International Journal of Environmental Health Engineering
Volume:9 Issue: 4, Dec 2020

This study aimed to review the impact of climate change around the world on the incidence of emerging and noncommunicable diseases in sensitive and vulnerable individuals, such as pregnant women and newborns. The combination of keywords such as climate change, ambient temperature, pregnancy outcomes, spontaneous abortion, preterm birth, stillbirth, autism, orofacial cleft, cleft palate, heart disorders, and diabetes was used for comprehensive search on reputable citation databases such as Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, throughout research conducted previously with a focus on the years from 2018 to 2020. The results of the literature cited showed that long-term exposure to high temperatures reduced birth weight. Heat has been reported to have serious adverse effect than cool weather for preterm birth. A significant association has been reported between seasonal changes and diabetes and gestational hypertension. Climate changes, by increasing infant mortality and miscarriage, have made a difference in sex ratios. Further, the development of neonatal abnormalities such as hypospadias, autism, cleft palate, and heart disorders has been significantly associated with climate change. Seasonal changes, rising temperatures, sunlight, increased ultraviolet rays, and ozone concentration have been suggested to involve in the prevalence of cleft palate. Changes in relative humidity, temperature, sunlight, oxygen pressure, and elevated environments have also contributed to the development of heart disorders. This review showed that climate change has played an important role in the incidence and prevalence of emerging diseases. Hence, climate change has adverse effects on pregnant women and neonates. This study confirms critical importance of climate change and its negative effect on susceptible people and next generation.

 In this study, the presence of four phthalate esters, including diethyl phthalate (DEP), Dibutyl phthalate, benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), and diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) in pasteurized milk with plastic packages was investigated during the time allowed for consumption. Materials and 

 The pasteurized milk samples, including 7 high-consumed brands, were purchased from reputable stores and two factories in Isfahan in 2019. The concentration of phthalate esters was measured by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy paired with dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction. 

 According to the results of this study, among the analyzed samples of stores, DEHP (0.25 μg/l) and BBP (0.25 μg/l) had the highest mean concentrations in pasteurized milk, respectively. The analyzed results of the factories showed a high BBP of 0.1 μg/l. Among the studied brands, the highest concentration of phthalate esters was 0.42 μg/l. The mean concentrations obtained in this study were lower than the international standards set. 

 Due to the low average concentration of phthalate esters in pasteurized milk, consumption of these products has no serious risk for humans and the share of pasteurized milk in terms of the presence of phthalate esters is negligible

 Low-frequency sounds are generated from many sources in both the occupational and nonoccupational environments. Hence, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of low-frequency noise (LFN) on the working speed and the rate of annoyance of the subjects under study. Materials and 

 This cross-sectional/interventional study was performed in the sound and vibration laboratory of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2019. Simple random sampling was used to select the subjects. In this study, the working speed of the subjects was evaluated using mental arithmetic test and the rate of the perceived annoyance was measured using ISO 15666 in Likert format (0–11) due to exposure to noise sources. Mann–Whitney U-test was used to analyze the data. 

 There was a significant statistical difference in the rate of the individuals' working speed Between 0 and 90 min at the frequency of 125 Hz and the sound level of 95 dB (P = 0.029). There was a statistically significant difference between the frequencies of 125 and 1000 Hz at the sound pressure level of 85 dB and the 45 min time (P = 0.001) and 90 min (P = 0.001) as well as at the 95 dB sound pressure level at 45 min (P = 001) and 90 min (P = 0.001). 

 The results of the present study showed that increasing sound pressure levels and the exposure time in both LFN and high-frequency noises, increased the working speed and the amount of perceived annoyance in individuals.

 This study aimed to comparatively investigate the efficiency of removal of formaldehyde using advanced oxidation process ultraviolet (UV)/S2O82-/Fe2+ and UV/S2O82- from aqueous solutions. 

 In this experimental-laboratory study, the UV/S2O82 and UV/S2O82-/Fe2+ processes were used to remove formaldehyde. UV radiation was provided by a low pressure (6 W) UV lamp. Effects of various factors including pH, different irradiation durations, different concentrations of iron ions, initial concentration formaldehyde, and persulfate concentration were evaluated. The remaining formaldehyde concentration in the samples was measured by spectrophotometer at 412 nm wavelength. 

 The results showed that in the UV/S2O82- method, the formaldehyde removal efficiency decreased with increasing pH from 3 to 9, while in the UV/S2O82-/Fe2+ method, the formaldehyde removal efficiency increased with increasing pH and concentrations of iron ion. In both methods, as the initial concentration of formaldehyde was increased, its removal efficiency decreased, and the highest formaldehyde removal rate was obtained in UV/S2O82- method at persulfate concentration of 100 mM. However, in the UV/S2O82-/Fe2+ method, the removal efficiency decreased with increasing concentration of persulfate to 100 mM. 

 The results showed that the UV/S2O82-/Fe2+ process was more efficient (87.57%) to remove formaldehyde at high concentrations. Therefore, it is recommended to study the efficiency of this process as one of the clean and environmentally friendly methods at full scale for real wastewater.

 This study was aimed to discriminate ion aflatoxin B1(AFB1) contamination of pistachio kernels after/E-beam irradiation. 

 Pistachios were inoculated with known concentrations of Aspergillus flavus. Then pistachio samples were exposed to E-beam at five different doses (0, 1, 3, 5, and 7 kGy) and in various storage times (0, 30, 60, 90, and 180 days) at ambient temperature. Then, sensorial characteristics, fungal, and AFB1 contamination of pistachio kernels were investigated. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS software version 22. by using descriptive statistics, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, and Kruskal–Wallis tests. 

