Impact of energy carriers’ price distortions on energy allocative efficiency: the case study of Iranian provinces

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Government control distorts energy prices which leads to loss of optimal factor combination and, as a result, affects efficiency. Previous researches...     

Mobility and efficacy of 2,4-D herbicide from slow-release delivery systems based on organo-zeolite and organo-bentonite complexes

This research aimed to develop slow-release formulations (SRFs) of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) using zeolite and bentonite minerals modified with cetyltrimethylammonium (CTMA) surfactant. Adsorption–desorption, greenhouse bioassay and column experiments were carried out to assess the potential of the SRFs to control weeds while reducing the herbicide leaching losses to deep layers of soil. The results showed that only 6.5 mmol 2,4-D kg^?1 was retained by Na-bent, and the herbicide was not adsorbed by Na-zeol at all. The surface modification with CTMA surfactant, however, improved the 2,4-D adsorption capacity of the zeolite and bentonite up to 207.5 and 415.8 mmol kg^?1, respectively. The synthesized organo-minerals slowly released the retained 2,4-D discharging 22 to 64% of the adsorbed 2,4-D to the solution phase within 7 days. The SRFs significantly (P = 0.05) reduced the herbicide mobility within the soil columns keeping a great portion of the herbicide active ingredient in the upper 5 cm soil layer. The SRFs were significantly (P = 0.05) as effective as the free technical herbicide in weed control without harming the ryegrass as the main plant. Therefore, the synthesized SRFs could be considered as useful tools for weed control in sustainable agriculture.     

Novel Biobased Polyurethanes Synthesized from Nontoxic Phenolic Diol Containing l-Tyrosine Moiety Under Green Media

Ionic liquids (ILs) have been accepted as ‘green’ alternatives to the organic solvents in a range of synthesis, catalysis and electrochemistry, because of their distinctive chemical and physical properties. In this investigation, N,N′-(pyromellitoyl)-bis-l-tyrosine dimethyl ester as a chiral bioactive diphenolic monomer was prepared in three steps. The polycondensation of this monomer with various aromatic and aliphatic diisocyanates such as 4,4′-methylene-bis-(4-phenylisocyanate) (6a), toluylene-2,4-diisocyanate (6b), isophorone diisocyanate (6c) and hexamethylene diisocyanate (6d) were carried out in the presence of tetrabutylammonium bromide as a molten IL under microwave irradiation conditions and was compared with polymerization in traditional solvent like N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone. The results show that IL efficiently absorbs microwave energy, thus leading to a very high heating rate. Thus IL method is safe and green since toxic and volatile organic solvents were eliminated. All of the novel poly(urethane-imides) (PUIs) showed good solubility in various organic solvents. The obtained new polymers were characterized with FT-IR, ¹H-NMR, elemental and thermogravimetric analysis techniques. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of two representative PUIs demonstrated that they are rather thermally stable. In vitro toxicity studies showed that the synthetic materials are biologically active and they are nontoxic to microbial growth then could be classified as bioactive and biodegradable compounds.     

Assessment of the effect of welding fumes on welders’ cognitive failure and health-related quality of life

Introduction. This study examined whether cognitive symptoms and health-related quality of life can be affected by welding fume exposure. Method. Participants consisted of welders (n?=?40) and welder assistants (n?=?25) from welding units as the exposed group, and office workers (n?=?44) as the non-exposed group. All participants were studied using ambient air monitoring and two types of questionnaires: the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) and the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Results. Welders and welder assistants were exposed to higher concentrations of all airborne metals than office employees, except for aluminum and chromium (p?p?M (SD)?=?54.84 (17.88)). The relationships between total CFQ score and the measured concentration of nickel at peak work rate was significant for welders. Conclusion. Cognitive symptoms and health-related quality of life were not related to the measures of welding fume exposure and further research should be performed to find other influencing factors.     

Relationship of extinction coefficient, air pollution, and meteorological parameters in an urban area during 2007 to 2009

Light extinction, which is the extent of attenuation of light signal for every distance traveled by light in the absence of special weather conditions (e.g., fog and rain), can be expressed as the sum of scattering and absorption effects of aerosols. In this paper, diurnal and seasonal variations of the extinction coefficient are investigated for the urban areas of Tehran from 2007 to 2009. Cases of visibility impairment that were concurrent with reports of fog, mist, precipitation, or relative humidity above 90 % are filtered. The mean value and standard deviation of daily extinction are 0.49 and 0.39 km^?1, respectively. The average is much higher than that in many other large cities in the world, indicating the rather poor air quality over Tehran. The extinction coefficient shows obvious diurnal variations in each season, with a peak in the morning that is more pronounced in the wintertime. Also, there is a very slight increasing trend in the annual variations of atmospheric extinction coefficient, which suggests that air quality has regressed since 2007. The horizontal extinction coefficient decreased from January to July in each year and then increased between July and December, with the maximum value in the winter. Diurnal variation of extinction is often associated with small values for low relative humidity (RH), but increases significantly at higher RH. Annual correlation analysis shows that there is a positive correlation between the extinction coefficient and RH, CO, PM₁₀, SO₂, and NO₂ concentration, while negative correlation exists between the extinction and T, WS, and O₃, implying their unfavorable impact on extinction variation. The extinction budget was derived from multiple regression equations using the regression coefficients. On average, 44 % of the extinction is from suspended particles, 3 % is from air molecules, about 5 % is from NO₂ absorption, 0.35 % is from RH, and approximately 48 % is unaccounted for, which may represent errors in the data as well as contribution of other atmospheric constituents omitted from the analysis. Stronger regression equation is achieved in the summer, meaning that the extinction is more predictable in this season using pollutant concentrations.     

