INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH (IJER)
Year:2007 | Volume:1 | Issue:4|Papers Count:12

Metal contents viz., Cu, Ni, Co, Zn and Cd in sediment cores recovered from the Vembanad Lake, the largest estuarine-lagoonal system on the west coast of India, were analysed to understand the pollution levels and the impact on the coastal environment. Of the three cores studied, VC-10 shown enrichment in all metals compared to other cores, as it is located in the vicinity of industrial area. Further, all the cores show enrichment of metals in the top 20 cm suggesting the increase of contamination in the recent past. Pollution Load Index increases from the bottom to the top of cores. Interrelationships of metals suggest the similar source for all the metals. The study suggests that industrial effluents are major source of metal enrichment in the lagoonal system.

Soils bacteria are frequently faced with various adverse environmental conditions and have developed a complex regulatory network to respond rapidly to environmental changes. In this study usefulness and applicability of stress proteins of bacteria which are produced after stress conditions were examined. The adaptation of soil bacteria involves the induction of stress proteins provide a nonspecific protective function regardless of stress types. Thus, biomarkers like bacteria can be used as an early warning system for pollutions. These proteins were extracted from soil’s bacteria of three different locations by usage of various kinds of buffers. Between these buffers, acidic sodium phosphate buffer gave highest yield of proteins, also Sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) was added to soil buffers as a powerful anionic detergent to denature more proteins by binding them. Then comparison between soil bacterial stress proteins and level of pollution according to distance from congested road were investigated by a quantitative comparison of total protein concentration which measured by Bradford’s protein test. The result of this assay indicated a direct relation between increase of pollution and the level of stress protein, also it was specified that the concentration of stress proteins have adverse relation to distance from xenobiotic induced stressors like traffic pollution. As a result stress proteins have high sensitivity to changes in the environment and determination of their amounts can be suggested as a specific biomarker of exposure for biomonitoring of pollution within an ecosystem and also could be useful point in ecotoxicological studies.

Large amounts of degradable wastes including sewage water and agricultural waste or nutrients that stimulate growth of organic matter are discharged into the Caspian Sea. As a result, average dissolved oxygen concentration in deeper layers is decreasing. This paper presents distribution and seasonal variations of the concentration of dissolved oxygen over the southern shelf of the Caspian Sea adjacent to Iran. The dissolved oxygen data were collected down to 200 m depth in two areas in east (off Babolsar in Mazandaran) and west (off Kiyashahr in Gilan) of the southern coast of the Caspian Sea. Surface dissolved oxygen concentration varied between 7.1 and 10.9 mg/l. Distribution of dissolved oxygen across the depth was in accordance with the temperature structure. The presence of the seasonal thermocline during spring to mid winter significantly affected the concentration of dissolved oxygen across the depth. In autumn, in late October, the dissolved oxygen concentration ranged between 7.6 mg/l below thermocline at 40 m level to less than 5 mg/l at 160 m level and 4.2 mg/l at 200 m level. In winter in late February, in the upper 100 m mixed layer the dissolved oxygen concentration was more than 11 mg/l. The data indicates the possibility of significant decline in dissolved oxygen concentration and serious damage to marine life if algal bloom occurs during the strong seasonal thermocline. The results highlight the necessity of certain measures for an effective decrease in the inputs of degradable wastes and plant nutrients into the Caspian Sea.

Supercritical fluid extraction (SCFE) is a soil remediation technology. At present, only a few companies are using from this method, all of which are technical based on conventional methods of extraction such as soilex solvent extraction. Because of the hard enforcement of environmental conservation law, using green technology seems imperative. This paper endeavors to carry out the feasibility studies of supercritical fluid extraction units for such as purpose. It also analyzes the cost and benefit of these processes in industrial scale and presents an economical approach for this purpose. If compared to other remediation processes, the supercritical CO2 extraction (whit CO2 recycling) shows relevant economical advantages.

