Iranian Journal of Health Sciences
Volume:2 Issue: 1, Winter 2014

Background and Elevated CO2 rate in a building affect the health of occupant. This document presents results of an experimental analysis conducted in 50 offices located in 12 buildings with different layer in Cameroon (Yaounde). This study took place in 2012, during the dry and the rainy seasons. The main goal is to show the influence of the building structure, the ventilation and the number of occupants on the CO2 concentration in buildings. The areas chosen were ventilated at 60%. A questionnaire was distributed to occupants. The different values in terms of temperature, air speed, humidity, CO2 concentration and luminosity rate were measured simultaneously during working hours and without the occupants. The measurement took place while offices were naturally ventilated. Values obtained were analyzed and integrated. Painted buildings with glasses were more pollutant than those made with soil and wood. A mechanically controlled area was more comfortable but more pollutant than a naturally ventilated area. The CO2 concentration changes exponentially when the number of people in a hall increased especially when there are smokers. For temperature ranged from 20.5°C to 28.8°C and the CO2 from 350ppm to 1450ppm, the average consumption of O2 by person varied between 0.0097cfm and 0.0162 cfm.

Background and Textile industries are among the most polluting industries regarding the volume and the complexity of treatment of its effluents discharge. This study investigated the efficiency of electrocoagulation process using aluminum electrodes in basic red 18 dye removal from aqueous solutions. This study was performed in a bipolar batch reactor with six aluminum electrodes connected in parallel. Several important parameters, such as initial pH of solution, initial dye concentration, applied voltage; conductivity and reaction time were studied in an attempt to achieve higher removal efficiency. The electrochemical technique showed satisfactory dye removal efficiency and reliable performance in treating of basic red 18. The maximum efficiency of dye removal which was obtained in voltage of 50 V, reaction time of 60 min, initial concentration 50 mg/L, conductivity 3000 μS/cm and pH 7 was equal to 97.7%. Dye removal efficiency was increased accordance to increase of applied voltage and in contrast electrode and energy consumption was increased simultaneously. As a conclusion, the method was found to be highly efficient and relatively fast compared to conventional existing techniques for dye removal from aqueous solutions.

Background and Because of the high traffic flow in the city center in Sari, a walk through survey indicated that the PM2.5 concentrations are likely to be higher than the standards. This study was carried out to determine the level of PM2.5 at the street's curbsides in the city center in Sari. In this cross-sectional study the PM2.5 concentrations were measured in 185 monitoring stations at the curbsides of four main streets in the Sari city centre. 5550 10-s samples were collected using a real time particle monitor. A questionnaire was used to record air pollution related information and data were analyzed by descriptive statistic and ANOVA tests. Mean of PM2.5 concentration was 83μgm-3 and it was two times more than the national one and EPA recommended 24- hour standard (35μgm-3). This study showed that mean of PM2.5 concentration at the street during traffic rush hours in the morning and evening were higher than those measured in the afternoon. Because of the high concentration of PM2.5 in the Sari’s city centre that resulted in this study, the 24- hour PM2.5 concentrations are likely to be higher than standards in some days in the city centre in Sari. Therefore, monitoring and control of air pollution are recommended in this city.

Background and An appropriate solid waste (SW) disposal has been a major problem in municipal environment. The use of landfills is the most economical and environmentally acceptable method for the disposal of SWs all over the world. However, landfill leachate can cause environmental issues such as soil and ground water pollution. So, finding suitable land fill site is one of the most significant tasks in SWM. In this study, Geographic Information System (GIS) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method were used for Abadan solid waste landfill site selection. Six criteria were used in this study comprise distance from aquatic ecosystem, risk, residential, economical, geographical and social criteria. Each criterion weighted by using AHP method. After omission of inappropriate areas, the suitability examination of the residue areas was accomplished using GIS. Relative importance weight of each criterion and score value of sub-criteria in the GIS environment was determined and finally suitability map was prepared. Based on the final suitability map, appropriate solid waste landfill site was located in north part of the study area. The combination of AHP method with GIS in our experiment proves it is a powerful tool for solid waste landfill site selection.

Background and dye is widely used in industries such as cosmetic, leather, paper and textile and release to the environment via their effluents. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficiency of low-cost adsorbents in acid orang 7 dyes removal from water. The Rice Stem biomass was sun dried, crushed and sieved to particle sizes in range of 1-2 mm. Then treated with 2.0 mol/L nitric acid for a period of 1 h followed by washing with distilled water and finally washed Stem was dried at 105◦ in oven. The residues concentration of acid orang 7 dyes was measured by spectrophotometer in λmax of 452 nm. The effect of pH, contact time and initial AO7 dye concentration, kinetic and isotherm models were studied. Then data interpreted and analyzed by Excel 16 software. The pH value of 3, contact time of 75 min, adsorbent dosage of 8 g/L and dye concentration were 10 mg/l determined as optimum conditions for adsorbents. The most acid orang 7 dyes removal efficiency of 98% was obtained for modified Rice Stem in optimum conditions. The equilibrium data is best fitted on Langmuir isotherm and the adsorption kinetic model follows pseudo-second model. Based on data obtained in this study, it can be concluded that adsorption by modified Rice Stem