Environmentally friendly synthesis of Fe2O3@SiO2 nanocomposite: characterization and application as an adsorbent to aniline removal from aqueous solution

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Silica-based nanocomposite syntheses employ many harmful substances, which, in turn, demand the development of new synthetic environmental-friendly...     

Phosphorus leaching from a sandy soil in the presence of modified and un-modified adsorbents

Phosphorus (P) leaching from a sandy soil was investigated in the presence of modified and unmodified clay minerals and nanoparticles (NPs). Compared with control soil, amended soil with NPs had the highest percentage of P retention than amended soil with clay minerals. Among the adsorbents used, the highest percentage of P retention was produced by Al₂O₃-chitosan while the lowest percentage of P retention was by zeolite. Data measured for P leaching after using adsorbents were used to predict P leaching using transport model. PHREEQC model was able to model P leaching from control and amended soil. After leaching, P values in control and amended soil were fractionated by a sequential extraction procedure. Concentration of P in Ca-bound fraction (HCl–P) after application of modified and unmodified clay minerals and NPs (except TiO₂ and Al₂O₃) increased and decreased, respectively. Saturation indices (SIs) and P speciation were assessed using the Visual MINTEQ version 2.3 program. According to the SIs, leaching P from control and amended soil with different adsorbent was controlled by dissolution of hydroxyapatite. The results indicated that used adsorbents can reduce P leaching from the sandy soil. Thus, retention of P by amended soil reduced a risk in terms of groundwater contamination with P.     

Energy intensity convergence in Iranian provinces: evidence from energy carriers’ consumption intensity

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Investigating the energy intensity convergence in Iran, as a country with very high energy intensity in the world, is important in order to assess...     

Biosynthesis of iron nanoparticles and their application in removing phosphorus from aqueous solutions

This paper reports the biosynthesis of nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) using the extracts of Shirazi thyme leaf (Th-nZVI) and pistachio green hulls (P-nZVI). Scanning electron microscopy verified the successful synthesis of the poorly crystalline nZVI with a spherical shape and diameter in the range of 40–70 nm. According to X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscope analyses, the synthesised nZVI were composed of iron oxides nanoparticles and ployphenol obtained from Shirazi thyme leaf and pistachio green hulls extracts acting as both reducing and capping agents. The phosphorus removal efficiency of Th-nZVI and P-nZVI increased with time and reached equilibrium at about 4 and 2h, respectively. Sorption of phosphorus on both sorbents was observed to be pH-dependent with maximum phosphorus removal occurring in the pH range of 2–5. Langmuir, Freundlich, Redlich–Peterson, and Temkin models were used to describe phosphorus sorption at pH 5 and maximum sorption capacity for Th-nZVI and P-nZVI was about 40.52 and 29.33?mg?g^?1, respectively. Correlation coefficient (R²) and standard errors of estimate showed that the Elovich model was better than other models at describing the kinetic data. These results suggested that the synthesised nZVI with Shirazi thyme leaf and pistachio green hulls extracts could be employed as an efficient sorbent for the remediation of phosphorus from contaminated water sources.     

Real-time monitoring of nanoparticle retention in porous media

Nanoparticles are not specifically targeted in conventional treatment schemes; consequently, typical wastewater treatment systems are ineffective for nanoparticles removal. With rapidly increasing concern over their health effects, improved understanding of nanoparticle transport and retention in porous media filters is critical because of its application in new wastewater treatment methods and for assessment of the fate of the discharged nanoparticles in soil. In this study, a unique and robust integrated method is developed and validated. Experimentally, this approach uses an on-line, real-time, and in situ method for measuring nanoparticle retention dynamics, eliminating the laborious and less accurate sampling and off-line analysis. The data analysis part is a process simulator which provides both kinetic properties of the retention process as well as the overall capacity and loading. This technique is validated by application to the transport and retention of TiO₂ nanoparticles in two vastly different porous filtration media—activated carbon and sand. TiO₂ retained concentrations ranged from 0.24 to 0.37 mg g^?1 for activated carbon and 0.01–0.014 mg g^?1 for sand. The integrated method presented here is useful for both comparison of the filtration effectiveness of various porous materials as well as for process optimization and scale-up for industrial applications.