فهرست مطالب

Journal of Chemical Health Risks
Volume:12 Issue: 3, Summer 2022

  • تاریخ انتشار: 1401/05/16
  • تعداد عناوین: 20
|
  • Shahram Ashrafi Rad *, Seyyed Mohammad Taghavi Pages 335-347
    In order to study the freezing resistance of some barley varieties using rates of electrolyte leakage this experiment was carried out on three barley variety, including Reyhan, kavir, and Nosrat. These varieties are the most important varieties that cultivated in Semnan province. For this experiment, barely seeds were  sown in small containers. The current experiment was carried out as Factorial experimental design plan based on completely randomized design (CRD).The first factor in this study was barley variety in three levels. The second factor was temperature in 5 levels including +4°C, -4°C,  -8°C, -12°C and -15°C. Seedlings in  the stage of  tillering, was sprayed  by  water and then  were put in the incubator for two hours. Then two gram  samples  was selected  and 20 mm deionized water was added and shakes for 24 hours. Then every day for a week  EC  in solution was measured. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine significant (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05) differences between  barley  genotypes. The  differences  between means of barley varieties  were  inspected using Duncan test . The results showed that the percentage of ion leakage between the three cultivars had   significant differences .The effect of temperature on the percentage of ion leakage  in all days, had  significant difference.The highest percentage of ion leakage measurements on all days was at the  -15°C and the lowest percentage of leakage occurred at 4 °c . Kavir variety  in comparison with other varieties had  lower cold tolerance. Interaction of  temperature and genotype factors on  ion  leakage measurements showed that all varieties had significant differences.
    Keywords: Freezing tolerance, barley, Electrolyte leakage
  • Kosar Mahmood-Babooi, Behrouz Akbari-Adergani *, Ali Salehi, Parisa Sadighara Pages 349-354

    The main purpose of this study was to compare efficiency of two extraction methods for analysis of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the tahdig of potato prepared with the solid edible oils. The PAHs separation was performed with conventional solvent extraction by Soxhlet and sonication methods. All samples were prepared under the same time (30 min) and temperature (180 °C) with solid edible oils. The extraction efficiencies were determined by subsequent optimized analysis by GC/MS. The amounts of extracted PAHs by Soxhlet and sonication methods were 74.2±3.8 and 136.7±2.1 µg/Kg, respectively. With the sonication, mean quantities of PAHs extracted from tahdig were 84% more than Soxhlet method and this improved limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) for some high molecular weight PAHs up to 0.01 and 0.03 µg/Kg, respectively. This study clearly demonstrated the sonication method was especially much efficient than the traditional Soxhlet method for detection of PAHs in the tahdig of potato with complicated matrix.

    Keywords: Polyaromatic hydrocarbons, Potato, Solid oil, Sonication extraction, Soxhlet, Tahdig
  • Ramin Salyari, Esmaeil Seifi *, Feryal Varasteh, Mahdi Alizadeh Pages 355-362
    Peach is one of the most important horticultural crops and its storage and postharvest issues are increasingly taken into consideration. This experiment was conducted to the assessment of salicylic acid spray at 0, 1, 2, and 4 mmol concentrations, and salicylic acid submergence in 2 mmol concentration on the post-harvest quality of peach cultivar Robin, and the measurement in the four storage times in 2014-2015. In this experiment, the weight loss, volume decrease, length decrease, diameter decrease, pH, total acidity, total soluble solids, vitamin c, antioxidant capacity, total phenol, total flavonoid, and fruit Peach is one of the most important horticultural crops and its storage and postharvest issues are increasingly taken into consideration. This experiment was conducted to the assessment of salicylic acid spray at 0, 1, 2, and 4 mmol concentrations, and salicylic acid submergence in 2 mmol concentration on the post-harvest quality of peach cultivar Robin, and the measurement in the four storage times in 2014-2015. In this experiment, the weight loss, volume decrease, length decrease, diameter decrease, pH, total acidity, total soluble solids, vitamin c, antioxidant capacity, total phenol, total flavonoid, and fruit firmness were measured. The results suggested that the salicylic acid treatment caused the inhibition of the weight losses, volume decrease, length decrease, and diameter decrease over the storage period and maintained the fruit firmness. The best result obtained from 2 mmol spray of salicylic acid before harvest. The lowest total soluble solids and pH were observed in 2 mmol salicylic acid spray in all the storage times, while in the other treatments such as control, their contents increased. The results also demonstrated that the highest vitamin C content was in 2 and 4 mmol salicylic acid spray and 2 mmol salicylic acid submergence treatment, and the highest total phenol content resulted from 15 days after storing in all the salicylic acid treatments. The treatment of salicylic acid did not have much effect on the total flavonoid content and antioxidant capacity. Among all the treatments, the spray of 2 mmol salicylic acid, two weeks before the fruit harvest, revealed the best result and can be considered in the enhancement of peach postharvest shelf life.
