نشریه مهندسی بهداشت محیط
سال هفتم شماره 1 (پیاپی 26، پاییز 1398)

Pollution of heavy metals in the environment is growing at an alarming rate and has become an important worldwide problem. The objective of this study was to determine the distribution of selected metal concentrations (Cd, Pb, Zn and Cu) in the liver, gill, kidney and muscle of Liza auratus from Nowshahr the south Caspian Sea and to evaluate risks associated with its consumption.

A total of 42 samples were collected randomly from the Nowshahr in June 2016 using beach-seine and then transported to the laboratory. The determination of heavy metal concentrations in fish tissues was carried out using a Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry.

The results showed that metal accumulation in the liver tissues was higher than in the kidney, gill and muscle for all metals, and Zn concentration was higher than Cd, Pb and Cu in all the studied tissues. The maximum concentration of Pb; 2.94, Cd; 1.18, Cu; 15.46 and Zn; 141.54 mg/kg was observed in the liver, while the lowest level of metals were Pb; 1.10, Cd; 0.67, Cu; 9.54 and Zn; 33.85 mg/kg in the muscle of L. auratus. Potential health risk assessments based on estimated daily intake (EDI) values and target hazard quotient (THQ) indicated that the intakes of metals by consuming of fish muscle do not result in an appreciable hazard risk for the human body.

Heavy metal concentrations in the muscle of L. auratus were below the maximum permissible limit of WHO. However, the results indicated that the high concentrations of some heavy metals in liver, gill and kidney for L. auratus is alarming and do present an appreciable hazard risk on human health. Nevertheless, this requires further examination in future.

Fungi are one of the main causes of degradation in feeds and foodstuffs. Fungal infections in plants can result in reduced yield and quality of the products, which lead to economic losses. AflatoxinB1 (AFB1) is a secondary fungal metabolite produced in proper conditions. It is considered as a public health concern due to its adverse effect on human and animal. This study was carried out to determination of AFB1 in wheat flour and wheat bran samples of Alborz province factories.

A total of 180 wheat flour and 60 wheat bran samples were collected from 20 Alborz province factories. HPLC method with immune-affinity chromatography was applied to measure AFB1 in three types of flour including Barbary, Tafton, and Sangag (A, B, and C). It was performed both in different manufactures and within three groups of flours regardless of the type of manufactures. Statistical analysis was conducted by the One-way ANOVA with post-hoc test.

According to the findings, 144 out of 180 wheat flour samples and 54 out of 60 wheat bran samples were found to be contaminated with AFB1. The amount of AFB1 in wheat flour and wheat bran samples was detected to be 0.01-0.5 ng/g and 0.06-0.99 ng/g, respectively. The highest means of AFB1 in Sangag, Barbary, and Tafton flours from different manufactures were 0.5, 0.4 and, 0.3 ng/g, respectively. In addition, no significant difference was found within three groups of Barbary (A), Tafton (B), and Sangag (C) flours samples (p>0.05). Despite the contamination of wheat flour and wheat bran samples, there was no contamination higher than the standard limit of Iran Standard Institute (ISRI) and European Union (EU) 2 ng/g, 5 ng/g, respectively.

Since wheat flours are widely used in foods preparation, determination of contamination with AFB1 in wheat-based products is highly essential in order to prevent the potential adverse effects on health. As the level of AB1 in the current study was low, it is not a serious concern for consumers at this time.

The aim of the present study was to assess the probable heavy metals contamination in topsoil surrounding Venarj mine in Qom province using contamination indices and artificial neural networks method.

  in order to evaluate the contamination status around Venarj mine in Qom province, 70 soil samples were collected in an area of 22 Km2, and  the total average concentration of Mn, Pb, Zn, Cu and Ni was measured. The indices of geoaccumulation (Igeo), contamination factor (CF), pollution load index and human health risk assessment index were applied to quantify the risk of soil contamination with heavy metals. Also multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural networks method was used to determine the spatial pattern of soil contamination with heavy metals.

Applying contamination indices indicated that the soil of the Venarj area was contaminated with Mn and Pb and to some extent with Cu due to mining activities. However, no significant enrichment of Zn and Ni was observed. Human health risk assessment indicated that the highest risk of carcinogenic and non- carcinogenic were associated with Pb, where carcinogenic risk was higher in children than adults. Spatial distribution patterns of the elements demonstrated that the maximum concentration of heavy metals was observed in western (extraction region) and southwestern (crusher region) areas. Distance increasing from mine decreased the concentration of all metals in topsoil samples, indicating their mining source.

The results revealed that the topsoil concentration of Mn and Cu and especially Pb around the Venarj manganese mine was increased due to the mining activities. The most negative environmental and health effects of the mine resulted from higher concentration of Pb in the soil.

Considering the importance of standards in improving the quality of health care centers and the role of sterilization units in controlling hospital infections, especially surgical site infections, a study is done with the goal of investigating compliance of structural and functional standards in sterilization units in educational hospitals in Guilan province.

This analytical cross-sectional study was carried out in the educational hospital of Guilan in 2019-2018 with a sterilization unit using a structured checklist in two dimensions of physical space and equipment. 30 personnel working in units using 360-degree and census method were selected using a functional checklist in 5 dimensions of health, cleaning, packing, cycle control, maintenance and storage. The data were analyzed after collection using SPSS software version22.

Physical dimension had 61/1% and equipment dimension had 71/92% of the standards. There was significant difference between different units in terms of structural dimensions (P<0.001). Also, the average performance of the employed personnel was 84/4%, which followed the principles of hygiene the weakest observation rate. Also, there was a significant negative correlation between age and performance and there was a significant positive correlation between performance, and their training course.

