Soil heavy metal contamination is increasing rapidly due to increased anthropogenic activities. Lead (Pb) is a well-known human carcinogen causing toxic effects on humans and the environment. Its accumulation in food crops is a serious hazard to food security. Developing environment-friendly and cost-efficient techniques is necessary for Pb immobilization in the soil. A pot experiment was executed to determine the role of biochar (BC), zero-valent iron nanoparticles (n-ZVI), and zero-valent iron nanoparticles biochar composite (n-ZVI-BC) in controlling the Pb mobility and bioaccumulation in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The results showed that BC and n-ZVI significantly enhanced the wheat growth by increasing their photosynthetic and enzymatic activities. Among all the applied treatments, the maximum significant (p ≤ 0.05) improvement in wheat biomass was with the n-ZVI-BC application (T3). Compared to the control, the biomass of wheat roots, shoots & grains increased by 92.5, 58.8, and 49.1%, respectively. Moreover, the soil addition of T3 amendment minimized the Pb distribution in wheat roots, shoots, and grains by 33.8, 26.8, and 16.2%, respectively. The outcomes of this experiment showed that in comparison to control treatment plants, soil amendment with n-ZVI-BC (T3) increased the catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity by 49.8 and 31.1%, respectively, ultimately declining electrolyte leakage (EL), malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content in wheat by 38.7, 33.3, and 38%respectively. In addition, applied amendments declined the Pb mobility in the soil by increasing the residual Pb fractions. Soil amendment with n-ZVI-BC also increased the soil catalase (CAT), urease (UR), and acid phosphatase (ACP) activities by 68, 59, and 74%, respectively. Our research results provided valuable insight for the remediation of Pb toxicity in wheat. Hence, we can infer from our findings that n-ZVI-BC can be considered a propitious, environment friendly and affordable technique for mitigating Pb toxicity in wheat crop and reclamation of Pb polluted soils.
Due to increased demand, cyclotron has an expanding role in producing Gallium-68 (68Ga) radiopharmaceuticals using solid and liquid targets. Though the liquid target produces lower end-of-bombardment activity compared to the solid target, our study presents the performance of 68Ga radiopharmaceuticals production using the liquid target by evaluating the end-of-bombardment activity and the end-of-purification activity of [68Ga]GaCl3. We also present the effect of increasing irradiation time, which significantly improves the end-of-synthesis yield. From the result obtained, the end-of-bombardment activity produced was 4.48 GBq, and the [68Ga]GaCl3 end-of-purification activity produced was 2.51 GBq with below-limit metallic impurities. Increasing the irradiation time showed a significant increase in the end-of-synthesis activity from 1.33 GBq to 1.95 GBq for [68Ga]Ga-PSMA-11 and from 1.13 GBq to 1.74 GBq for [68Ga]Ga-DOTA-TATE. Based on the improvements made, the liquid target production of 68Ga radiopharmaceuticals is feasible and reproducible to accommodate up to 5 patients per production. In addition, this work also discusses the issues encountered, together with the possible corrective and preventative measures.