    Keywords: Antioxidant capacity, Prunus persica, shelf life, Storage, Total phenol
  • Ali Mehrabi, Razzagh Mahmoudi *, Hajar Khedmati Morasa, Reza Norian, Shaghayegh Mosavi, Zohreh Ahmadi, Maryam Kazemi, Ahad Alizadeh Pages 363-369
    Honey is a unique food product containing bioactive compounds derived from bees and plantsNowadays, animal food products that may contain antibiotic residues have caused a lot of concern for the consumers. The presence of antibiotic residues in honey may be harmful to human health. One of the most important risks of antibiotic residues in food products is the occurrence of drug resistance in pathogenic bacteria in the body. Regarding the complications caused by these residues, the present research has investigated sulfonamide antibiotic residues in the honey samples consumed in Qazvin province. The present research is a cross-sectional study performed in different regions of Qazvin province in 2019. For this purpose, 80 honey samples were collected from different regions of Qazvin. The samples were transferred to the food safety laboratory of  the Health Faculty under proper conditions. First, the samples were tested to check the sulfonamide antibiotic residue by the semi-quantitative ELISA assay. The data were recorded in SPSS 23, and data analysis was done by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and (post hoc) Tukey test at the significant level of P˂0.05. According to the results of the ELISA assay, 10-120 ng of sulfonamide antibiotic residue was found in 23.75% (19 samples) of the samples. The findings showed that the highest and the lowest sulfonamide concentrations were respectively reported as 30.81 and 6.26 ppb, and the average sulfonamide residue was obtained as 14.50 ppb. According to the results, more than 75% of the honey samples collected from Qazvin province are free of sulfonamide or contain a little sulfonamide concentration. The research showed that most of the honey samples collected from different regions of Qazvin province are free of sulfonamide or contain a little sulfonamide concentration. Regarding the important role of honey consumption in health and the wide use of antibiotics in beehives, it is necessary to take the necessary actions to control the quality of this product.
    Keywords: Honey, Sulfonamide, Antibiotic residues, Health hazard, Elisa
  • Fakhradin Ahmadi Kanrash, Soqrat Omari Shekaftik *, Amirhossein Aliakbar, Fatemeh Soleimany, Azad Haghighi Asl, Wahab Ebrahimi, Saeedeh Amini Ravandi Pages 371-378
    Assessing the risks related to the advancement of science and technology has always been accompanied by many uncertainties. As a new field of science, nanotechnology faces numerous uncertainties concerning safety, health, and environmental aspects dealing with which requires a proper risk assessment. Accordingly, this study intended to assess the risk of tasks associated with nanomaterials comparatively, examining the risks in eighteen companies in Tehran. The two proposed risk-assessment methods for the activities involving nanomaterials (NanoTool and Guidance) assisted in assessing the risk of their tasks. The results were analyzed using SPSS.22 and the chi-square test and indicated the different outputs of the two methods despite being designed based on the control banding approach. These differences could be attributed to the different risk-assessment parameters that these methods considered. The statistical analysis results also showed no significant relationship between them. Given the large differences and insignificant association between risk assessment results, the guidance method was less effective than the nanotool method. However, straightforwardness and convivence of implementation in the workplace and various research environments make it a helpful method in initial evaluations.
