Journal of Research in Environmental Health
Year:2020 | Volume:6 | Issue:3|Papers Count:8

As a place where employees spend long hours and possibly interact with many people, the workplace is one of the most susceptible environments for transmitting the coronavirus. Thus, to minimize the risk of contracting the virus, it is very important to adhere to health protocols in these environments. Due to the lack of environmental health forces and the large size of departments, it is not possible to implement inspection and training programs for the employees of all departments regarding the observance of coronavirus prevention protocols. Therefore, the authors in this article suggested the organizations’ health ambassadors as participants in the health of the organizations. A health ambassador is an employee of the organization who is the liaison between the health system and the employees of that organization. After receiving distance and face-to-face training on coronavirus prevention health protocols by environmental health experts, the organization's health ambassadors can carry out the prevention and control activities in their organization. The present study identified the importance of empowering the health ambassadors of organizations as the selected people in the organizations to prevent the coronavirus disease to interrupt the transmission of the coronavirus disease chain among employees.

Background and Aim: Tehran, as the largest and most populous city in Iran, is encountered many problems, of which air pollution is the most common. In recent years, PM2. 5 has been the cause of the unhealthiest days in terms of air pollution in Tehran. For this purpose, the present study was conducted to do a Spatio-temporal analysis of PM2. 5 pollutant in the Tehran metropolis during the years 2014-2017 using GIS. Materials and Methods: In this study, Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) and HotSpots methods were used to predict and conduct the zoning of PM2. 5 concentrations during four consecutive years (2014-2017). Results: The results of hotspot analysis and Getis-Ord-Gi index showed that the southern and southwestern regions were the most polluted areas with a confidence level above 90% and a concentration of more than 50 μ g/m3, followed by the western and central areas to a lesser extent. Also, the concentration of PM2. 5 pollutant showed an increasing trend from north to south and east to west. Conclusion: The south, southwest, west, and center were the most polluted areas. However, the present study only showed the zoning of PM2. 5 concentration and did not identify various factors and the contribution of each of them to the production of this pollutant. It is necessary to conduct studies to identify sources and their contributions to control and reduce the concentration of PM2. 5 in the Tehran metropolitan.

Background and Aim: Today, fluorescent lamps are the most common light sources in the world and Iran. Mercury in these lamps may enter the environment and exert harmful effects. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of heterotrophic bacteria in wastewater on mercury removal from fluorescent lamps. Materials and Methods: In this study, different components of lamps were separated using a crushing machine and then, mercury was separated from the phosphorus powder by acid washing. Bacteria isolated from wastewater were exposed to acid wash-extracted mercury and the mercury content in the lamps was measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The highest concentration of mercury extracted from lamps was 86. 03 ppb at the ratio of HCl to HNO3 of 4: 1, and the lowest mercury concentration was 14. 03 ppb at HCl to HNO3 of 1: 1. The one-way ANOVA test was used to analyze the amount of mercury extracted from the phosphorous powder of lamps at different ratios of acids. Results: The results of this study showed that heterotrophic bacteria could reduce the mercury levels to less than 5 μ g/L. Besides, 19 bacteria isolated from wastewater were resistant to mercury chloride at concentrations of 5 and 10 mg. Also, 10 bacteria could reduce mercury. The highest rate of mercury reduction (92. 24%) was related to Pseudomonas marginalis and the lowest rate (62. 47%) was related to Pseudomonas simiae. Conclusion: This study showed that sewage heterotrophic bacteria can be used as an efficient, low-cost, and environmentally friendly method for the detoxification of mercury from out-of-date fluorescent lamps.

Background and Aim: Today, the supply of qualified drinking water has become the main concern of the authorities. In addition to the appropriate quantity, drinking water must have appropriate standards regarding physicochemical and microbial properties. Nitrate and nitrite ions are of special importance due to their adverse environmental and health effects. This study aimed to determine the concentration of these ions in the drinking water of Evaz city and perform a health risk assessment. Materials and Methods: In this study, five points were selected for sampling and 50 samples (10 samples from each point) were collected at various time intervals. After transferring the samples to an environmental chemistry laboratory, the concentrations of nitrate and nitrite ions were determined by a spectrophotometer (DR6000) according to the instructions provided by the HACH. Results: The concentrations of nitrate and nitrite ions in all parts of the network were lower than the standard set by the WHO. The highest and lowest concentrations of nitrate and nitrite ions were obtained at the sampling sites of Patrice Restaurant (1. 04 and 0. 021 mg/L) and ABFA (0. 8 and 0. 0162 mg/L), respectively. Also, the risk assessment based on the age range of infants, children, and adults showed the values of 0. 125, 0. 00375, and 0. 043, respectively, which showed that long-term water consumption would not impose a negative impact on human health. Conclusion: The physicochemical quality of Evaz drinking water was acceptable and human exposure to this water had a non-carcinogenic risk of much less than the critical range.

