Design of River Water Quality Monitoring Networks: A Case Study

Karoon River, from Gotvand Dam to Persian Gulf with more than 450 km in length and an annual discharge of 11,891 million cubic meters, is the largest river in Iran. Increasing water withdrawal from and wastewater discharge to the river has endangered the aquatic life of this important ecosystem. Furthermore, the drinking and in-stream water quality standards have been violated in many instances. In this paper, a river water quality monitoring network is designed, including determination of sampling frequencies as well as location of water quality monitoring stations. In this regard, two models are developed. The first model is a Genetic Algorithm-based optimization model and the second one is a combination of Kriging method and Analytical Hierarchy Process. The temporal variation of the concentration of water quality variables along Karoon and Dez Rivers are evaluated and the main water quality indicators are selected. Then, thirty five stations are selected and the application of Entropy Theory in calculating the sampling frequency is demonstrated. The results show the significant value of the proposed methodology in the design of monitoring network.     

Manual Material Handling Assessment Among Workers of Iranian Casting Workshops

Manual material handling (MMH) tasks can be found in most workplaces and they may constitute a risk factor for work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of WMSDs and to compare MMH loads with the acceptable weight and force limits among Iranian casting workers. Data were collected from 50 workers of casting workshops who performed MMH tasks. The Nordic musculoskeletal disorders questionnaire and the Snook tables were used as tools for data collection. Hand/ wrist symptoms were the most prevalent problems among the workers (84%). The results of the Snook tables showed that the loads in lifting (84%), lowering (86%), carrying (66%), pushing with initial (43%) and sustained force (59%), and pulling tasks with initial (48%) and sustained force (93%) exceeded recommended limits. WMSDs occurred in high rates among the workers and, thus, ergonomics interventions should focus on decreasing WMSDs and redesigning MMH tasks.     

Flyash-based bricks: an environmental savior—a critical review

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - The extraction of unsustainable natural resources like sand and topsoil for construction is disturbing ecological balance, affecting local...     

An Experimental and Metamodeling Approach to Tensile Properties of Natural Fibers Composites

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - The present work presents an analysis of the tensile properties of Palm as well as Luffa natural fiber composites (NFC) in high density polyethylene...     

Assessment of food-energy-environmental pollution nexus in Iran: the nonlinear approach

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Iran’s agricultural production has expanded significantly in recent years. Environmental pollution caused by the use of energy and chemical...     

Comprehensive review on naringenin and naringin polyphenols as a potent anticancer agent

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Though the incidence of several cancers in Western societies is regulated wisely, some cancers such as breast, lung, and colorectal cancer are...     

Economic complexity,ICT, biomass energy consumption,and environmental degradation: evidence from Iran

Economic complexity, biomass energy consumption, and information communication technology (ICT) have diverse impacts on energy consumption and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Nevertheless, analysis of these variable effects is not addressed in the previous literature; the antiqueness of this article is stuffing this gap. This study assessed the relationship between gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, biomass consumption, economic complexity index (ECI), ICT, and CO₂ emissions in Iran in 1994–2018. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model and the quantile regression (QR) econometric technique were used to investigate the factors affecting CO₂ emissions in the tails of the conditional distribution. The share of each influential factor was predicted through the variance decomposition analysis (VD) for the next 10 years. The empirical results showed a long-run relationship between the variables. So, the variables of biomass consumption, ECI, and ICT improve the quality of the environment in Iran by reducing CO₂ emissions, and the per capita GDP variable increases CO₂ emissions. Results suggest no evidence indicating the presence of environmental Kuznets curve (EKC); however, QR demonstrated the existence of EKCs in the lower quantiles of the conditional distribution. The ECI will have the most share to change the CO₂ emissions in the future. The income threshold should be determined at the turning point of the EKC to increase economic development. Moreover, investing in increasing biomass consumption is vital. Policymakers also need to consider strict added value for the export of products.

     

Industrial hygiene and toxicity studies in unorganized bone-based industrial units

A large variety of ornamental and decorative items are manufactured from bone waste by various unorganized sectors in India. An initial survey indicated that workers were exposed at various phases of final product. The subjects (12 industrial units) were tested for total suspended particulate matter (TSPM), particulate matter <10  $\upmu $ m (PM₁₀), and particulate matter <2.5  $\upmu $ m (PM_2.5). Prevalent levels of TSPM ranged between 2.90 and 5.89 mg m^???3. Respirable fractions of occupational dust as PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 were found in the range of 0.30?C2.08 and 0.26?C0.50 mg m^???3, respectively. Cytotoxicity study was conducted using hemolysis as a sensitive marker. In an in vitro study, rat RBCs were exposed to the concentration of 25?C1,000  $\upmu $ g/ml for 15?C120 min. A considerable variation was observed in the hemolytic activity of samples collected from different areas. At 500  $\upmu $ g/ml concentration, the hemolytic activity (12 h) was found to be in the range of 18?C25%. Due to limitation in sample mass of respirable fractions, only one concentration (100  $\upmu $ g/ml/2 h) was used for comparative study on hemolysis of RBCs caused by PM₁₀ and PM_2.5. Interestingly, the hemolytic activity was more at PM_2.5 than PM₁₀ and TSPM. These results suggest that the respirable particles are capable of reaching deep into the respiratory system. The finding is significant notably when there are no standards available in occupationally exposed populations. This is the first such study. Data could be of importance to policy makers and regulators.     

Investigation on the adsorption capability of egg shell membrane towards model textile dyes

Adsorption isotherms of Direct Red 80 (DR80) and Acid Blue 25 (AB25) on the egg shell membrane (ESM) were performed at 20 ± 1 °C. Physical characteristics of ESM such as surface area and presence of functional groups were verified. The Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectra proved the presence of fuctional groups such as hydroxyl, amine and carbonyl groups in ESM. The surface area of ESM was found to be 2.2098 m²/g. The effects of operational parameters such as initial dye concentration, pH₀, contact time, particle size and ESM doses were studied. The Langmuir, Freundlich, BET, Redlich-Peterson and Temkin adsorption models were applied to describe the equilibrium isotherms. The pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetics models were examined to evaluate the kinetics data at different pH₀ values (2–12) and the rate constants were calculated. Maximum desorption of 81.8% was achieved for both dyes in aqueous solution at pH₀ 12. Also scanning electron micrographs (SEM) of the treated and untreated adsorbent were performed. Results indicate that ESM could be employed as a natural and Eco-Friendly adsorbent material for the removal of trace organics in solutions.     

On the mitigating environmental aspects of a vertical well in underground coal gasification method

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change - Underground coal gasification (UCG) is an energy production pathway in underground coal deposits with the potential advantage of decreasing...