    Keywords: Nanomaterials, Risk Assessment, Control Banding, NanoTool Method, Guidance Method
  • Hanane Essebaai *, Zakaria Benzekri, Houda Serrar, Ahmed Lebkiri, Said Boukhris, Said Marzak, Elhousseine Rifi Pages 379-396
    In the present study, a simplest and most effective method was applied to removal of Cu2+ ions from an aqueous solution using Montmorillonite clay, nontoxic and abundantly available as an adsorbent. The used adsorbent was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), the X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) coupled with EDX analysis. Adsorption experiments were conducted under various conditions,.i.e., contact time , initial concentration,  pH of Cu(II) ions solution, adsorbent mass, and particle size . The results proved that the adsorption of Cu(II) ions by Montmorillonite clay was favorable at pH=5.5 with an extraction yield of 85% after 30 min contact. The equilibrium isotherm data were analyzed using the Langmuir and Freundlich equations. In all cases, the adsorption process fitted the second-order kinetics well, and the isotherm equation due to Freundlich showed good fits with the experimental data. In order to value our Cu-Montmorillonite clay (Cu-MC) support, we thought of applying it as recyclable heterogeneous catalyst for the condensation of Knoevenagel. The model reaction was carried out at room temperature, using a quantity of 0.5 mg of catalyst and a volume of  2ml of ethanol, the reaction yield was excellent (87%). The recyclable solid catalyst was effective for five successive cycles, indicating that this clay is a potentially eco-friendly heterogeneous catalyst.In the present study, a simplest and most effective method was applied to removal of Cu2+ ions from an aqueous solution using Montmorillonite clay, nontoxic and abundantly available as an adsorbent. The used adsorbent was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), the X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) coupled with EDX analysis. Adsorption experiments were conducted under various conditions,.i.e., contact time , initial concentration,  pH of Cu(II) ions solution, adsorbent mass, and particle size . The results proved that the adsorption of Cu(II) ions by Montmorillonite clay was favorable at pH=5.5 with an extraction yield of 85% after 30 min contact. The equilibrium isotherm data were analyzed using the Langmuir and Freundlich equations. In all cases, the adsorption process fitted the second-order kinetics well, and the isotherm equation due to Freundlich showed good fits with the experimental data. In order to value our Cu-Montmorillonite clay (Cu-MC) support, we thought of applying it as recyclable heterogeneous catalyst for the condensation of Knoevenagel. The model reaction was carried out at room temperature, using a quantity of 0.5 mg of catalyst and a volume of  2ml of ethanol, the reaction yield was excellent (87%). The recyclable solid catalyst was effective for five successive cycles, indicating that this clay is a potentially eco-friendly heterogeneous catalyst.
    Keywords: Natural clay, Copper, Linear method, Non-linear method, montmorillonite, Kinetic Model, Heterogeneous catalyst, Knoevenagel reaction
  • Mohammad Gholami Baladezaei, Morteza Gachpazan *, Saedeh Foadian, Hossein Mohammad-Pour Kargar Pages 397-408
    Although designing and developing a mathematical model is extremely important in the mathematics but finding solution for designing model is essential as well. Thus one cannot propose a model without offering its solutions. In the mathematical modeling, there are many models based on nonlinear partial differential equations. In such models, there is no general method for solving any problem. However, numerical methods, approximate methods or analytical methods are available for some problems. It is clear that among the methods for solving a model based on partial differential equations, analytical methods are preferred, but for all problems, it is not possible to provide an exact solution. In this case, some methods can provide a class of solutions. In such methods, techniques that lead to more solutions are more important, but the use of different methods can provide a wide class of solutions. For this reason, various methods are used to find the possible solution of nonlinear partial differential equations. One of these methods is the expansion method. Since one of the well-known equations with wide application in genetics and gene mutation is the Fisher Kolmogorov-Petrovskii-Piskunov (Fisher KPP) equation, we applied expansion method, for finding exact traveling wave solutions which are based on the solutions of Bernoulli ordinary differential equation.
    Keywords: Fisher KPP equation, Traveling wave solutions, Partial differential equation (PDE), expansion method, 2020 MSC: 35Q92, 35C05, 35C10
  • MohammadReza Jalali Sarvestani, Zohreh Doroudi * Pages 409-419

    In this research, an ultrasound-assisted surfactant emulsification microextraction technique was established as a facile, practicable and eco-friendly method for preconcentration of carmoisine (CMS) before its spectrophotometric measurement. Zephiramine and CCl4 were selected as the emulsifier and organic extractant solvent respectively. Box–Behnken design was employed for the optimization of various influencing factors in the extraction process. Under the optimized conditions, the preconcentration and enrichment factors were 666 and 630 respectively.. The limit of detection (LOD) of the designed analytical that was calculated as three times the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) was 0.15 ng. mL-1. The limit of quantification (LOQ) was 0.47 ng. mL-1 and the working dynamic range was 0.5-80 ng. mL-1 with the correlation coefficient of 0.9995. At the end, the applicability of the designed extraction technique for the quantitation of CMS in four real specimes was also inspected and all of the calculated recovery values were between 97.5-104.2% showed the designed technique can be employed for CMS measurement in real specimens.  .