Background and Aim: Increasing population and urbanization density and as a result, increasing impermeable surfaces, has led to an increase in the volume of urban runoff. Applying simulation models is a suitable way to know the runoff quality parameters. This study aimed at evaluating the quality of urban runoff in Shushtar city using the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM). Materials and Methods: Two given rainfall events in 2016 were considered for calibration and validation of the model. The parameters related to the first rainfall event were measured at the outlet of the urban drainage system. The quantitative and qualitative calibration of the model was performed using the data of the first rainfall and model validation was performed using the data of the second rainfall. Results: In the hydraulic calibration, the mean values of impermeability, slope, catchment width, and Manning’ s coefficient were estimated to be 50%, 75%, 25 m, and 0. 013, respectively. In the qualitative calibration, the coefficients of the Build-up equations for TSS, COD, and Zn were equal to 95-25, 48-1, and 1-0. 09, respectively. The coefficients of Wash-off equations for TSS, COD, and Zn were estimated at 0. 21-0. 8, 0. 2-0. 8, and 0. 19-0. 78, respectively. Conclusion: The results showed that the accurate calibration of the model enhances the ability of the model to estimate the quantitative and qualitative parameters in future rainfall events for the study area. According to the results, modeling is a powerful tool that can be very useful to improve runoff management.

Background and Aim: Water quality is an important factor that affects all aspects of ecosystem and health food-to-business activities to the sustainability and health of the echosystem. This study was carried out with the aim of investigating the qualitative changes in the Ziarat River water. Materials and Methods: : Samples were collected from the Ziarat river at five stations in 2018. Samples were transferred to the Golestan University of Medical Sciences under standard conditions in ice. The parameters including nitrate, phosphorus, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia, total hardness, and total fecal coliform were measured according to standard methods. Then, the Water Quality Index (WQI) was calculated. Results: The results of the study showed that the WQI for all stations was between 29. 68 and 64. 78. In some stations, the average value was 50-70 while some stations had poor quality (25-50). The most effective parameter on the water quality of the river was BOD, followed by total solids, turbidity, phosphate, nitrate, and total fecal coliform. Conclusion: The highest level of pollution occurred in the terminal stations (4 and 5) due to more industrial activities, and the release of sewage and effluents into the river. Among the measured parameters, nitrogen and phosphorus as nutrients, if left uncontrolled, can pose the risk of eutrophication. Agricultural, livestock, and recreational activities around the river could affect the water quality of the river so that a better quality was observed in the upstream stations. Considering that the Ziarat river is one of the most important sources of water supply for agricultural and industrial sectors in Golestan province, the monitoring and control of pollutants entering this river are essential.

Background and Aim: In recent years, the rapid growth of cities has led to an increase in the production of various types of solid wastes in urban areas. Although landfilling is the last option in municipal solid waste management, it is one of the common methods in developing countries. The purpose of this study was to accurately locate an urban landfill in Naein county using a combination of Fuzzy and Boolean methods. Materials and Methods: In this study, the AHP model was used to standardize and determine the weights of criteria and sub-criteria. The innovation of this research is the combination of Fuzzy and Boolean logic methods. The Fuzzy method consisted of two groups of results, comprising the calculation of the weights of criteria in the first group and the calculation of the weights of subcriteria in the second group. The Boolean logic method involved the calculation of the weights of criteria and sub-criteria in five classes. Results: The results of this study showed that the Fuzzy and Boolean methods identified 34, 48779, 16000, and 7630 hectares of areas in Naein county to be the most suitable areas for constructing urban landfills. Combining these four methods according to their weights led to a single map with four main patches and an area of 5055 hectares in Naein. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the combination of Fuzzy and Boolean logic results recognizes better areas for landfills than does the use of either of the methods individually. Document Type: Research article

Background and Aim: The garbage economy is now expanding as a kind of hidden and informal economy, with its causes and consequences. Given the importance of this huge portion of working capital, this study evaluated the economic performance of the centers for solid waste recycling. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. In this study, the economic performance assessment of 90 randomly selected solid waste recycling centers was studied in Juybar and Qaemshahr cities in 2018. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 24. Results: This study showed that 60, 700 kg of waste is daily processed in the recycling centers. About 1% of all centers had a production volume of less than 100 kg, 20% had 100-300 kg, 39% had 300-500 kg, and 40% had a production volume exceeding 500 kg. The value of the manufactured products used as raw materials of factories was about 912, 765, 000 Rials daily in 2018, irrespective of economical saving in disposal costs. Conclusion: There is a high-income potential for the segregation and collection of solid wastes in Juybar and Qaemshahr Cities. The hygienic practice of recycling at the source, in addition to high economic income and saving in waste disposal, can pave the way for entrepreneurship and employment.