Background and The most important parameter is heavy metal contents in compost production technology. These heavy metals residue from substances like soap, detergents, cosmetics, packaging, leather and butteries are existed in municipal solid waste. The heavy metals can produce toxin for animal, human and plant. The aim of this research was study of produced compost quality based on heavy metals (Pb, Cd and Zn) in Babol compost plant in 2012. The present research is a descriptive- cross sectional study in which was performed in six months. Total sample numbers (5 samples) were randomly provided from final compost of Babol plant and then after extraction and filtration, the concentration of heavy metals like cadmium, lead and zinc was measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometer PG-999. In analyzed samples the maximum, minimum and average of cadmium in the final compost were 7.25, 0.47 and 1.9 mg/kg. The maximum, minimum and mean of lead were 239.2, 31.9 and 67.1 mg/kg; in zinc were 972.7, 483.5 and 603.7 mg/kg respectively. The concentration of heavy metals in Babol compost samples was under Iranian national and World Health Organization standards and could be used for different species of plants. However, the usability of compost depends on other parameters such as carbon to nitrogen and other components like glass, plastics and textiles.

Background and School, as a reliable place in educating students, has an important role in training. The aim of this study was the assessment of environmental health of primary schools in Norabad Mamasani city of Fars Province. In this analytical-descriptive and cross-sectional study, all of 26 primary schools in Norabad Mamasani city were surveyed by using census methodology. For data collection, it was used an approved form of safety and health school status by Ministry of Health and Medical Education. The obtained data was statistically analyzed by means of SPSS software using chi-square statistical test at the significant level with p=0.05. Results showed that 19(73.7%) and7 (26.93%) of the 26 schools were public and private schools, respectively. 15 (57.7%) schools have the building of the new build. The results of the research indicated that there is not a significant difference between the health status of hand washing services, water fountain system, toilet and classrooms in the position of the old building and new building according the Chi-square test (p>0.05). Also, there was no significant difference between the per capita health service (hand washing services, water fountain system and toilet) in public and private schools (p>0.05). The most schools had to favorable and hygiene situation of environmental health situation regarding the Health Instruction Guide for Environment of Schools. But, it should be improved the classroom, water fountain system and closets per capita and the distance of some schools from annoying centers. The authorities of Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health should pay more attention and interest in this regard and dedicate proper budgets to solve health problems.

Background and Water is the most important limiting factor of sustainable development. Poor quality of water sources and lack of appropriate management in some regions are the main reasons of water crises in the country. This study was conducted to assess water sources quality and the trend of their change in rural area of Sabzevar County in a five year period. In total 43 sources of water in villages or complexes with more than 700 population were selected randomly and their Physico-Chemical and microbiological variables were studied. For microbiological characteristics 801 samples from those 43 sources were taken and examined in a five year period. The results showed that the average microbial contamination of all 801 samples from 43 sources during a five year period was 12.3 with a variance of 13.3. Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) index was 349.02 ppm with variance of 193.704 ppm. In three sources, the TDS index had statistically significantly difference with the maximum level of 500 ppm. The maximum limit of EC of water from wells in a three years period has increased from 2526 in year 1 to 3213 in year three of study. Among 43 sources of rural drinking water, just one source, with average 4.7± 3.9 ppm had statistically significantly difference with the upper limit maximum of 1.5 mg per litter. Having positive result of E-coli in some of water sources and high level of some Physico-Chemical indexes and the increasing trend of declining quality of water sources in a five year period of study, therefore creating a GIS based data bank of water quality for continues monitoring of change in water quality, improvement and filtration of some sources, and replacement with a sources of better quality are essential.

Background and Mortality Statistics and rates show the development of a country in the world. These statistics are very important for determining the distribution of risk factors of mortality (in age and gender groups, ethnicity and so on); and they are useful for improving health and preventing from important diseases in future planning of countries in societies. This article is a longitudinal descriptive study. All registered deaths in Bane which occurred during 2006-2010, regardless of the cause, were collected from the department of health in Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, and they were assigned into 21 categories based on Disease Category (ICD10) of WHO. Then the life table for every year was prepared and Life expectancy was computed for each age and sex and total lost years of life for all chapters of ICD10 were calculated. Based on the ICD10, four chapters with the highest frequencies include circulatory diseases by 1008 cases (32.5%), external causes of death by 522 cases (16.7%), cancers by 480 cases (15.3%), and prenatal death by 382 cases (12.2%). Overall, these chapters include 76.4% of total death. The most years of lost life were reported for prenatal period, external causes, diseases of the circulatory system and cancers. Cardiovascular diseases, incidents and accidents, and cancers are the most important causes of death. Among the main reasons of death in the first group are high blood pressures, lack of movement, smoking, not consuming enough fruits, vegetables. In the second group the reasons include not obeying the traffic rules, high speed and so on. Since the sum years of lost life were the highest in the prenatal period, it is necessary to improve pregnancy care and teach mothers prior to pregnancy.