    Keywords: Ultrasound-assisted surfactant emulsification–Microextraction, Carmoisine, Food dyes, Spectrophotometry, Box–Behnken design
  • Mohadeseh Pirhadi, Nabi Shariatifar, Mahmoud Bahmani, Aliasghar Manouchehri * Pages 421-426

    Heavy metals (HMs) form a very varied group of elements that are very diverse in terms of chemical properties and biological functions. Heavy metal contamination in agricultural soil has become a serious environmental problem. These metals are toxic to soil, plants, aquatic life, and human and animal health. These toxic pollutants are caused by natural activities such as volcanoes and mining and smelting metals. These metals are stable in nature, therefore, they accumulate in the soil and agricultural products, and it is necessary to properly understand the relationship between the concentration of heavy metals in the soil and its accumulation in wheat. These metals also interfere with the level of antioxidants in plants and reduce the nutritional value of the product. Consumption of many heavy metals in the diet through the consumption of plants has long-term destructive effects on human health. In this review study, the most important heavy metals in agricultural products, especially wheat, on human health were reported. For this review study, keywords such as Crops, Heavy metal, Human health, Wheat flour were used. The databases searched for in those articles were Google Scholar, SID, Scopus, PubMed, Science Direct, and ISI search engines. Given that bread is the dominant force of the Iranian people, so the quality study of wheat in the country's consumer market in order to maintain the health of consumers seems necessary. Therefore, we need to inform people about this, so this review article explains the presence of HMs in bread and its disadvantages.

    Keywords: Crops, Heavy metals, human health, Wheat flour
  • Chinaza Awuchi *, Sarah Nwozo, Mariama Salihu, Grace Odongo, Maryam Sarvarian, Charles Okpala Pages 427-464

    Mycotoxins contaminating agricultural commodities like animal, and plant products result in human health complications, some are hidden, visible, chronic, and or acute, and others long-term. To understand the current status, published relevant reviews conducted between 2020-2021 about mycotoxins toxicities involving animals, food, and human showed the need for additional literature synthesis. This would help better the understanding of consumers of animal and plant food products about the importance of mycotoxins toxicities, and such knowledge should extend to other stakeholders within the food supply chain. In this perspective review, we discussed the mycotoxins’ toxicities - from consumer health safety concerns, to mitigation/treatment strategies, drawing from: (a) Toxicology, consumer health safety concerns, and action mechanisms of mycotoxins; (b)  Toxic effects of combined mycotoxins exposure; (c) Major mycotoxin effects on infants and children; (d) Mycotoxin exposures’ complications/risks at various stages of human life; (e) Consumer health implications of mycotoxin exposure; as well as (f) Mycotoxin toxicities mitigation/removal strategies. Indeed, concerted efforts to solve the mycotoxins toxicities are warranted, which should help to deduce more lasting and sustainable ways of preventing fungal invasion and mycotoxins production in the food and feed value chain.

    Keywords: consumer protection, Food supply chain, Fungal invasion, Mycotoxins exposure, Mycotoxins prevention
  • Somaye Behnamipour, Yadollah Ghafuri *, AhmadReza Yari, Ali Ebrahimi, Yalda Arast Pages 465-471

    This study was designed to investigate the rate of nitrate residual of major vegetables marketed in the region of Qom province and to estimate the human health risk assessment. In the first stage of this work, four groups of vegetables (lettuce, tomatoes, onion and potatoes) were selected. In two seasons, summer, and autumn, for 4 months165 vegetable samples (lettuce 35, tomatoes 45, onion 35, and potatoes 40) were analyzed to assess the levels of nitrates in vegetables. In the second stage of the study, health risk assessment from intake of vegetables was investigated. Concentration of nitrate in vegetables samples including lettuce (200 ± 65 mg kg−1), onion (187 ± 43 mg kg−1), potato (87 ± 33 mg kg−1) and tomato (294 ± 67 mg kg−1) were determined. Results showed that the average daily dose of nitrate (mg/kg/day) for age groups from vegetables distributed in Qom province is less than the ADI value (3.70 mg/kg BW/day) and the hazard quotient (HQ) of nitrate was less than 1, respectively, so that consumption of such vegetables is not dangerous to consumers' health. Hazard index (HI) for all age groups was less than one were calculated, however, the hazard index is higher for the age group of 5-18 years compared to other age groups. According the results of the cancer risk assessment, the mean cancer risk calculated for all groups by consumption of onion, tomato, and potato products is higher than the acceptable limits (the acceptable level of 1 case per 10000) estimated. Although the results obtained from the health risk assessment of nitrate residual amount in vegetable samples showed no significant hazard for consumers, due to the large share of vegetables in the daily food basket, it is inevitable to continuously monitor nitrate during cultivation and storing the product at the distribution levels.