Crude oil, refined petroleum products, as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are ubiquitous in various environmental compartments. They can bioaccumulate in food chains where they disrupt biochemical or physiological activities of many organisms, thus causing carcinogenesis of some organs, mutagenesis in the genetic material, impairment in reproductive capacity and / or causing hemorrhage in exposed population. The cause / effect of oil pollutant are usually quantified by using biological end point parameters referred to as biomarkers. Contamination of soil arising from spills is one of the most limiting factors to soil fertility and hence crop productivity. These deleterious effects make it mandatory to have a counter measure for the petroleum hydrocarbon pollutant in the environment. Bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated environment is a potentially important application of Environmental Biotechnology. In this approach microorganisms are utilized under some specified conditions to ameliorate the negative effects in a cost-effective and environmentally friendly approach. The main strategies in bioremediation of oil spills, which include bio-stimulation, nutrient application, bio-augmentation, seeding with competent or adapted hydrocarbono-clastic bacteria or their consortium, and genetically engineered microbes, are reviewed. Although the promise of bioremediation is yet to be realized, innovative areas in Environmental Biotechnology for oil spill clean up are highlighted.

Persian gazelle (Gazelle subgutturosa) is one of the most important species in the world with its wide distribution in Iran The greatest number of this species in Iran is associated with the gazelles in Sohrain plain in Sorkhabad protected region in Zanjan province. Considering the significance of this species in the region and the fact that no genetic studies have been conducted to determine the status of this species, such genetic investigations were carried out in this study, 54 samples of the species hunted in 2005 were applied in this study. The samples were subjected for sequencing on D-LOOP region of the mtDNA. The results of this study indicated 17 polymorphism sites and 6 haplotypes in the region Haplotype type 1 and 5 with 72 and 1.85 percent presented the highest and lowest frequency in the population of gazelles. Based on the results obtained, the degree of variety of haplotypes in the population of gazelles of Sohrain region was estimated at 0.46 and nucleotide diversity was 0.84%. Based on the results of this study one can predict that population could be endangered owing to genetic depletion.

Urban landscape structural analysis; focused on the remnant patch mosaic network as the component with closest interdependency with air and water related processes was undertaken to find and propose environmental planning suggestions. Assessments demonstrate that remnant patch mosaic network structure of Tehran is still restorable. With appropriate corrective measures based on the natural lay out of river valley corridor network it could function as a refuge network to improve urban environmental quality through compensation of the insufficient natural matrix connectivity. In terms of cost effectiveness landscape structural restoration in the north of Tehran has priority due to the presence of river valleys in a heterogeneous mosaic of large grain green patches and the added value of down stream positive impacts. Extension of urban forestry in the south with an added value of increased sink capacity for assimilation of accumulated polluted waste water and air pollution may be the next priority regarding remnant open and green patch mosaic restoration. Restoration is harder to achieve in the central parts of Tehran with small grain homogeneous mosaic. The “Refuge network” based on natural layout of river valleys along with core open patches of hills may be the conceptual framework to integrate various corrective measures. The “Aggregate with outlier” model can provide the spatial design framework necessary for the implementation of such an integrated comprehensive remnant patch network restoration plan aimed at improving urban environmental quality.

Leakage of petroleum compounds around the Tehran Oil Refinery (TOR) for the past 30 years has caused oil pollutants to spread in a large area around this refinery, Therefore, remediation of the soil in this area is on the priority necessity. In the present paper, in order to obtain a better site perception, gas chromatography analysis and permeability tests were conducted on soil samples. Measurement shows the present concentrations of Benzo[a]Pyrene between 108 to 638 ppm that is 800 to 5000 times higher than the clean up level (120 ppb).Due to clayey texture and low permeability of the soils that ranges between 5.5×10-6 to 7.3×10-6 (cm/s), the low volatility of Benzo[a]Pyrene with Henry’s constant equal to 4.63×10-5 (dimless) and also a vapor pressure of 5.6×10-9 (mm Hg), physical methods such as soil flushing and soil vapor extraction were more costly and not suitable to treat TOR contaminations. Consequently, the phyto-remediation method via phyto-transformation and rhizosphere-bioremediation which are based on fragmentation of contaminants was found to be more compatible with geotechnical characteristics of the area in the south of (TOR), and was selected as the most appropriate method.

