The impact of meteorological parameters on PM10 and visibility during the Middle Eastern dust storms.

Air pollution is one of the most pressing issues in populated Middle Eastern cities, in particular for the city of Ahvaz, Iran, imposing deleterious effects on the environment, public health, economy, culture, and other sectors. In this study, we investigate the relationship between meteorological parameters, PM10, AOD, air mass source origin, and visibility during severe desert dust storms (Average3h PM10 > 3200 µg m-3) between 2009 and 2012. Six of seven such events occurred between February and March. Interestingly, for the seven cases there was always an alarming PM10 mass concentration peak (137-553 µg m-3) between 12:00-18:00 (local time) that was 18-24 h before the dominant peak of the storm (3279-4899 µg m-3). The maximum wind speed over the multi-day periods examined for the dust storms is usually observed 6 h before the alarming PM10 peak. The minimum relative humidity, dew point temperature and air pressure occurred ± 3 h around the time of the alarming PM10 peak. Wind speed was the meteorological parameter that was consistently higher around the time of the first peak as compared to the second peak, with the reverse being true for sea level pressure. Based on four years of daily data in Ahvaz, PM10 was positively correlated with wind speed and air temperature and inversely correlated with sea level pressure and RH. An empirically-derived equation with R2 = 0.95 is reported to estimate the maximum PM10 concentration for severe desert dust events in the study region based on meteorological parameters. Finally, AOD is shown to correlate strongly (R2 = 0.86) with PM10 during periods with severe desert dust storms in the region.

Water quality evaluation and non-cariogenic risk assessment of exposure to nitrate in groundwater resources of Kamyaran, Iran: spatial distribution, Monte-Carlo simulation, and sensitivity analysis.

Water is exceptionally vital for all living beings and socio-economic development. This study aimed to investigate the groundwater suitability for drinking in rural areas of Kamyaran city, Kurdistan province, Iran, by using the water quality index (WQI) and evaluating the non-carcinogenic health risk caused by nitrate from the drinking route. Forty-five groundwater samples were collected (2019) from operated dug-wells, and twelve parameters (TDS, pH, TH, EC, HCO3 -, K+, Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Cl-, SO4 2-, and NO3 -) were measured to the calculation of WQI. Hazard Quotient (HQ) and sensitivity analysis (SA) using the Monte-Carlo Simulation technique with 10,000 iterations were employed to determine the non-carcinogenic effects of Nitrate in different exposed groups (Infant, children, teenagers, and adults). The results of WQI showed that 74% of groundwater samples fall within the excellent water quality class, and 26% of rural areas fall in the category of good water type. The nitrate concentration in drinking water ranged from 22.42 ± 11.44 mg/L. The HQ mean for infants, children, teenagers, and adults were 0.5606, 0.7288, 0.5606, and 0.438, respectively. Probability estimation showed the HQ values for the 5th, and 95th percentile in infants, children, teenagers, and adult groups were (0.25-1.81), (0.13-1.08), (0.13-0.97), and (0.07-0.51), respectively. The SA showed that the most significant parameter of non-carcinogenic risk in all exposed populations was nitrate concentration. Generally, nitrate concentration in the study area was relatively high, and remarkably in agriculture and fertilizer management required more attention.

Effect of COVID-19 pandemic on medical waste management: a case study.

Covid-19 Pandemic leads to medical services for the society all over the world. The Covid-19 pandemic influence the waste management and specially medical waste management. In this study, the effect of the Covid-19 outbreak on medical waste was evaluated via assessing the solid waste generation, composition, and management status in five hospitals in Iran. The results indicated that the epidemic Covid-19 leads to increased waste generation on average 102.2 % in both private and public hospitals. In addition, the ratio of infectious waste in the studied hospitals increased by an average of 9 % in medical waste composition and 121 % compared with before COVID-19 pandemic. Changes in plans and management measurement such as increasing the frequency of waste collection per week leads to lower the risk of infection transmission from medical waste in the studied hospitals. The results obtained from the present research clearly show the changes in medical waste generation and waste composition within pandemic Covid-19. In addition, established new ward, Covid-19 ward with high-infected waste led to new challenges which should be managed properly by change in routine activities.

Coagulating potential of Iranian oak (Quercus Branti) extract as a natural coagulant in turbidity removal from water.

