Iranian Journal of Health and Environment
Year:2012 | Volume:4 | Issue:4 (14)|Papers Count:12

Background and Objectives: Microbial fuel cells are the electrochemical exchangers that convert the microbial reduced power, generated via the metabolism of organic substrate, to electrical energy. The aim of this study is to find out the rate of produced electricity and also treatment rate of simulated wastewater of food industries using dual chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC) without mediator and catalyst. Materials and Methods: MFC used in this study was consisted of two compartments including anaerobic anode chamber containing simulated food industries wastewater as synthetic substrate and aerobic cathode chamber containing phosphate buffer, respectively. These two chambers were separated by proton exchange membrane made of Nafion. Produced voltage and current intensity were measured using a digital ohm meter and the amount of electricity was calculated by Ohm’s law. Effluent from the anode compartment was tested for COD, BOD5, NH3, P, TSS, VSS, SO42- and alkalinity in accordance with the Standard Methods.  Results: In this study, maximum current intensity and power production at anode surface in the OLR of 0.79 Kg/m3.d were measured as 1.71 mA and 140 mW/m2, respectively. The maximum voltage of 0.422 V was obtained in the OLR of 0.36 Kg/m3.d. The greatest columbic efficiency of the system was 15% in the OLR of 0.18 Kg/m3.d. Maximum removal efficiency of COD, BOD5, NH3, P, TSS, VSS, SO42- and alkalinity, were obtained 78, 72, 66, 7, 56, 49, 26 and 40%, respectively.Conclusion: The findings showed that the MFC can be used as a new technology to produce electricity from renewable organic materials and for the treatment of different municipal and industrial wastewaters such as food industries.

Background and Objectives: Many industrial effluent plants contain amounts of hard biodegradable compounds such as b-naphthol which can be removed by conventional treatment systems. The objective of this research is to treat wastewater containing naphthalene by nano titanium oxide coated on activated carbon.Materials and Methods: Photocatalytic experiments were carried out for different concentrations of β-naphthol using time and pH as dependent factors. Nano TiO2 coated on activated carbone in one liter batch reactor and the resultants compounds’ concentration were measured in a photocatalytic reactor with UV-C of 12 Watt.Results: The experimental results indicated that UV/ nano TiO2 coated on activated carbone removed 92% of b-naphthol with concentrations of 100 mg/L within an overall elapsed time of three hours. b-naphthol total removal with concenteration of 25 mg/L was observed in two hours.Conclusions: UV/ nano TiO2 process is very fast and effective method for removal of b-naphthol and pH 11 was indicated as the optimum pH.

Background and Objectives: Cyanide is a highly toxic compound which is normally found in numerous industries, such as electroplating wastewater. Release of this compound in to the Environment has a lot health hazards. The Purpose of this study is to determine the efficiency of electrochemical oxidation method for Cyanide removal from industrial wastewaters.Materials and Methods: This study conducted in a pilot system experimentally. In this study the effect of pH, voltage and operation time on total cyanide removal from industrial wastewaters by Electrochemical Oxidation was investigated by applying a Stainless Steel as a Anode and copper as a cathode.Results: The average percentage removal of cyanide was about 88 with SD=2.43. The optimal condition obtained at voltage of 9V and pH=13 and the operation time of 90 minutes. The volume of sludge which formed in this condition was about 20 percent of a one liter pilot reactor.Conclusion: the results statistically confirmed the significant relationship between input and cyanide concentration removal efficiency (p<0.05), and confirmed. The confirmed the relation between cyanide & cyanat oxidation and hydroxyl ions consumption 1:2 (L.Szpyruowicz). therefore the best pH is 12.5-13.5 by considering the need of alkaline environment to remove cyanide.

Background and Objectives: Free living nematodes due to their active movement and resistance to chlorination; don’t remove in conventional water treatment processes thus can be entered to distribution systems and cause adverse health effects. UV irradiation can be used as a method of inactivating these organisms.Materials and Methods: This study is done to investigate the effect of ultraviolet lamp on inactivation of free living nematode (Rhabitidae) in water. The effects of duration of irradiation, turbidity, temperature, UV dose and pH are investigated in this study. Ultraviolet lamp used in this study was a 11 watt lamp with intensity of 24 mw/cm2.Results: Contact time required achieving 100% efficiency for larvae nematodes and adults were 9 and 10 minutes, respectively. Increase of turbidity up to 25 NTU decreased inactivation efficiency of larvae and adult nematodes from 100% to 66% and 100% to 64%, respectively. Change in pH ranged from 6 to 9 did not affect the efficiency of inactivation. With increasing temperature inactivation rate increased.Conclusion: The results showed that there was a significant correlation between the increase in contact time, temperature rise and turbidity reduction with inactivation efficiency of lamp (p<0.001). Also the effect of the lamp on inactivation of larvae nematod was more than the adults.