    Keywords: Nitrate, Monitoring, Risk, Qom
  • Ayat A. Hammood *, Hind M. Mousa Pages 473-480
    The study was set up to investigate the role of Toll-like receptors-2 (TLR-2) in acne vulgaris. TLR-2 is a member of the innate immune system; it's a group of transmembrane receptors that recognize special microbial structures like pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMP) lead to the production of cytokine and inflammation. Ninety persons from both genders are included in the study, forty-five of them were patients and the same number was as control. Blood samples were taken from both groups and by using an ELISA kit, TLR-2 was estimated. The findings of the study referred that the adolescent, young adult and female gender was more effective in acne, and the male to female ratio was 1:1.25. Also, people with positive family history were more susceptible to acne. On the other hand, the results indicated there was a significant increase in sera levels of TLR-2 in patients with acne vulgaris compared to the controls group. Also, TLR-2 had a significant positive correlation with the severity of acne (p˃0.05, r=0.5). We concluded that adolescent, young adult, female gender, and positive family history appeared to be the most possible factors associated with acne vulgaris. Also, It's illustrated that the high levels of TLR-2 in acne and the positive correlation of TLR-2 with acne severity, revealed that TLR-2 has a role in the bad prognosis of acne vulgaris.
    Keywords: Toll-like receptors-2, Acne vulgaris, Cytokine, Inflammation
  • Mehdi Banaei, Mohsen Forouzanfar *, Mojtaba Jafarinia Pages 481-493
    Deltamethrin has magnificent potential for agricultural pest control. The penetration of deltamethrin into aquatic ecosystems can endanger the life of aquatic organisms. In this study, common carp (Cyprinus carpio) was exposed to the sub-lethal concentrations of deltamethrin (0.0, 6, 12, and 18 µg L-1) for 30 days. Then, the biochemical parameters of blood and the biomarkers of oxidative stress in fish were evaluated to assess the toxic effects of deltamethrin. Based on the results deltamethrin exposure altered antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase, and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase) and increased lipid peroxidation and protein carbonylation rate in hepatocytes. However, the course of these changes was dose-dependent to deltamethrin. There was a significant reduction in the total antioxidant and glycogen contents in the hepatocytes of fish challenged with deltamethrin. Conversely, exposure of C. carpio to deltamethrin increased aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyltransferase, creatinine phosphokinase, alkaline phosphatase, and lactate dehydrogenase activities. Deltamethrin significantly inhibited butyrylcholinesterase activity and declined total protein and globulin levels. However, glucose, creatinine, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels significantly increased in the plasma of C. carpio exposed to deltamethrin. Therefore, these findings demonstrated the potential of deltamethrin to induce cytotoxicity in fishes by disrupting cellular homeostasis and producing reactive oxygen species-induced oxidative stress.
    Keywords: Delthamethrin, Oxidative stress, Biochemical parameters, Common carp, Pyrethroid pesticide
  • Seeham Ali Alkafajy *, Abeer Salih Ali Pages 495-500
    Antipyretic drugs such as suspensions of Mefenamic acid (Ponstan), Ibuprofen and paracetamol (acetaminophen) are the most common drugs that wildly used in children to decrease the fever, pain and inflammation, and from clinical observations of children using these drugs, found they cause gastrointestinal complications and from this, the idea of this research was to find the effect of these drugs on the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract in Swiss albino mice.In the present study, we used 30 mice classified into five groups which are G1 as control group, G2 receive 15 mg kg -1day-1 panadol, G3 receive 30 mg kg-1day-1ibuprofen, G4 receive 5 mg kg-1 day-1 Ponestan and G5 receive a combination of panadol and ibuprofen in same the previously doses respectively for 7 days. The gastric histological sections of G2 were normal mucosal,  G4 shown mild mucosal glandular hyperplasia,  while G3 and G5 groups appear flat mucosal surface with submucosal hyperplasia of gland mild atypical cells, and G2 showing mucosal glandular hyperplasia. The intestine histological sections of G2 appears normal intestinal villi with mild inflammatory cells infiltration, G3 shown dispersed slight shortening of intestinal villi with mild inflammatory cells infiltration, finally G4 and G5 shown villi hyperplasia with a slight widening of villi with mild inflammatory cells infiltration. NSAIDs are available over-the-counter drugs for adult and in pediatric population And it is considered a safe medicine if used in properly dose in the short-term, the decision to pick an antipyretic should be dictated by safety, efficacy, effectiveness, duration of action and the integrity of the patient gut.