Because of the presence of tannin in the molecular structure of oak extract, this substance is used as a natural coagulant to remove turbidity from water. The aim of this study was to determine the efficiency of this coagulant alone and in combination with polyaluminium chloride (PACl) in turbidity removal from water under optimal conditions. In this experimental study, Iranian oak extract was prepared by maceration method using ethanol 96% as an extractor. Kaolin was used to prepare synthetic turbid water samples. Using the jar test, the optimum concentrations of oak extract and PACl were determined in various concentrations of initial turbidity and pH. Moreover, the central composite design (CCD) method was utilized to design experiments and RSM was applied for analyzing the obtained results. Optimum concentrations of oak extract and PACl were 62.6 mg/L and 52.6 mg/L, respectively. An increase in initial turbidity and pH led to an increase in turbidity removal by the two coagulants. The efficiency of turbidity removal by oak extract and PACl was 63.5% and 66.5%, respectively. The simultaneous application of oak extract and polyaluminium chloride increased removal efficiency (85%) and reduced the total organic carbon concentration (TOC) in water (42.3%). The results showed that the simultaneous application of Iranian oak extract and polyaluminium chloride had an acceptable performance in removing turbidity from water.

A high-flux P84 polyimide mixed matrix membranes incorporated with cadmium-based metal organic frameworks for enhanced simultaneous dyes removal: Response surface methodology.

The water sources contaminated by toxic dyes would pose a serious problem for public health. In view of this, the development of a simple yet effective method for removing dyes from industrial effluent has attracted interest from researchers. In the present work, flat sheet mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) with different physiochemical properties were fabricated by blending P84 polyimide with different concentrations of cadmium-based metal organic frameworks (MOF-2(Cd)). The resultant membranes were then used for simultaneous removal of eosin y (EY), sunset yellow (SY) and methylene blue (MB) under various process conditions. The findings indicated that the membranes could achieve high water permeability (117.8-171.4 L/m2.h.bar) and promising rejection for simultaneous dyes removal, recording value of 99.9%, 81.2% and 68.4% for MB, EY and SY, respectively. When 0.2 wt% MOF-2(Cd) was incorporated into the membrane matrix, the membrane separation efficiency was improved by 110.2% and 213.3% for EY and SY removal, respectively when compared with the pristine membrane. In addition, the optimization and modeling of membrane permeate flux and dye rejection was explored using response surface methodology. The actual and model results are in good agreement with R2 of at least 0.9983 for dye rejection and permeate flux. The high flux of the developed MMMs coupled with effective separation of dyes suggests a promising prospect of using P84 polyimide MMMs incorporated with MOF-2(Cd) for water purification.

Adsorption performance of packed bed column for nitrate removal using PAN-oxime-nano Fe2O3.

A continuous fixed bed study was carried out by using PAN-oxime-nano Fe2O3 as a sorbent for the removal of nitrate from aqueous solution. The effect of factors, such as flow rate (2, 5 and 7 mL/min) and bed depth (5, 10 and 15 cm) were studied. Data confirmed that the breakthrough curves were dependent on flow rate and bed depth. The adsoption capacities observed in diffent conditions of flow rates (2,5 and 7 mL/min) were 11.65, 24.38 and 25.89, respectively. Thomas model was applied to experimental data to predict the breakthrough curves using linear regression and to determine the characteristic parameters of the packed bed column. Bed depth/service time analysis (BDST) model was used to investigate the effect of bed depth on breakthrough curves. The results showed that Thomas model was suitable for the normal description of breakthrough curve at the experimental condition. The data were in good agreement with BDST model with R(2) > 0.98. Statistical analyses were performed on fluoride removal obtained from different flow rates using SPSS16 software by applying Kruskal- Wallis test. These findings suggested that PAN-oxime-nano Fe2O3 in the column structure presents a great potential in removal of nitrate from aqueous solutions.

Concentrations and chiral signatures of polychlorinated biphenyls in outdoor and indoor air and soil in a major U.K. conurbation.

Concentrations and chiral signatures of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were measured in outdoor air (using polyurethane foam (PUF)--disk passive samplers) and surface soil samples taken at approximately monthly intervals over 1 year at 10 locations on a rural-urban transect across the West Midlands of the U.K. In both air and soil, concentrations clearly decrease with increasing distance from the city center, supporting the existence of an urban "pulse", that indicate the West Midlands conurbation to be a source of PCBs to the wider environment. Concentrations of PCBs in outdoor air samples in this study are well below those reported previously for indoor air in the West Midlands. This, combined with comparison of chiral signatures in outdoor air and soil with those in samples of indoor air taken in the West Midlands, suggest strongly that the principal contemporary source of PCBs in this conurbation is ventilation of indoor air and not volatilization from soil. Future reductions in PCB concentrations in outdoor air and ultimately human exposure appear best achieved by action to remove remaining sources of PCBs from existing structures.