinking water or via consumption of food contaminated with As. The medical geology of As is associated with its hydrogeochemical cycling releasing it...

Chromium (Cr)-contaminated tannery wastewater is a major environmental concern, especially in developing countries, such as Pakistan, due to its use for crop irrigation, resulting in food-chain contamination and health issues. In this study, we explored the distribution, speciation, hydrogeochemical behavior and environmental risks of Cr in tannery...

Although research on biochar has received increasing attention for environmental and agricultural applications, the significance of nanobiochar for environmental pollutant remediation is poorly understood. In contrast to bulk biochar, nanobiochar has superior physicochemical properties such as high catalytic activity, unique nanostructure, large sp...

While the potential of biochar (BC) to immobilize potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in contaminated soils has been studied and reviewed, no review has focused on the potential use of BC for enhancing the phytoremediation efficacy of PTE-contaminated soils. Consequently, the overarching purpose in this study is to critically review the effects of BC...

Groundwater contamination with arsenic (As) is a global environmental and human health problem affecting over 200 million people worldwide, with low to high concentrations of As via drinking well water. Therefore, remediation of As-contaminated water has been under discussion over the last 3 to 4 decades given its highly toxic and carcinogenic prop...

Arsenic in water bodies has been a major concern around the world due to its carcinogenic properties. Among various methods of arsenic removal, biosorption using modified biosorbents is considered as one of the potential strategy to deal with arsenic pollution in water. Modified biosorbents proved to be cost-effective, stable and highly porous biol...

Arsenic (As) is a toxic metalloid risking the health of millions of people globally due to drinking of As-contaminated water or through ingestion of As-contaminated food crops. Although numerous conventional techniques have been introduced to remove As from drinking water and wastewater, sorption is considered one of the most promising approach. He...

Arsenic (As) is an extremely toxic metalloid of global concern. Numerous health and environmental organizations have classified As being the “toxic and dangerous for the environment”. Environmental and food chain contamination by As has been described globally, especially in Asia. Numerous reports have reported high As contents in the groundwater o...

Water resources of Pakistan are seriously depleting due to mismanagement. One of the major issues in the depletion of water resources in Pakistan which makes water not assessable to use is its contamination. The issue of arsenic contamination has emerged as a serious health concern in Pakistan. Pakistani population is exposed not only to toxic but...

Arsenic (As) contamination of aquatic and terrestrial systems is an emerging environmental and human health issue threating more than 200 million people globally at risk of As toxicity. Arsenic contamination has been reported in more than 115 countries worldwide especially in Asian and Southeast Asian countries, including in Bangladesh, China, Paki...

Karst region is prone to being contaminated with arsenic (As) because alkaline pH favors As mobilization, and sinking streams and sinkholes provide a rapid route for contaminants from the land surface to the underlying aquifer. Here we presented a review on As contamination in soils, surface water, underground water, and plants in karst regions, as...

Arsenic (As) is a highly toxic and non-essential element for all forms of life. Inorganic forms of As, arsenite and arsenate, are more toxic and mobile than the organic ones. Both geogenic and anthropogenic sources led to contamination of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems with variable As concentrations in over 115 countries worldwide, posing heal...

In recent past, nanoparticles (NPs) have fetched significant attention as possible applications in the agro-environment, especially in soils. Application of NPs to effectively lessen the toxic heavy metals (HMs) contents in agrosystem are showing encouraging outputs. Arsenic contamination and its subsequent impact on crop productivity as well as on...

Due to carcinogenic and toxicological nature of arsenic (As) groundwater contamination, major agricultural, environmental and health issues are seen in many industrialized countries. About 170 million people in the world are affected by long-term exposure to arsenic-contaminated groundwater. Exposure of plants to arsenic, even at low concentrations...

Antibiotic contamination of water is an emerging global issue with severe implications for both public health and the environment. Ciprofloxacin (CIP) is a synthetic fluoroquinolone antibiotic, which is broadly used in human and veterinary medicines around the world to treat various bacterial infections. The presence of CIP in the aquatic environme...

Biochar/nano-zerovalent zinc-based materials for arsenic removal from contaminated water, International Journal of Phytoremediation, ABSTRACT In this study, we explored the potential of a newly prepared nano-zero valent zinc (nZVZn), bio-char (BC)/nZVZn and BC/hydroxyapatite-alginate (BC/HA-alginate) composites for the removal of inorganic As speci...