    Keywords: Antipyretic, Pediatric, Non-selective, Prostaglandins, Antiinflammatory
  • Peyman Ghajarbeygi, Azam Rahimi Niaraki *, Ali Soltani Abkenar, Razzagh Mahmoudi, Fatemeh Jalilevand, Ali Sadeghi Niaraki, Ahad Alizadeh Pages 501-507
    Tomato is one of the popular crops in the world and tomato paste is a product of it. Due to its wide application, quality control of this product is important. The goal of our study was to the assessment of potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate preservatives and artificial color in bulk tomato paste samples in Qazvin, Iran. In this study, 45 samples were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to determine the preservatives. Benzoic acid was detected in 17 (37.78%) samples, ranging from nd not detected to 1896 mg kg-1 and Potassium sorbate was not detected in any of the samples. The detection of color in samples was done by the thin-layer chromatography method (TLC). Three samples (6.67%) had Pansio 4R artificial color. The mean and standard deviation of sodium benzoate in samples were 990.62 mg kg-1 and 396.07 mg kg-1, respectively. According to the national standard of Iran for canned tomato paste, adding any kind of preservative and color to tomato paste is prohibited. The results show the importance monitoring of sodium benzoate and artificial colors in bulk tomato paste by health authorities.
    Keywords: Sodium benzoate, Potassium sorbate, Artificial color, High-performance liquid chromatography, Bulk tomato paste
  • Ali M. Mohammed, Aseel M. Aljeboree *, Ahmed B. Mahdi, Yasir Salam Karim, Mohammed Abed Jawad, Ayad F. Alkaim Pages 509-516
    This research addressed the elimination of the dye Congo red (CR) from an aqueous solution utilizing dried palm leaf activated carbon (PLAC). Therefore, we performed batch experiments for isotherms and sorption kinetics. According to the experimental data, the adsorption method largely depends on the equilibrium time, initial concentration of dye, pH solution, and adsorbent amount. We observed sorption equilibrium for the dye Congo red via PLAC in 60 min and an adsorption capacity of 52.1 mg g-1. A pseudo-first-order kinetic model was followed by sorption kinetics, whereas the Langmuir isotherm has been proposed to be help reache the equilibrium factor. The above data demonstrated  that PLAC is an effective, low-cost, and environmentally friendly biomaterial for removing the dye from the aqueous solution.
    Keywords: Activated Carbon, Adsorption, Dye, Isotherm, Kinetics, Thermodynamics
  • Hulal Saleh Sahib *, Falah Mahdi Al-Khafaji, Ahmed Ali Obaid Pages 517-521
    Pyelonephritis is a common pediatric infection with high risk of renal injury in children less than 5 years. Prompt diagnosis and treatment is mandatory to minimize the risk of renal scarring. To investigate the causative pathogen of pediatric pyelonephritis and to assess antibiotic resistance among these patients. The study conducted from the 1st of April 2019 to the 30th of December 2019 at Al-Diwaniya maternity and children teaching hospital and at outpatient clinic. Total number of patients involved were 130 children. We classified them in to two groups. Group 1(3 months -12 months) while Group 2 were (1-5 years old). Total number of patients involved in this study were 130 patients. 54 of them were (3-12 months) termed as group 1 and 76 of them (1-5 years) were group 2. From 130 urine samples, we get 186 bacterial isolate, majority was with one bacterial isolate (67.1%), multiple bacterial isolate also seen but in less number (32.9%). Regarding the causative bacterial pathogen. E. coli was the commonest microorganism isolated (73.07%), then Proteus mirabilis (16.92%), enterococcus (6.15%) and staphylococcus aureus (3.84%). On evaluating antibiotic sensitivity, we found that Imipenem , Nalidxic acid , Nitrofurantoin and Ciprofloxacin are highly sensitive antibiotics in vitro. Gentamycin show less sensitivity than amikacin. Cephalosporin, Penicillin and Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole show no valuable sensitivity (very high resistance).