 The mean percentage reduction of aflatoxin in the treated samples at doses of 1, 3, 5, and 7 kGy on different days of storage with two replicates was 38.84%, 48.79%, 53.50%, and 77.17%, respectively. The dose of 1 kGy was found to be appropriate in reducing the number of mold in pistachios without having any change in their organoleptic properties. The organoleptic properties, including color, texture, and overall palatability of pistachios, significantly changed after a dose of 5 kGy. 

 Electron-beam (E-beam) efficiency against A. flavus and aflatoxin degradation increased with increasing radiation dose. Due to the sensitivity of A. flavus to radiation, this method can be used to improve the quality of pistachio products.

The aim of this study was to reduce the amount of diazinon from aqueous media using chemical–thermal-activated watermelon rind. Materials and 

 This experimental study was carried out in a laboratory. First, watermelon rind was activated by chemical–thermal method. Then, the effective parameters of the diazinon adsorption process, including the initial concentration of diazinon (0.17–1 μg/L), pH (3–10), adsorbent amount (0.05–1 g/l), and contact time (30–100 min), were investigated and optimized. The amount of residual diazinon was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. In this study, Taguchi method was used to determine the sample size and statistical analysis. Furthermore, in this study, to describe the adsorption equilibrium, Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models were used. 

 The results showed that under an optimal pH of 6, the equilibrium time of 30 min, the amount of adsorbent 1 g/L, and the initial concentration 0.17 μg/L, the elimination efficiency of diazinon was 95.1%. Furthermore, the results of isothermic studies have shown that the removal of diazinon follows the Freundlich model (R2 = 0.921). 

 Chemical–thermal-activated watermelon rind can effectively be used to remove low concentrations of diazinon from aqueous solutions.

 This study is aimed to determine the disinfectant activity of Derdevice plus Y® and I&D Sept® against carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) isolates. Materials and

 The bactericidal activity of Derdevice plus Y® and I&D Sept® were tested in vitro under clean and dirty conditions by a quantitative suspension test according to EN 13727. The effectiveness of the disinfectants was compared with 10% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), 7% benzalkonium chloride (BC), 2% chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX), and 70% ethyl alcohol (EtOH). After 1, 5, and 60 min of contact with the biocides, the colony-forming units were counted, and the logarithmic reduction factor was determined. 

 A dilution of 1/300 of Derdevice plus Y® disinfectant showed bactericidal activity against clinical isolates and standard strains (growth reduction was =5 log10) after 5 and 60 min contact times and under clean and dirty conditions. A 100% concentration of I&D Sept® showed a bactericidal effect within the contact time (60 min) under clean and dirty conditions with the reductions of =5 log10 and =3 log10, respectively. Standard biocides such as BC, CHX, NaOCl, and EtOH showed marked effects after various contact times and the conditions onto tested strains. 

 The results of our study confirm that the biocides of Derdevice plus Y® and I&D Sept® used in our hospital were found to be effective against K. pneumoniae isolates.

 Nitrate can enter water bodies through using chemical fertilizers and discharging the effluents from municipal and industrial sewage treatment plants. As a superiority to the conventional statistical models, Grey models (GMs) require only a limited amount of representative data to estimate the behavior of unknown systems. In the current study, the nitrate concentration of the year 2023 in Babol groundwater resources was forecasted by using GM, namely GM (1, 1). 

 This descriptive-cross-sectional study was performed in the city of Babol. The data of 63 wells in urban and rural areas during the warm and cold seasons between 2007 and 2017 were supplied from the Health Center and Babol Rural Water and Sewage Company. In data set, the observed values between 2007 and 2015 were used to fit models, and the observed values between 2016 and 2017 were used to evaluate the accuracy of the model's predictions. To assess the efficiency of the model fitted and precision of the predicted values, we used indexes of forecast absolute error, small error probability, and the proportion of variance statistical metrics. 

 Simulated results showed that the accuracy of the model GM (1, 1) to predict and forecast both data sets is entirely appropriate and reliable. The forecasting values of nitrate concentration of the year 2023 and 8 years later, for urban and rural areas in warm and cold seasons, are 21.30 and 7.30 and 15.63 and 5.34 mg/L, respectively. 

 Although the predicted concentration of nitrate in the studied area is lower than that the standard concentration suggested by the World Health Organization, all water resources should be protected effectively.

 This study was conducted on the microbial contamination of water of Bandar Abbas beaches in order to achieve comprehensive information for determining the quality of swimming coasts. Materials and 

 After initial examination of the number and location of swimming coasts in terms of appearance and areas with the highest number of swimmers, 5 coastal swimming areas were selected as sampling sites. Sampling was done for 6 months and 10 samples per month. Physicochemical (water temperature, pH, turbidity, electrical conductivity, and salinity) and microbial indicators including total and fecal coliforms, Escherichia coli, fecal streptococci, Clostridium perfringens as well as Salmonella as a pathogenic microorganism were measured in each sampling period. 

 Results of this study showed that the mean number of streptococci, total coliforms, fecal coliforms, and E. coli was 930, 24,000, 9300, and 9300 most probable number (MPN)/100 ml, respectively. It was also found that the mean concentration of C. perfringens in the sampling stations was 250 CFU/100 ml. The frequency of detection of Salmonella in stations 2 and 3 was 16.7% and in station 5 was 8.3% and was not observed in other stations. According to the results, in most sampling stations, the concentration of the microbial indicators was higher than the standard. A significant relationship between different species of bacteria was observed. The results also showed a significant relationship between the amount of turbidity and microbial (P < 0.05). 

 According to the results of the present study, it was observed that most of the swimming coasts of Bandar Abbas were not in a favorable microbial condition, due to the discharge of industrial and municipal sewage and waste disposal. The results highlight the potential risk of microbial pathogens for swimmers and the necessity of sanitation practices of coastal area to protect public health.