Emerging pollutants (EPs) are chemicals that have a significant influence on terrestrial, aquatic, and human health due to their highly toxic nature. Soil and water contamination is an alarming threat globally because of EPs. Nevertheless, only a few of these compounds have been toxicologically evaluated due to their vast numbers. This chapter comp...

Norfloxacin (NOR), an important antibiotic used for the treatment of different infections which is reportedly causing huge quantity of water pollution and severe environmental issues. In this study, biochar prepared from Phoenix dactylifera roots biomass (PB) and composited with mesoporous nano-zerovalent cerium (nZVCe) was used for treatment of NO...

Water contamination by arsenic (As) is widespread and is posing serious health threats globally. Hence, As removal techniques/adsorbents need to be explored to minimize potentials hazards of drinking As-contaminated waters. A column scale sorption experiment was performed to assess the potential of three biosorbents (tea waste, wheat straw and pean...

Pakistan has the highest rate of urbanization in South Asia. The climate change effects felt all over the world have become a priority for regulation agencies and governments at global and regional scales with respect assessing and mitigating the rising temperatures in urban areas. This study investigated the temporal variability in urban microclim...

Arsenic enrichment in aquatic ecosystems is a life‐threatening and environmental issue all over the world. The toxic arsenic occurs in organic and inorganic forms in the environment, with the prevalence of inorganic arsenic forms. Various arsenic treatment technologies have been applied in drinking water, but membrane filtration and ion‐exchange me...

Rice is an important food crop that is susceptible to arsenic (As) contamination under paddy soil conditions depending on As uptake characteristics of the rice genotypes. Here we unveiled the significance of eighteen (fine and coarse) rice genotypes against As accumulation/tolerance, morphological and physiological response, and antioxidant enzymes...

There are scarce data about the accumulation pattern and risk assessment of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in soil and associated potential ecological risks, especially in less-developed countries. This study aims to assess the pollution levels and potential ecological risks of PTEs (As, Cr, Cd, Cu, Ni, Mn, Pb and Zn) in wastewater-irrigated ara...

The conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) into high-value added energy fuel and chemicals (CO, formate, C2H4, etc.) through electrochemical reduction (eCO2R) is a promising avenue to sustainable development. However, low selectivity, barren activity and poor stability of the electrodes hinder the large-scale application of eCO2R. Herein, we reported a...

Plant redox homeostasis governs the uptake, toxicity and tolerance mechanism of toxic trace elements and thereby elucidates the remediation potential of a plant. Moreover, plant toxicity/tolerance mechanisms control the trace element compartmentation in edible and non-edible plant organs as well as the associated health hazards. Therefore, it is im...

The processes of photocatalytic CO2 reduction (pCO2R) and electrochemical CO2 reduction (ECO2R) have attracted considerable interest owing to their high potential to address many environmental and energy-related issues. In this aspect, a single Cu atom decorated on a carbon nitride (CN) surface (Cu–CN) has gained increasing popularity because of it...

Arsenic (As) is one of the most prolific natural contaminants in water resources, and hence, it has been recognized as an emerging global problem. Arsenic exposure through food exports and imports, such as As-contaminated rice and cereal-based baby food, is a potential risk worldwide. However, ensuring As-safe drinking water and food for the globe...

Plants have to face different kinds of hostile environments including metallic ions stress, waterlogging, nutrients deficiency, and salinity during growth. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production is a key indicator of abiotic and biotic stresses in plants. ROS is produced in cellular organelles such as chloroplast, mitochondria, peroxisome, endopl...

Trace elements (TEs) contamination of agricultural soils requires suitable criteria for regulating their toxicity limits in soil and food crops, which depends on their potential ecological risk spanning regional to global scales. However, no comprehensive study is available that links TE concentrations in paddy soil with ecological and human health...

Water contamination with toxic substances is considered to be a crucial environmental and health issue globally. Treatment and recycling of contaminated water is essential to overcome water quality and availability related problems. Various conventional technologies (such as coagulation/flocculation, membrane separation, lime softening), used to tr...