Background and Objectives: The disposal of waste tires has become an increasingly important issue worldwide in recent years. Tires not only take up large amounts of valuable landfill space, but also create fire hazards and provide a refuge for disease- carrying creatures. The goal of this study was to produce activated carbon from scrap tires .Adsorption of Acid Black1 (AB1) in aqueous solution as a pollutant by the activated carbon was also investigated.Materials and Methods: Activated carbon was prepared from scrap vehicle tires using a thermo-chemical activation method. The chemical composition and solid structure of prepared activated carbon were analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) and Nitrogen Sas. Micro pore volumes of the sample were determined by the application of the BET and BJH.Results: Predominant composition of prepared activated carbon was C (83.274%) and with area surface of 44.226 and 35.747 m2/gr observed by BET and BJH methods, respectively. Mean pore diameter was 52 nm. The result of this study showed that increasing of initial dye concentration and pH would lead to decrease of adsorption/removal of dye but by increasing of sorbent dosage and contact time, adsorption/removal of dye increased.Conclusion: As the results of present study it can be concluded that the production of the activated carbon from scrap tires, can provide a two-fold environmental and economic benefit; a recycling path is created for scrap tires of vehicles, and a new suitable adsorbent is produced for pollutants removal.

Background and Objectives: Aydughmush dam was built on Aydughmush River at 19 km in southwest of Mianeh City. The dam is multipurpose and its main aims are the spring floods control, supplying potable water for villages and providing irrigation water. Different pollutants which probably discharge to the river finally enter to the dam reservoir so; this study focuses on evaluating the quality of the dam reservoir.Materials and Methods: In this cross sectional study standard field parameters including dissolved oxygen, temperature, Biochemical and chemical oxygen Demand, Most Probable Number of Coliforms, Fecal Coliform, Turbidity, Total Dissolved Solids, Total Solids, pH, conductivity and others were measured at eight different stations during the spring and summer in 2010. Sampling points were selected on the basis of their importance. Water quality index was calculated using water quality index calculator given by National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) information system.Results: The highest value of WQI of the samples was 84.89 in A3 station in July while the lowest value was 67.96 in A2 station in May. The lower value of WQI has been found mainly due to the slightly lower value of DO in the dam reservoir water. Most of the water samples were found within Good category of National Sanitation Foundation Water Quality Index (NSF-WQI). Comparison of the measured parameters based on the sampling stations and various months by variance and t-student analysis showed a significant relationship for some parameters (P<0.05). Nutrient budget determination indicates that the concentration of phosphate, nitrite, nitrate and ammonia at inlet are higher than outlet of the dam reservoir.Conclusion: The calculated (WQI) showed good water quality. Based on the results of NSFQWI calculations, the dam reservoir water quality is suitable for various purposes.

Background and Objectives: Effluent generated in several industries contains phenolic compounds, which have been classified as priority pollutants. Due to its toxicity, the conventional systems are inefficient for treatment of phenol-Laden wastewater. Biological processes using pure microbial culture, including fungi and yeast, are environmentally friendly techniques capable of complete destruction of contaminants.Materials and Methods: This work was aimed at investigating the efficiency of fungi specie in the decomposition of high concentrations of phenol ranging from 500 to 20000 mg/L. Several batch reactors were operated at different phenol concentration. The concentration of residual phenol was monitored over time using colorimetric method 4-aminoantipyrine. The removal efficiency was calculated considering the initial phenol concentration.Results: Experimental data indicated that the phenol could efficiently degrade using the selected culture. The developed granules could completely degrade phenol at concentrations up to 20000 mg/L. Conclusion: It can be concluded from the experimental data that the biodegradation using the Fungi granules is a very efficient and thus promising technique for treatment of wastewaters containing phenolic compounds.

Background and Objectives: Sound of motorcycles plays an important role in noise pollution in big cities. This is due to the lack of national law or standards to control the noise of domestic and also imported motorcycles.This study tries to introduce a practical limit value in different stage of motorcycle life cycle by assessing their noise pollution.Materials and Methods: First the motorcycles noise standards at different countries were studied and they were compared with the results from noise level of 622 motorcycles in 3 different groups. The sample volume in each group corresponds to the amount of their annual production rate. Then using statistical tests, a limit was determined in which 90% of the domestic motorcycles can be covered. The limit is proposed as the standard for domestic motorcycle noise.Results: The limit for motorcycles of groups 1, 2 and 3 were 84, 86 and 87 dB (A), respectively in the TA stage. For the COP stage (Conformity of Production), the limit increases according to certain formula. In the end, a flowchart was proposed as a standard method for measuring the sound of motorcycles in the TA and COP stages was proposed.Conclusion: Noise level of the domestic motorcycles is at least 9 dB (A) higher than the noise limit value of European motorcycle. If European limit value is considered for producing the national motorcycle, 90% of them will get out of production cycle and this would not be practical.

