Seasonal Fluctuation in Heavy Metal Pollution in Iran´s Siahroud River - A Preliminary Study (7 pp)

Background The management of its available water resources has become a key issue for Iran. During the last few decades, the water quality of Siahroud River in the coastal plain of the Caspian Sea in Gilan Province in Northern Iran has significantly degraded. The scarcity of water has been compounded by rapid population growth and increasing pollution from fertilizers, pesticides, and municipal and industrial wastes. One of the sources of this degradation is the movement of heavy metals from the river's watershed into the various water systems supported by the river, including the water system for Rasht City. Methods To study the magnitude of heavy metal pollution in the Siahroud River, seven heavy metals including Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd, Mn, Fe, and Ni were measured in duplicate from replicated water samples collected over five consecutive seasons and analyzed by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. In situ measurements of pH were taken with the samples and total organic carbon (TOC) was analyzed by IR gas measurement. Results The results demonstrated that four of the seven heavy metals including Pb, Fe, Cd, and Mn exceeded permissible safe levels as established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Multivariate factor analysis suggested that industrial land-use was the main contributing factor for the high levels of Fe and Mn in the Siahroud River, whereas, Cd was principly from agricultural activities in the watershed. The data also suggested that pH and TOC had an important role in the behaviour of Pb and Mn, and that the elevated levels of these two heavy metals in Siahroud River was the consequence of other anthropogenic sources. Only negligible levels of Zn, Cu and Ni were detected. Finally, all the sampling stations were subjected to cluster analysis. The results indicated that three different zones could be distinguished according to the levels of pollution. In addition, it was shown that the urban areas did not have a significant impact on the heavy metal pollution in the river. This observation stems from the fact that the data from the sampling stations before and after Rasht City were not significantly different. Recommendation . Preventive measures need to be undertaken in the land-use systems and watersheds of the Siahroud River to reduce the pollution levels of Pb, Cd, Mn and Fe.     

An observational study of child safety seat use in an international safe community: Tehran,Iran

Objective: Despite strong evidence of the effectiveness of child safety seats in reducing injuries, the use of these devices in some communities is still rare. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of child safety seat use and the factors influencing its use in the safe community of Tehran.

Methods: This roadside observational study was conducted in 2015 and 2,178 personal cars with a child under 12 years aboard were observed on Tehran's streets in regard to use of child safety seats. Other variables such as the gender of the driver, driver's age group, type of street, region of municipality, time of day, and day of the week were also collected.

Results: Prevalence of child safety seat use was 4.3% and was significantly higher among women drivers, on freeways, and in municipal regions 1, 4, and 7.

Conclusions: The prevalence of child safety seat use in Tehran as a most populous member of the international safe community was very low and most children commuted in insecure situations in the vehicle. Therefore, it is proposed that plans should be made to increase the use of child safety seats in international safe communities.     

The optimal dam site selection using a group decision-making method through fuzzy TOPSIS model

The complex and controversial task of selecting a dam site in a river basin can be successfully achieved using science-informed multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques. In this paper, we describe the application of the group fuzzy TOPSIS model for optimal ranking of the case study of Kandoleh dam sites in Kermanshah province, Iran, involving 18 input criteria. In this study, decision-making committee was made up of 20 involved decision makers. The comments of four non-biased, external experts in dam site selection were also used. The triangular fuzzy numbers were used to apply experts’ opinions on the selection criteria. In total, four alternative sites were assessed based on the technical, economic, social and environmental considerations and the data were analyzed using fuzzy TOPSIS MCDM model. Ranking results were compared with multi-criteria decision-making models, including the ELimination and Choice Expressing the REality and simple additive weighting. This logical, open and transparent framework provides a science-informed decision-making approach for complex problems such as optimal dam site selection. Finally, using sensitivity analysis, local studies and group discussions, we demonstrated the multiple benefits of the proposed novel method for a science-informed, open and transparent method for optimal ranking of the dam site candidates.     

Materials,fuels, upgrading,economy, and life cycle assessment of the pyrolysis of algal and lignocellulosic biomass: a review

