Association between perceived demands and musculoskeletal disorders among hospital nurses of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences: a questionnaire survey.

Excessive demands on nurses may result in high rates of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). This study was conducted among hospital nurses of Iran's Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS) to determine the prevalence of MSDs and to examine the relationship between perceived demands and reported MSDs. In this study, 641 randomly selected nurses from 12 SUMS hospitals participated. The Nordic musculoskeletal disorders questionnaire and Job Content Questionnaire were used as collecting data tools. The results showed that 84.4% of the participants had experienced some form of symptoms of MSDs during the past 12 months. Lower back symptoms were found to be the most prevalent problem. Perceived physical demands were significantly associated with MSDs (OR = 1.5-2.7). No association was found between perceived psychological demands and reported symptoms. It was concluded that any intervention program for preventing MSDs among SUMS hospital nurses had to focus on reducing physical demands, particularly excessive postural demands.     

Investigation of the association between pesticide exposure and the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Shahedieh population in Yazd

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study aimed to investigate the effect of exposure to pesticides and the prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D). In a cross-sectional study with a...     

Evaluation of potential toxic effects of occupational inhalation exposure to licorice root dust

Licorice, a plant indigenous to southern Europe, the Middle East, and northern China, exhibits several pharmacological properties, including estrogenic, anti-tumoral, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergenic, and anti-tussive activities. Prolonged use of licorice is known to produce headaches, hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, edema, lethargy, dyspnea, sodium retention and loss of potassium in humans. However, to date, the potential adverse health effects due to occupational inhalation exposure of licorice root dust remains unknown. This study was, therefore, undertaken to address this issue. In this cross-sectional study, individuals (30 workers) occupationally exposed to licorice root dust at a licorice producing plant in Shiraz, Iran were recruited. Similarly, 30 healthy male unexposed employees at a telecommunications industry, with identical demographic and socioeconomic status, without any past or current exposure to licorice dust or habitual ingestion of this compound, served as the referent group. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were measured. Further, individuals underwent electrocardiography, clinical examination and blood chemistry tests. To assess the extent to which subjects were exposed to licorice root dust, atmospheric concentrations of this compound were also measured in the plant. There were no differences in age, weight, height and duration of exposure to licorice dust or length of employment between exposed and referent groups. Atmospheric measurement of licorice dust showed that concentration exceeded the permissible limit of 5 mg m^?3. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures of exposed subjects were significantly higher than those of the referent group. Similarly, blood analysis revealed that serum concentrations of potassium and platelet counts were significantly lower in exposed subjects than in referent individuals. Questionnaire data demonstrated that symptoms such as headaches, lethargy, and vertigo were more common in exposed subjects. No abnormal changes were noted in the electrocardiographs of exposed or referent subjects. Our findings provide evidence that inhalation exposure to high concentrations of licorice dust is associated with an increased prevalence of headache, lethargy, and vertigo, as well as hypertension and hypokalemia. None of these changes resulted in increased morbidity and mortality in exposed workers.     

A review of combinations of electrokinetic applications

Anthropogenic activities contaminate many lands and underground waters with dangerous materials. Although polluted soils occupy small parts of the land, the risk they pose to plants, animals, humans, and groundwater is too high. Remediation technologies have been used for many years in order to mitigate pollution or remove pollutants from soils. However, there are some deficiencies in the remediation in complex site conditions such as low permeability and complex composition of some clays or heterogeneous subsurface conditions. Electrokinetic is an effective method in which electrodes are embedded in polluted soil, usually vertically but in some cases horizontally, and a low direct current voltage gradient is applied between the electrodes. The electric gradient initiates movement of contaminants by electromigration (charged chemical movement), electro-osmosis (movement of fluid), electrolysis (chemical reactions due to the electric field), and diffusion. However, sites that are contaminated with heavy metals or mixed contaminants (e.g. a combination of organic compounds with heavy metals and/or radionuclides) are difficult to remediate. There is no technology that can achieve the best results, but combining electrokinetic with other remediation methods, such as bioremediation and geosynthetics, promises to be the most effective method so far. This review focuses on the factors that affect electrokinetic remediation and the state-of-the-art methods that can be combined with electrokinetic.     