The need to review spaces and eliminate defects in control equipment to ensure the functioning of the devices, as well as the use of interested and young forces and the organization of regular training courses are recommended using a continuous monitoring system to promote the highest standards.

The undesirable condition of air quality is one of the most important environmental problems that have challenged many of the worldchr('39')s cities. In this study, considering the importance of particle matter as one of the most important atmospheric pollutants in Ahwaz, the main objective is the air quality assessment of this city in terms of PM2.5 and PM10 in 2016-2017.

The air pollution data were obtained from the Ahwaz Air Quality monitoring network. To check the status of suspended particles and determination of the contribution of each pollutant to air quality decline and also determine the responsible pollutant, USEPA-AQI and IND-AQI methods and Exceedance Factor were used.

The mean annual concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 were 165.35 µg/m3 and 58.26 µg/m3, respectively. According to the results of the Ahwaz air quality index during this period, in terms of the PM10 pollutant concentration, 27 days and based on the concentration of PM2.5 pollutant in the total days, the condition were unhealthy. Comparison of seasonal concentrations of pollutants with NAAQS showed that the pollutants were higher than the NAAQS limit in all seasons. The air quality classification based on IND-AQI showed that the air quality level was poor in all seasons, and based on the USEPA-AQI, this condition of Ahwaz air has been created unhealthy air quality and Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups. Comparison of two methods showed that IND-AQI in the region was 273/90 and the responsible pollutant is PM10 but according to USEPA-AQI method, the responsible pollutant was PM2.5 with 136.93 AQI value. The EF factor also confirmed the results of the IND-AQI method and showed that the responsible pollutant in reducing air quality to poor and critical condition during these two years is PM10 contaminant.

Therefore, based on the findings continuous monitoring of air quality, especially in terms of PM10 pollutant, is one of the main strategies for controlling air pollution in this city.

Industries like steel, along with wealth generation and economic development, create many environmental problems, such as air, water, and soil pollution and waste generation. Since environmental protection is considered one of the pillars of sustainable development, solutions should be adopted that minimize environmental hazards, and promote the existing industry towards sustainable development. . The purpose of this research is to evaluate and manage the environmental risk of Ardakan Steel and Melting Company using the EFMEA method.

Firstly, with the field visit of Ardakan Steel and Melting Company, were identified all hazards and environmental aspects and calculated using EFMEA method. Then, the data were analyzed using SPSS software. Regarding corrective actions, a secondary evaluation was performed. Finally, the mean of initial RPN and secondary RPN were analyzed and compared by t-test.

In this study, 316 environmental risk factors were identified, of which 39 were at low risk, 139 were at medium level and 138 were high risk. Also, the comparison of the means from the two evaluations showed that the average of initial data decreased from 1466.45 to 1248.16 in the secondary data.

The results of this study showed that by choosing the right method and planning and providing preventive and corrective strategies, the environmental hazards of the industries could be significantly reduced.

Today, the drilling industry is one of the worldchr('39')s most dangerous occupations because of the many accidents it is facing. Therefore, the study and evaluation of the risks of activities and operations in the drilling industry can be helpful in reducing the accident in this industry.

In this research, the safety and health risk assessment of drilling operations was carried out in two drilling rig of No.28 national Iranian drilling companies and NO.101 drilling rig of oil companies using the FMEA method in Southern Yarran Oilfield. To identify unacceptable risks and provide a management solution to reduce the level of these risks

According to the results, 38% of the total risks are related to Lower risk, 33% refers to risks with a moderate level and 29% of the risks are related to the risks with a critical level. At this level, the risk of drilling rig operation with a total of 70 risks, the operation of cutting pipes with a total of 55 risks, and a sort operation with 26 risks, has the highest number of critical risks. Risks Repairs with a total of 127 risks, set up Rig with 100 risks and well scrolling operations with a total of 83 risk they were a part of the risk Count Risks Were high. Also, the highest frequency (L) of risks is related to repairs with a total of 99 risks and a pipe test with a total of 55 risks.

The main cause of these risks is the human error and the inspection of equipment and machinery. By providing control strategies, especially in two parts of the training of personnel, and creating more and more periodic and random inspections, can greatly reduce the level of the critical risks.

Increasing global consumption of fossil fuels leads to greenhouse gas emissions, climate change and environmental pollution. Agricultural, animal and food industrial waste is one of the main sources of pollution. The bioethanol industry is one of 17 highly polluted industries. In the process of producing bioethanol, vinasse is produced, and so far 22.4 Giga litter of vinasse has been produced worldwide.With fossil fuel resources running out, energy production from renewable sources, including organic waste, has been considered in recent years and has transformed biological hydrogen production into a new approach to replace it with fossil fuels. The purpose of this study was to evaluate Biohydrogen production from Vinasse bioethanol processing industry as clean and renewable energy.

In this review study conducted in 1398, 150 indexed articles from the past 15 years were used in the databases of ProQuest, Science Direct, Pubmed, Google Scholar and Scopus.

The results showed that vinasse is the most effective organic material for high-efficiency Biohydrogen production and dark fermentation hydrogen is the most promising biological hydrogen production method. Microbial species, reactor type, pH, temperature, substrate type and concentration, organic loading rate (OLR), hydraulic retention time (HRT), nitrogen, phosphate and iron concentrations are among the parameters influencing the process to maximize biohydrogen productivity and efficiency and concentration. High volatile fatty acids are also a major inhibitor of Biohydrogen production.

Compared to the thermal energy content of methane, ethanol and gasoline, hydrogen thermal energy is high (142 kj/g) and water is the only by-product of hydrogen burning. Anaerobic treatment is the most effective way to reduce the pollution of Vinasse. In addition to reducing environmental pollution, the economical result of Biohydrogen production as a clean energy source is that by optimizing the operating conditions of the process we can achieve maximum efficiency and productivity of Biohydrogen production.