One major branch in mathematical sciences, which recently has been given especial attention, is optimization, including various methods such as linear programming, integer programming, and dynamic programming. Due to the unique characteristics of air treatment systems, specifically multistage nature of such systems, dynamic programming has been widely applied. The purpose of this paper is to find the best cost effective way to treat the waste gas stream from industries, such as foundries, which contains different kinds of pollutants. To attain this goal in dynamic programming, it is necessary to determine the cost of each system in various conditions. The dynamic programming procedure determines the optimum system. Iran Khodro Co. was considered as the case study of this investigation. The cost of each treatment unit calculated under the special conditions of the study. In order to minimize the emissions from foundries, Cyclone has been found to be the most optimum system to collect particulate matters, and as for controlling volatile organic compounds, Carbon Adsorber found to be the most optimum device.

This article emphasizes the findings of a survey conducted to find out the views of students on the Environmental Education (EE) in Iranian Secondary School (SS) curriculum. A total of six hundred students from forty secondary schools, randomly selected SS from five zones in Tehran City responded to the questionnaire. Two research questions were asked while two hypotheses were tested in this study. The important findings were that: students were not adequately aware of EE in the SS curriculum. No significant difference was found between the male and female students understanding of EE in the curriculum. There was however significant difference between the SS II (Tenth class) and SS III (Eleventh class) students understanding of EE in the curriculum. Based on the findings recommendations are offered to ensure effective and efficient integration of EE into the school curriculum.

In Iran the mainstreaming tool for integrating environmental concerns into energy sector is an Energy-Environment Review (EER-Iran). This paper comprises: (i) an analysis of the current situation with regards to energy production and consumption; (ii) an evaluation of the growth prospects with regard to energy production and consumption; (iii) the identification of environmental issues induced by the generation and use of energy and estimation of the costs of damages; (iv) the evaluation of the extent of contribution to the climate-change phenomenon through emission of greenhouse gases; (v) the evaluation of the proposed mitigation measures for the previously identified environmental problems; and (vi) conclusions and recommendations. The EER-Iran assessed the total health damage from air pollution in 2001 at about US $ 7 billion; equivalent to 8.4% of nominal GDP. In the absence of the price reform and control policies, the EER estimated that the damage in Iran will grow to US $ 9 billion by 2019, in the money of 2001. This is equivalent to 10.9% of nominal GDP, i.e. a large percentage of a larger GDP. Of this total, US $ 8.4 billion come from transport sector. The damage cost to the global environment from the flaring of natural gas assessed on the basis of a carbon price of US $ 10/ton CO2 and found to be approximately US $ 600 million per year.

This study is the first effort by Iranian scientists to provide insight to the many benefits and services that forest and rangelands offers to society, and the extent to which the human race is vitally dependent on them. Without a firm understanding of the value of these systems we are unlikely to make many of the hard choices and compromises needed to protect them. In this study the least marginal monetary value of eleven forests and rangelands ecosystem services including gas regulation, plants genetic reverse diversity, pollination, soil formation, biological control, flood control, hydrological current control, water erosion control, wind erosion control, and ecotourism in fivefold vegetative regions of Khazar, Arasbaran, Zagros, Iran-toran and Khalij-e Omani (Oman gulf) with surface area of about 162155626 acres have been estimated at 427528 billion rials annually (47.9 billion dollars/year). This amount equals approximately 43% of GDP and four times of Iran’s agricultural added value in 2003. Taking into account the 1.73% share of the market services value of forests and rangelands in GDP, the significance of nonmarket services value of these resources in comparison to market goods will stand out obviously.