فهرست مطالب

Journal of Advances in Environmental Health Research
Volume:3 Issue: 2, Spring 2015

  • تاریخ انتشار: 1394/01/20
  • تعداد عناوین: 7
|
  • Pegah Bahmani*, Afshin Maleki, Amir Hossein Mahvi, Hiua Daraei, Esmaeil Ghahremani, Dariush Naghipour-Khalkhaliani Page 71
    Fluoride in drinking water has a profound effect on teeth. Since drinking water is an important source of fluoride, the evaluation of the fluoride content of water resources is necessary. Temporal variations and spatial distribution of fluoride in drinking water of some selected parts of Kurdistan Province, Iran, have been studied using geographic information system (GIS) techniques. Thus, 40 villages were selected and 80 samples taken in two wet and dry seasons in 2013. Fluoride concentration was measured via ion chromatography (IC) method. Geospatial analysis of the data was performed using the ArcGIS software developed by Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri). The results showed that the average fluoride concentration in drinking water ranged from 0.096 to 1.102 mg/l with the concentration being less than 0.50 mg F/l in 57 samples (71.25%), between 0.51 and 1.0 mg F/l in 21 samples (26.25 %), and greater than 1.0 mg F/l in 2 samples (2.5%). No difference was observed between the concentrations of fluoride in the two-stage sampling with the nonparametric Wilcoxon test (P > 0.01).
    Keywords: Fluoride, Spatial Distribution, Kurdistan, Iran
  • Dipankar Ghosh, Jayanta Kumar Biswas* Page 78
    Aquatic macroinvertebrates, which play a significant role in the food chain of an ecosystem, are used in fresh water quality assessment to identify the environmental stress resulting from a variety of anthropogenic disturbances. Seasonal surveys of macroinvertebrate communities were conducted from April 2013 to March 2014 in Chhariganga oxbow lake of Nadia District of West Bengal, an eastern state of India. In order to bioassess water quality and aquatic health analysis using diversity indices, viz. Shannon-Wiener and Simpson’s diversity index, species richness and evenness, and total abundance with composition trends were carried out. Taxon richness values of 14, 14, and 18, evenness values of 0.80, 0.71, and 0.73, Shannon-Wiener Index values of 2.10, 1.88, and 2.12, and Simpson’s index values of 0.15, 0.22, and 0.20 were determined for macroinvertebrates found during pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon period, respectively. In the present study, low diversity indices, like the Shannon-Wiener Index, demonstrated clearly that the selected lake is polluted and has high anthropogenic activity which has rendered the lake bad to poor health status especially during monsoon season. Therefore, it is necessary to regulate and prevent the jute retting process, and its intensity and density during the monsoon to enhance biodiversity in order to ensure sustainable management and conservation of aquatic environment of the oxbow lake.
    Keywords: Oxbow Lake, Macroinvertebrate, Diversity Index, Aquatic Health, Bioassessment
  • Ahmad Reza Yazdanbakhsh, Yalda Hashempour* Page 91
    The presence of humic acid (HA) in water treatment processes is very harmful and the cause of undesirable color, taste, and smell. Drinking water containing high concentrations of humic substances can be the cause of many health problems. Therefore, the removal of these compounds from water resources is a very important topic. In this research, response surface methodology (RSM) has been used to optimize the effect of main operational variables responsible for higher HA removal by activated carbon (AC). A three-level Box–Behnken factorial design (BBD) was used to optimize initial concentration of HA, time, pH, and AC dose for humic substances removal. The characterization of AC was carried out using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. A coefficient of determination (R2) value of 0.98, model F-value of 82.32 and its low P-value (F
    Keywords: Humic Substances, Kinetics, Drinking Water, Adsorption
  • Yahya Zandsalimi, Pari Taymori, Reza Darvishi Cheshmeh Soltani, Reza Rezaee, Narmin Abdullahi, Mahdi Safari* Page 102
    In this study, ZnO nanoparticles fixed on glass plates were employed as photocatalysts for the degradation of Acid Red 88 (AR88) dye in aquatic solution. ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized through coprecipitation method and fixed on glass plates. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques were used for characterization of nanoparticle samples. A batch reactor equipped to UV lamps was used for photocatalytic experiments. The effect of pH, initial concentrations of AR88, radical scavengers, and enhancers were studied on photocatalytic removal efficiency of AR88. The results showed an increase in AR88 removal at the neutral pH of 7 (79%), but a decreased in acidic and alkaline pH values. It was also found that at lower initial concentration of dye the removal efficiency increases. Among different radical scavengers and enhancers, addition of CH4O as radical scavenger and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) as enhancer had the greatest effect on degradation efficiency. The photocatalysis process using fixed ZnO nanoparticles was shown to have good efficiency for removal of AR88 from aqueous solution. Therefore, it can be concluded that the photocatalysis process using fixed catalyst could be a promising method for treating wastewater of dye industries.