Chromium (Cr) contamination in soil and water poses high toxicity risks to organisms and threatens food and water security worldwide. Biochar has emerged as a promising material for cleaning up Cr contamination owing to biochar's strong capacity to immobilize Cr. This paper synthesizes information on biochar modification for the efficient remediati...

Water scarcity is one of the key global challenges affecting food safety, food security, and human health. Constructed wetlands (CWs) provide a sustainable tool to remediate wastewater. Here we explored the potential of vertical flow-CWs (VF-CWs) vegetated with ten indigenous wetland plant species to treat chromium (Cr)-contaminated water. The wetl...

Biochar (BC) has gained attention for removal of toxic elements (TEs) from aqueous media; however, pristine biochar often exhibits low adsorption capability. Thus, various modification strategies in BC have been developed to improve its removal capability against TEs. Nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) and iron oxides (FeOx) have been used as sorben...

Conversion of hazardous waste materials to value-added products is of great interest from both agro-environmental and economic points of view. Bone char (BC) has been used for the removal of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) from contaminated water, however, its potential BC for the immobilization of PTEs in contaminated water and soil compared to...

PurposeThe karst region in southwestern China is undergoing soil erosion and rocky desertification. The different silicon (Si) fractions along the hillslopes in this mountainous region could benefit plant growth and alleviate the ecological deterioration. However, extensive distribution of carbonate rocks may lead to limited plant available Si. The...

Soil heavy metal contamination has increasingly become a serious environmental issue globally, nearing crisis proportions. There is an urgent need to find environmentally friendly materials to remediate heavy-metal contaminated soils. With the continuing maturation of research on using biochar (BC) for the remediation of contaminated soil, nano-bio...

Zinc (Zn) plays an important role in the physiology and biochemistry of plants due to its established essentiality and toxicity for living beings at certain Zn concentration i.e., deficient or toxic over the optimum range. Being a vital cofactor of important enzymes, Zn participates in plant metabolic processes therefore, alters the biophysicochemi...

The development of manganese (Mn) oxides (MnOx) modified biochar (MnOBC) for the removal of pollutants from water has received significant attention. However, a comprehensive review focusing on the use of MnOBC for the removal of organic and inorganic pollutants from water is missing. Therefore, the preparation and characterization of MnOBC, and it...

The current study investigated the effect of biochars derived from cinnamomum woodchip, garden waste and mulberry woodchip on soil phytoavailable lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) pools, and their uptake by Chinese cabbage ( Brassica chinensis L.). The biochars were produced at 450 °C of pyrolysis temperature. The contaminated soils were collected from Yunfu...

Rice is second only to maize among the world’s most important cereal crops, with a global harvested area of approximately 158 million hectares and an annual production of more than 700 million tonnes as paddy rice. At this scale, rice production generates vast amounts of waste in the form of straw, husk, and bran. Because of high cellulose, lignin,...

Climate change is a global challenge that is accelerated by contamination with hazardous substances like arsenic (As), posing threat to the agriculture, ecosystem and human health. Here, we explored the impact of various ameliorants on geochemical distribution of As in two soils with contrasting textures (sandy clay loam (Khudpur Village) and clay...

Phosphate-assisted phytoremediation has become an effective, economic, and environmentally sustainable process for the clean-up of potentially toxic metal(loid)s (PTMs)-contaminated soils. However, phosphate-induced phytoremediation efficiency can be enhanced depending upon PTMs concentration, plant species, and soil conditions. Phosphate-induced p...

High concentrations of arsenic (As) in groundwater threaten the environment and public health. Geogenically, groundwater As contamination predominantly occurs via its mobilization from underground As-rich sediments. In an aquatic ecosystem, As is typically driven by several underlying processes, such as redox transitions, microbially driven reducti...

Arsenic (As) contamination in soil–plant system is an important environmental, agricultural and health issue globally. The microbe- and sulfate-mediated As cycling in soil–plant system may depend on soil sulfate levels, and it can be used as a potential strategy to reduce plant As uptake and improve plant growth. Here, we investigated the role of s...

Understanding groundwater quality and hydrogeochemical behavior is important because consumption of the potentially toxic elements (PTEs)-contaminated drinking water may induce several health problems for humans and animals. In the current study, we examined the potential groundwater contamination with various PTEs (arsenic, As; cadmium, Cd; copper...