    Keywords: antimicrobial resistance, Children, Pyelonephritis, Al- Diwaniya city, Iraq
  • Israa Harjan Mohsen, Mohammed Abed Jawad *, Abed J. Kadhim, Mona N. Al-Terehi Pages 523-525
    Diabetes mellitus become the big health problem in the world that increased in high percentages in last decade, the DM medications types are important to maintain the normal levels of glycemic parameters, in present study the association between types of DM medication types with oxidative stress represented by ROS and TAO were conducted. The results show non-significant differences observed in all glycemic parameters in addition to ROS and TAO, the present finding concluded that the DM medication should be Multi-Directional Therapy applied for oxidative stress controlling in DM type 2.
    Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, therapy, Oxidative Stress State, ROS, TAO
  • Bahram Karimi Dehcheshmeh, Amir Shakerian *, Ebrahim Rahimi Pages 527-535
    In this study, the characteristics of milk input to Pegah Shahrekord infant milk factory and the effect of season and month of lactation on fat percentage, protein percentage, acidity and density, the amount of lead, cadmium and aflatoxin M1(AFM1) in raw milk were measured. For this purpose, 690 milk samples were collected during the autumn and winter seasons (during September 2018 to March 2019). The level of toxic metals, aflatoxin with HPLC and acidity, fat percentage, dry matter and protein was measured according to standard. The results showed that Mean ± S.D lead in raw milk was 12.52±1.78 ppb and Mean ± S.D cadmium content was 10.8±2.83 ppb, which was lower than the allowable amount of codex for lead and cadmium in milk. AFM1 level in raw milk was 12.44±1.87ppt (Mean ± S.D). The milk input to the plant had mean ± S.D of 2.94±0.082% protein, 3.27±0.18% fat, 11.59±0.31% solids, density 1.0299±0.0008 and acidity 14.6±0.49. Lactation season significantly altered milk protein production (P <0.05). Mean ± S.D. milk production protein was 2.94±0.082%. Lactation season did not have a significant effect on milk fat percentage (P<0.05). Mean ± S.D. percentage of milk fat produced was 3.27±0.18%. Lactation season also had a significant effect on the acidity of milk produced (P<0.05). Milk produced had the average acidity 14.6 (14.6±0.49). Lactation season did not have a significant effect on the percentage of dry matter in the produced milk (P<0.05). Mean ± S.D. dry matter of milk produced was obtained 11.59±0.31. In general, the input milk to Pegah Shahrekord infant milk factory in terms of composition and quality is in line with the reports for milk compounds in Iran and the world.
    Keywords: Aflatoxin M1, Cadmium, Lead, Infant formula, Milk component, Shahrekord
  • Jamshid Rahimi, Kamaladin Abedi, Hossein Ebrahimi *, Rasoul Yarahmadi, Iraj Alimohammadi, Shahram Vosoughi, Seted Hosein Tabatabaei Pages 537-543
    Benzo-α-pyrene is one of the most dangerous pollutants during working on asphalt, which is a carcinogenic. This study was aimed to perform health risk assessment of asphalt workers exposure to Benzo-α-pyrene using respiratory air monitoring data. The standard method of NIOSH 5515 (National Institutes of safety and health) was used for sampling and analyzing the Benzo-α-pyrene in the respiratory air. The sampling was done using polytetrafluoroethylene filter (PTFE) and XAD-2 sorbent tube (naphthylisocyanate) and the obtained samples were analyzed by Gas Chromatography with Flame Ionization Detection (GC-FID). The results of the study show that the highest and lowest concentrations belong to the functions of finisher assistance (0.058±0.011 mg m-3) and roller driver (0.042±0.015 mg/m3), respectively. The statistical test showed that the concentration of Benzo-α-pyrene in the respiratory air of different tasks is significantly different from each other (p <0.001). The results of the health risk assessment showed that all tasks are at a high risk level. In addition, comparison of the results of the concentration of Benzo-α-pyrene in the respiratory air and the assessment of health risk indicated that merely monitoring the concentration of the pollutants in the breathing air and comparing it with the allowable limits of exposure are not appropriate and reliable criteria to ensure the absence of disease or health problems.
    Keywords: Benzo-α-pyrene, PAHs, Health risk assessment, Asphalt workers