    Keywords: Acid Red 88, Photocatalytic Process, Nanoparticles, Zinc Oxide
  • Yusef Omidi-Khaniabadi*, Ali Jafari, Heshmatollah Nourmoradi, Fatemeh Taheri, Seddigheh Saeedi Page 120
    In this study, activated carbon synthesized from Aloe vera green wastes was used as a sorbent to remove 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) from aqueous solutions. The influence of contact time (0-100 minutes), pH (2-8), adsorbent dosage (1-9 g/l), and initial 4-CP concentration (10-60 mg/l) in batch system was investigated on the sorption. The sorbent was specified using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Equilibrium for 4-CP sorption was reached at contact time of 40 minutes. The pH of 2 was also found to be the optimum pH in the sorption process. Fitting the experimental data to different kinetic and isotherm models illustrated that the experimental data was well fitted by pseudo-second order kinetic (R2 > 0.98) and Freundlich isotherm (R2 > 0.99) models. According to the results, activated carbon prepared from Aloe vera green wastes is a low-cost effective option for the sorption of 4-CP from aqueous solutions.
    Keywords: Adsorption, Aloe Vera, 4-chlorophenol, Kinetics
  • Hoshyar Hossini, Abbas Rezaee*, Reza Barati-Roshvanlo Page 130
    In this work, removal of ammonia from synthetic wastewater using integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) process was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). The main operating parameters such as ammonia concentration rate (ALR) and hydraulic retention time (HRT) were optimized to acquire the maximum removal efficiency. The linear, 2FI, quadratic, mean, and cubic models were utilized for modeling of the parameters. Residual nitrate and nitrite were determined as the byproducts. The results showed that the actual data fitted well with the predicted results. The maximum ammonia removal achieved using mean, linear, 2FI, quadratic, and cubic models were 59.88, 79.05, 79.32, 77.11, and 78.65%, respectively. Nitrate and nitrite were determined in ammonia concentrations of higher than 100 mg/l. The obtained results showed that RSM is a suitable technique for the optimization of conditions for the maximum removal of ammonia.
    Keywords: Ammonia, Wastewater, Optimization, Biofilms, Optimization
  • Mohammad Hosein Sinkakarimi, Ali Reza Pourkhabbaz, Mehdi Hassanpour, Jeffrey M. Levengood, Seyed Mahmoud Ghasempouri Page 139
    Every year, migratory waterfowl are hunted and consumed by people in Golestan Province of Iran. Due to the heavy metal contamination of wintering habitats, an estimation of the human health risks associated with the consumption of these ducks is necessary. Therefore, this study was conducted to estimate the health risks of exposure to cadmium (Cd), total chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) due to the consumption of pectoral muscle of mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) and pochard (Aythya ferina) harvested and hunted in the South-Eastern Caspian Sea region of Iran. The mean values of these metals in the pectoral muscle of mallards and pochards were used to calculate estimated daily intake (EDI), estimated weekly intake (EWI), and target hazard quotients (THQ). The EDI (µg/day/70 kg body weight) for Cd, Cr, Fe, Pb, and Zn in mallard were 0.2, 0.04, 58, 1.1, and 12.8, respectively. The EDI (µg/day/70 kg body weight) for Cd, Cr, Fe, Pb, and Zn in pochard were 0.8, 0.1, 69, 0.8, and 13.4, respectively. The estimated total THQ (higher than 1) indicated that heavy metal levels in pochard flesh were unsafe for consumption. The EDI and EWI of the metals examined were below those recommended by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and oral doses suggested by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). There appears to be little risk of exposure to metals associated with the consumption of mallard and pochard in this region.