A multi-criteria GIS-based model for wind farm site selection with the least impact on environmental pollution using the OWA-ANP method

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Wind energy is considered one of the most efficient and cost-effective ways to generate electricity, since it has a low environmental impact. So, it...     

Susceptibility mapping of groundwater salinity using machine learning models

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Increasing groundwater salinity has recently raised severe environmental and health concerns around the world. Advancement of the novel methods for...     

Laboratory waste minimization by recovery of silver as nano-silver colloidal dispersion from waste silver chloride

The use of cyclic experiments, where the product of one reaction becomes the starting material for the next experiment, was proposed as an effective protocol for waste minimization in an educational lab. A simple, cheap and pollution-free method was developed for recovering silver as nano-silver colloidal dispersion from waste silver chloride in the laboratories of the Faculty of Health, Safety and Environment. Silver nanoparticles of the size 5–18 nm were recovered in the presence of sodium borohydride as a reducing agent and polyvinylpyrrolidone as a stabilizer agent. The nano-silver particles were studied for their formation, structure, stability and size using UV–Vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering techniques. The antibacterial assays of nanoparticles showed satisfactory results for Escherichia coli ATCC25922, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213, and Acinetobacter baumanii (Clinical isolate). A laboratory experiment was designed in which students synthesize yellow colloidal silver solution from chemical waste silver chloride and estimate particle size using visible spectroscopy.     

Measurement and management of hospital waste in southern Iran: a case study

One of the requirements for development of human societies is the establishment of new healthcare centers. A variety of wastes are generated in healthcare centers depending on the type of activities. This study was conducted to identify, measure and manage different types of hospital wastes as a case study in a hospital located in southern Iran. For this purpose, a questionnaire was initially designed and distributed among the relevant experts to survey the current trend of waste management in the hospital in terms of waste collection, storage and disposal. Afterwards, the hospital waste was sampled during two seasons of fall and winter. The samples were weighted for seven consecutive days in the middle of each season. Approximately, 10 % of the total waste bags per day collected round the clock were selected for further analysis. The obtained results indicated that infectious-hazardous and pseudo-household wastes were, respectively, about 3.79 kg/day/bed, 1.36 kg/day/bed and 2.43 kg/day/bed of the total generated waste in the hospital. As the research findings suggest, proper separation of infectious and pseudo-household wastes at the source would be an essential step towards mitigating environmental and health risks and minimizing the cost of the hospital waste management.     

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the indoor air of intensive care unit (ICU) for severe COVID-19 patients and its surroundings: considering the role of environmental conditions

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - There is ambiguity about the airborne transmission of the SARS-CoV-2. While a distance of 6 feet is considered a safe physical distance, new findings...     

Simultaneous monitoring of SARS-CoV-2, bacteria,and fungi in indoor air of hospital: a study on Hajar Hospital in Shahrekord,Iran

The novel SARS-CoV-2 outbreak was declared as pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. Understanding the airborne route of SARS-CoV-2 transmission is essential for infection prevention and control. In this study, a total of 107 indoor air samples (45 SARS-CoV-2, 62 bacteria, and fungi) were collected from different wards of the Hajar Hospital in Shahrekord, Iran. Simultaneously, bacterial and fungal samples were also collected from the ambient air of hospital yard. Overall, 6 positive air samples were detected in the infectious 1 and infectious 2 wards, intensive care unit (ICU), computed tomography (CT) scan, respiratory patients’ clinic, and personal protective equipment (PPE) room. Also, airborne bacteria and fungi were simultaneously detected in the various wards of the hospital with concentrations ranging from 14 to 106 CFU m^?3 and 18 to 141 CFU m^?3, respectively. The highest mean concentrations of bacteria and fungi were observed in respiratory patients’ clinics and ICU wards, respectively. Significant correlation (p < 0.05) was found between airborne bacterial concentration and the presence of SARS-CoV-2, while no significant correlation was found between fungi concentration and the virus presence. This study provided an additional evidence about the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the indoor air of a hospital that admitted COVID-19 patients. Moreover, it was revealed that the monitoring of microbial quality of indoor air in such hospitals is very important, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, for controlling the nosocomial infections.

     

Policy Utopias for Nutrient Credit Trading Programs with Nonpoint Sources

A promising program to address water contamination from nutrients is water quality trading (WQT), whereby entities with high abatement costs purchase credits from entities with lower abatement costs. The concept has found some success with point source water pollution, but very few trades have occurred in over 50 programs in the United States (U.S.) that have focused on nonpoint sources (NPSs). To understand why success has been slow, we identified three environments needed for programs to succeed: physical, economic, and institutional. We estimate that only 5% of watersheds in the U.S. currently listed as nutrient impaired provide a viable physical environment for trading nitrogen; 13% are suitable for phosphorus. Economic and institutional challenges would shrink that domain even further. Therefore, we find places with the ideal physical, economic, and institutional environments necessary for feasible WQT programs are virtual policy utopias — rare places with ideal environments. Fortunately, a growing literature provides the tools necessary to identify where these policy utopias are and to expand that domain through a better understanding about how to manage WQT programs more effectively.     

The use of rapidly synergistic cloud point extraction for the separation and preconcentration of trace amounts of Ni (II) ions from food and water samples coupling with flame atomic absorption spectrometry determination

A novel improved preconcentration method known as rapidly synergistic cloud point extraction (RS-CPE) was established for nickel preconcentration and determination prior to its determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. In this work, the traditional CPE pattern was changed and greatly simplified in order to be applicable in metal extraction and detection. This method was accomplished in room temperature in 1 min. Non-ionic surfactant Triton X-114 was used as extractant. Octanol worked as cloud point revulsant and synergic reagent. The various parameters affecting the extraction and preconcentration of nickel such as sample pH, 2,2′-Furildioxime concentration, amounts of octanol, amounts of Triton X-114, type of diluting solvent, extraction time, and ionic strength were investigated and optimized. Under optimal conditions, the calibration curve showed an excellent linearity in the concentration range of 2–200 μg L^?1, and the limit of detection was 0.6 μg L^?1 for nickel. The developed method was successfully applied for the determination of nickel in food and water samples. The results showed that, the proposed method can be used as a cheap, rapid, and efficient method for the extraction and preconcentration of nickel from real samples.