Tannery sludge, heavy metals (HMs) enriched hazardous solid waste, is produced extensively in many regions of the world. Even though the sludge is hazardous, it can be considered a material resource, if organic matter and HMs in the sludge can be stabilized to minimize its negative environmental impacts. This research aimed to evaluate the efficacy of using subcritical water (SCW) treatment for tannery sludge treatment through immobilization and thus reduction of HMs to mitigate their potential environmental risk and toxicity. HMs in the tannery sludge were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and the average concentration of HMs (mg kg-1) was found in the following decreasing order of Cr (12 950) > Fe (1265) > Cu (76) > Mn (44) > Zn (36) > Pb (14) with very high Cr concentration. The result of toxicity characteristics leaching procedure and sequential extraction procedure tests revealed that the raw tannery sludge leachate contained 11.24 mg L-1 Cr, which classified the raw tannery sludge into a very high-risk category. After SCW treatment, the concentration of Cr in leachate was reduced to 1.6 mg L-1 indicating risk reduction to a low-risk category. The eco-toxicity levels of other HMs also decreased considerably after SCW treatment. X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis were employed to identify the effective immobilizing substances formed in the SCW treatment process. The favorable formation of immobilizing orthorhombic tobermorite (Ca5Si6O16(OH)2·4H2O) at 240 °C in the SCW treatment process was confirmed by XRD and SEM analysis. The results confirmed that the formation of 11 Å tobermorite is capable of strongly immobilizing HMs in the SCW treatment process. Further, both orthorhombic 11 Å tobermorite and 9 Å tobermorite were successfully synthesized by SCW treatment on a mixture of tannery sludge including rice husk silica and Ca(OH)2 with water under rather mild conditions. Hence, it can be concluded that SCW treatment of tannery sludge with supplementary silica from rice husk can effectively immobilize the HMs and significantly reduce their environmental risk through tobermorite formation.
Zamzam water (ZW), a naturally occurring alkaline mineral water with a distinctive ionic and trace-element composition, has attracted growing scientific interest due to its reported pharmacological properties and emerging biological effects relevant to cancer research. This review provides a comprehensive mechanistic synthesis that links the physicochemical characteristics of ZW to molecular and cellular processes implicated in cancer biology. Integrating evidence from cancer biology, redox pharmacology, mitochondrial physiology, and cellular signaling, this review examines how the unique mineral composition and mildly alkaline pH of ZW may collectively influence pathways associated with the hallmarks of cancer. Preclinical studies demonstrate context-dependent modulation of cell proliferation, apoptosis, oxidative stress, mitochondrial function, cell-cycle progression, and signaling pathways, including mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and cyclic AMP (cAMP) networks, across multiple cancer models. Beyond its reported antiproliferative activity, ZW also exhibits antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and organ-protective effects in non-malignant systems. Importantly, this review proposes a conceptual framework for investigating the relative contributions of mineral ions, ionic homeostasis, redox regulation, and physicochemical properties to the biological effects of ZW, and identifies key mechanistic and methodological gaps. ZW has exhibited cancer-associated biological effects in experimental animals; however, its therapeutic effectiveness has yet to be validated. Future studies integrating standardized physicochemical characterization, molecular validation, multi-omics approaches, and clinical investigations are required to establish its translational relevance in complementary oncology.