Background and Objectives: The heavy metals pollution in aquatic ecosystems especially mercury, always makes concern about health of aquatic organisms. So, the purposes of this study were determination of total mercury in different tissues of the three species of the most important water birds at north of Iran and comparison with world health standards.Materials and Methods: Generally, 51 birds were captured randomly. Then, samples of feather, liver, kidney and muscle were taken and the mercury concentrations were determined by Advanced Mercury Analyzer (Model; Leco, AMA 254).Results: The most amount of accumulated mercury was in great cormorant’s liver (piscivorous species). Means of mercury concentration in liver of great cormorant, mallard, and coot were 14.80, 2.05, and 0.18; in kidney 12.00, 1.90, 0.17; in feather 6.57, 1.09, 0.23 and in muscle 8.67, 0.26, 0.09 mg/kg dry weight respectively. Means Comparison showed significant difference among all tissues (P<.05), But there were no significant difference between sexes (P>0.05).Conclusion: The levels of accumulated mercury in all tissues of great cormorant were more than the established limits by WHO, FAO and EPA. The other species had less use limitation, but mercury concentration in mallards was considerable. These results can be a serious warning for consumers these birds, especially vulnerable people.

Background and Objectives: Solid waste municipal landfill can have injurious effect on society health, economic and environment. Therefore, spread evaluation in locating landfill is necessary to identifying the best places. The purpose of this paper is locating landfill for solid waste municipal for center of Alborz province.Materials and Method: In this paper, suitable areas are identified for landfilling solid waste municipal by weighted linear combination and cluster analysis in 20 years period. Thus, suitable areas were weighted by FAHP method. Those weights were used for ranking areas by DEA technique.Result: Results showed among five landfill alternatives for solid waste municipal for center of Alborz province, alternative 1 is the best for land filling. This place is just 7 percent of total suitable places.Conclusion: The approach are used in this article (combination method of fuzzy analytic hierarchy process & Data envelopment analysis) can be suitable for locating in other areas because when an option add or delete; option ranking is not different with previous.

Background and Objectives; Autoclaving is one of the methods which sterilizes infectious solid wastes. Since variety of parameters such as temperature, time, and pressure influence autoclave performance, this study was carried out to evaluate the parameters and set optimum condition for the autoclave apparatus applied in Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Kashan.Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, the performance of subjected autoclave was surveyed based on biological index and through setting 144 tests. Variables were packaging type in two groups (open and wrapped), loading type in three groups (light, medium and heavy), and four temperature-time features in fixed pressure equal to 101 kpa. Biological index was ATCC 7953 which contained Stearotermophilus Geobacillus spores. Finally obtained results were analyzed by Chi-Square test.Results: The results of statistical test showed that there isn’t any meaningful relation between packaging type of waste, system loading, and efficiency of sterilization (P>0.05), while meaningful relation was found between system performance and variety states of temperature-time feature (P<0.05), illustrating temperature and time effects in fixed pressure on sterilization of solid waste.Conclusion: Based on the results, the best autoclave operational condition for sterilizing infectious solid wastes are: temperature-time equal to 10 min-140oC and 15 min-134oC in fixed pressure of 101 kpa, respectively. It was also revealed that temperature-time condition suggested by manufactory, i.e. 20 min-121oC, is not sufficient for complete sterilization of solid waste.

Background and Objectives: In recent years, poor industrial waste managements have created many crises in human societies.The aim of this study was to investigate industrial waste management located between Tehran and Karaj zone in 2009-2010.Materials and Methods: This study is descriptive and sectional which was done by site visits, (Iranian environmental protection organization) use of questionnaires, database production and results analysis. The questionnaire consisted of 45 questions mainly about industrial waste; quantity, quality and management. Total number of industries with over 50 personnel’s calculated as 283. Class-weighted sampling was used in which the sample size contained 50 industries.Results: Total generated industrial waste was 123451, kg per day. Major hazardous waste generated in industrial sections included: chemical and plastic making. About 45.28% of waste generated disposed by private sectors. Landfill with 62% and reuse with 17% were the first and second alternative of common methods for final disposal of solid waste in this zone.Conclusion: In order to reduce hazardous waste generation in this zone, reuse and recovery maximization of the waste must be noted in short-term. In long-term, some industries such as chemical-plastic and electronics which have high rate of hazardous waste production must be replaced with other industries with low rate production, such as wood-cellulose and paper industries.