The effects of socioeconomic parameters on household solid-waste generation and composition in developing countries (a case study: Ahvaz,Iran)

Environment problems associated with the generation of waste are part of societal changes where households play an important role. These societal changes influence the size, structure and characteristic of given households. For the effective planning of solid-waste handling infrastructure, it is essential to know the quantity of waste generation and its composition. This paper presents the findings of a study carried out in an urban municipal area in Iran to determine the household solid-waste generation rate and waste composition based on field surveys and to determine the related socioeconomic parameters. The dependent variables were waste generation and composition, and independent variables were family size, family employment, age, number of room and education. Over 400 sample households were selected for the study using a stratified random sampling methodology and from five different socioeconomic groups. Waste collected from all groups of households were segregated and weighted. Waste generation rate was 5.4 kg/household/day. Household solid waste comprised of ten categories of wastes and with the largest component (76.9%). The generation and composition of household solid waste were correlated with family size, education level and households income. This paper adequately suggests new insights concerning the role of socioeconomic parameters in affecting the generation of household waste.     

Bioaccumulation of trace elements in different tissues of three commonly available fish species regarding their gender,gonadosomatic index,and condition factor in a wetland ecosystem

In the present research, accumulation of Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, V, and Zn were determined in sediments and fillet, liver, kidney, gonads, and gills of three commonly fish species in the largest wetland ecosystem that is located in southwest of Iran; Shadegan wetland. Shadegan is one of the most important wetland that posses various fauna and flora but suffers inputs from agricultural and industrial activities. So, sediment samples and fish species including Barbus grypus, Barbus sharpeyi, and Cyprinus carpio were collected during winter 2009. Results showed that mean concentrations of trace elements (except Ni and Co) were high in liver and gills of B. grypus. Also trace elements had the most accumulation in liver of B. sharpeyi except for Cd (0.26 mg kg^− 1 d.w.) and Mn (13.45 mg kg^− 1 d.w.) that were high in gills. Beside, kidney is determined as target tissue for Ni and V in B. grypus and for Pb in C. carpio, due to their high concentration. Zn levels in all tissues of C. carpio showed the highest concentrations in comparison to other fish species. Generally, accumulations of most of the studied elements in B. grypus and B. sharpeyi were higher in females than in males, while in fillet and gonads of C. carpio, this trend was inverted. Bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) were determined for different tissues of fish species with respect to elemental concentrations in sediment. BAFs results indicated that Zn, Pb, and Cu have higher BAF than other elements. Also this investigation demonstrated that trace elements have different affinities with condition factor of studied fish species. Gonadosomatic index (GSI) and Pb showed positive correlation together in both B. sharpeyi and B. grypus, respectively, in females and males. Moreover, females of C. carpio showed significantly positive relation of GSI and all studied elements.     

Road traffic impact on urban water quality: a step towards integrated traffic,air and stormwater modelling

Methods for simulating air pollution due to road traffic and the associated effects on stormwater runoff quality in an urban environment are examined with particular emphasis on the integration of the various simulation models into a consistent modelling chain. To that end, the models for traffic, pollutant emissions, atmospheric dispersion and deposition, and stormwater contamination are reviewed. The present study focuses on the implementation of a modelling chain for an actual urban case study, which is the contamination of water runoff by cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) in the Grigny urban catchment near Paris, France. First, traffic emissions are calculated with traffic inputs using the COPERT4 methodology. Next, the atmospheric dispersion of pollutants is simulated with the Polyphemus line source model and pollutant deposition fluxes in different subcatchment areas are calculated. Finally, the SWMM water quantity and quality model is used to estimate the concentrations of pollutants in stormwater runoff. The simulation results are compared to mass flow rates and concentrations of Cd, Pb and Zn measured at the catchment outlet. The contribution of local traffic to stormwater contamination is estimated to be significant for Pb and, to a lesser extent, for Zn and Cd; however, Pb is most likely overestimated due to outdated emissions factors. The results demonstrate the importance of treating distributed traffic emissions from major roadways explicitly since the impact of these sources on concentrations in the catchment outlet is underestimated when those traffic emissions are spatially averaged over the catchment area.     

Nonpoint source pollution of urban stormwater runoff: a methodology for source analysis

The characterization and control of runoff pollution from nonpoint sources in urban areas are a major issue for the protection of aquatic environments. We propose a methodology to quantify the sources of pollutants in an urban catchment and to analyze the associated uncertainties. After describing the methodology, we illustrate it through an application to the sources of Cu, Pb, Zn, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) from a residential catchment (228 ha) in the Paris region. In this application, we suggest several procedures that can be applied for the analysis of other pollutants in different catchments, including an estimation of the total extent of roof accessories (gutters and downspouts, watertight joints and valleys) in a catchment. These accessories result as the major source of Pb and as an important source of Zn in the example catchment, while activity-related sources (traffic, heating) are dominant for Cu (brake pad wear) and PAH (tire wear, atmospheric deposition).