Climate change issues are calling for advanced methods to produce materials and fuels in a carbon–neutral and circular way. For instance, biomass pyrolysis has been intensely investigated during the last years. Here we review the pyrolysis of algal and lignocellulosic biomass with focus on pyrolysis products and mechanisms, oil upgrading, combining pyrolysis and anaerobic digestion, economy, and life cycle assessment. Products include oil, gas, and biochar. Upgrading techniques comprise hot vapor filtration, solvent addition, emulsification, esterification and transesterification, hydrotreatment, steam reforming, and the use of supercritical fluids. We examined the economic viability in terms of profitability, internal rate of return, return on investment, carbon removal service, product pricing, and net present value. We also reviewed 20 recent studies of life cycle assessment. We found that the pyrolysis method highly influenced product yield, ranging from 9.07 to 40.59% for oil, from 10.1 to 41.25% for biochar, and from 11.93 to 28.16% for syngas. Feedstock type, pyrolytic temperature, heating rate, and reaction retention time were the main factors controlling the distribution of pyrolysis products. Pyrolysis mechanisms include bond breaking, cracking, polymerization and re-polymerization, and fragmentation. Biochar from residual forestry could sequester 2.74 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per ton biochar when applied to the soil and has thus the potential to remove 0.2–2.75 gigatons of atmospheric carbon dioxide annually. The generation of biochar and bio-oil from the pyrolysis process is estimated to be economically feasible.

     

Molecular docking analysis on antifungal properties of acid condensate produced from palm kernel shell

The rise in the number of fungi that resisted antifungal action is of serious concern nowadays. In this study, the potential of acid condensate (AC) produced from microwave-assisted pyrolysis of palm kernel shell (PKS) was investigated for its antifungal properties through molecular docking evaluation. The phenolic-rich AC was determined for its chemical compositions using the GC–MS analysis where compounds with the highest phenolics content were further evaluated (using the Autodock Tools 1.5.7) for its potential enzymes/protein binding properties. From the GC–MS analysis, catechol, guaiacol and syringol were present at highest percentages. This directly correlates with results obtained from the molecular docking works where all these ligands managed to bind (indicated by H-bond, π-stacking, hydrophobic interaction) with some of the amino acid at the active sites which indicate its potential to inhibit substrate binding of this enzyme. As a conclusion, this study demonstrated the potential use of AC from agricultural biomass such as PKS as a natural-based antifungal agent that can reduce environmental and health impacts.     

Spatial and temporal variability of fluoride concentrations in groundwater resources of Larestan and Gerash regions in Iran from 2003 to 2010

Environmental Geochemistry and Health - There is discrepancy about intervals of fluoride monitoring in groundwater resources by Iranian authorities. Spatial and temporal variability of fluoride in...     

Smoke alleviates adverse effects induced by stress on rice

Smoke and salinity are environmental hazards. Smoke produced DNA damage, inflammatory, and oxidative stress in humans while salinity reduced plant yield. However, smoke from plants is beneficial towards plant growth. In this study, smoke of two plants, Buhania varegata (1:1000 and 1:5000 dilutions (v/v)) and Cymbopogon jwarancusa (1:500 and 1:1000), were used to determine effects on different physiological and biochemical parameters in rice Basmati-385 (B-385) and Shaheen Basmati under different saline concentrations (control: 50, 100, and 150 mM). With increasing salinity, germination%, seedling growth, K⁺, Ca⁺, cell membrane stability, and total nitrogen and protein contents were decreased while Na⁺ content increased. However, seeds primed with different dilution of smoke significantly diminished the adverse effects of salinity and shown to produce positive responses in all of the above parameters. The most effective dilutions were 1:5000 for Buhania varegata and C-500 for Cymbopogon jwarancusa. It seems that priming with plant smoke solution is a potent stimulant for plant growth exerting a significant role in physiology and biochemistry of rice plants under saline condition.     

Application of electrochemical reactor divided by cellulosic membrane for optimized simultaneous removal of phenols,chromium, and ammonia from tannery effluents

The post treatment of simulated tannery wastewater was evaluated in an electrochemical oxidation process under galvanostatic conditions. A continuous flow reactor divided by a cellulosic membrane consisted of Ti/SnO₂–Sb anodes and iron cathodes was used. Central composite design and response surface methodology (RSM) were applied to investigate the effects of six operational parameters, namely initial concentration of total phenols (TPh), total chromium (TCr), total ammonia nitrogen (TAN), flow rate (Q), current intensity (I), and electrode surface area (A). Effectiveness of the innovative cellulosic membrane was proven by considerable pH variations in the anolyte and catholyte chambers. A faster removal rate was observed for TPh and TAN, followed by TCr. The treatment level was very sensitive to Q and I in the studied ranges. RSM showed the removal efficiencies of 78.14%, 63.42%, and 86.09% for TPh, TCr, and TAN, respectively, are achieved under optimal conditions with consumption of only 9.03 kWh m^?3 electrical energy. Chlorinated compounds such as chloroform, 2,4-dichlorophenol, and chlorobenzene were detected as the degradation intermediates. According to the obtained results, electrolysis in the divided cell with cellulosic membrane is a practical, cost-effective method for advanced treatment of tannery effluents.     

Rheological and Thermal Properties of Levan from Bacillus mojavensis

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - Media composition and culture conditions for levan production by Bacillus mojavensis (BM-levan) were optimized using Plackett–Burman and Box-Behnken...