Contamination of aquatic systems by antimony (Sb) is a worldwide issue due to its risks to eco-environment and human health. Batch sorption experiments were conducted to assess the equilibrium, kinetics and thermodynamics of antimonite [Sb(III)] sorption by pristine biochar (BC) and chitosan-loaded biochar (CHBC) derived from branches of Ficus micr...

Semiconductor-based photocatalysis is a promising technology for the future of solar fuel production. However, the solar energy conversion efficiency is not much studied. Hence it is important to create innovative semi-conductor photocatalysts for environmental rehabilitation and energy production. Recently, bismuth-based oxide (BiO2-x) has seen at...

Geogenic arsenic (As) contamination of groundwater in South and Southeast Asian countries including Pakistan has become the environmental and public health issue due to its highly toxic effects. Several groundwater wells were tested to evaluate As contamination level, species and hydrogeochemical behaviour of As in aquifers along various flood plai...

The non-sustainability of soil management and agricultural practices that can damage the environment and enhance the risk of food insecurity are the emerging concerns globally. Sustainable agriculture endeavours to use a few conservation practices that can reduce the hostile effects of land-use intensification. Among the different conservation prac...

Ciprofloxacin (CIP), an emerging water contaminant is of great concern due to its high-level presence in aquatic environments. A novel biochar (BC) coupled with nano-zerovalent copper (nZVCu/(BC) was prepared to provide an environmental-friendly solution for the remediation of CIP-contaminated water. Results showed 88% removal efficiency and 138.89...

Viruses are omnipresent and persistent in wastewater, which poses a risk to human health. In this review, we summarize the different qualitative and quantitative methods for virus analysis in wastewater and systematically discuss the spatial distribution and temporal patterns of various viruses (i.e., enteric viruses, Caliciviridae (Noroviruses (No...

The era of advanced computer simulations in materials science enables a great potential to design in silico computational experiments for (nano-)material performance. The adsorption efficiency of nanoparticles in various environments can be unveiled by atomistic models and computer simulations. Arsenic (As) is one of the important globally distribu...

Cadmium (Cd) is a prevalent, non-essential, carcinogenic, and hazardous heavy metal that reduces plant productivity and capacity of arable land area around the globe. In the present substrate-based pot study, seedlings of Brassica napus 180015 were grown equidistantly in the spiked-substrate medium for 60 days under increasing concentrations of Cd...

Water scarcity is a major threat to agriculture and humans due to over abstraction of groundwater, rapid urbanization and improper use in industrial processes. Industrial consumption of water is lower than the abstraction rate, which ultimately produces large amounts of wastewater such as from tannery industry containing high concentration of chrom...

In this study, we investigated the distinct effects of organic (farmyard manure, cow dung, biogas slurry, sugarcane bagasse) and inorganic (gypsum and lignite) amendments on arsenic (As) accumulation by two rice genotypes, Kainat (fine) and Basmati-385 (coarse), under As stress. Results showed that shoot As concentration was ~2-time greater in Kain...

Nickel (Ni) is a potentially toxic element that contaminates soil and water, threatens food and water security, and hinders sustainable development globally. Biochar has emerged as a promising novel material for remediating Ni-contaminated environments. However, the potential for pristine and functionalized biochars to immobilize/adsorb Ni in soil...

This chapter discusses trends of soil pollution in Asia and the Pacific, hereinafter referred to as the Asia-Pacific region. The region covers 42 countries and territories that can be divided into four sub-regions.

The episodic outbreak of COVID-19 due to SARS-CoV-2 is severely affecting the economy, and the global count of infected patients is increasing. The actual number of patients had been underestimated due to limited facilities for testing as well as asymptomatic nature of the expression of COVID-19 on individual basis. Tragically, for emerging economi...

Arsenic (As) contamination is a well-recognized environmental and health issue, threatening over 200 million people worldwide with the prime cases in South and Southeast Asian and Latin American countries. Rice is mostly cultivated under flooded paddy soil conditions, where As speciation and accumulation by rice plants is controlled by various geo-...

Environmental contamination by toxic trace elements is a global issue faced by soil-plant-human systems. Biochar has gained substantial attention as a soil amendment to reduce toxic trace element impacts on plant and human health due to biochar’s capacity to influence trace element biogeochemistry. This review focuses on the key roles of biochar wi...