Human health risk assessment of Triclosan in water: spatial analysis of a drinking water system.

Triclosan (TCS) has been increased in the water during the COVID-19 pandemic because it cannot remove by conventional water treatment. In addition, it can accumulate in the human body over time through long-term exposure. Therefore, the occurrence of TCS in the water treatment plant (WTP) and tap water, and its human health risk assessment through tap water ingestion, dermal absorption, and inhalation routes in Isfahan, Iran, were investigated. Moreover, spatial regression methods were used for the prediction of water quality parameters, TCS concentration, and total hazard quotient (HQ). The average TCS concentration in the influent and effluent of WTP and tap water was 1.6, 1.4, and 0.4 µg/L, respectively. Conventional WTP has low efficiency in the removal of TCS (12.6%) from water. The average values of total HQ for males were 7.79×10-5, 4.97×10-4, and 4.97×10-5 and for females were 3.31×10-5, 2.11×10-4, and 2.11×10-5 based on RfDEPA, RfDMDH, and RfDRodricks, respectively that were in the low-risk levels (HQ<1). Furthermore, TCS concentration in tap water and the ingestion rate of drinking water had the highest effect on the risk of TCS exposure from tap water. The non-carcinogenic health risk of TCS in water was low. The results of this study may be useful for promoting WTP processes to remove emerging pollutants.

Development and psychometric assessment of cutaneous leishmaniasis prevention behaviors questionnaire in adolescent female students: Application of integration of cultural model and extended parallel process model.

BACKGROUND: Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is an important public health issue in at least 83 countries, including Iran. Individuals' behavior modification is believed to be one of the best ways for CL prevention. However, no comprehensive questionnaires have been psychoanalyzed for identification of CL prevention behaviors and its numerous associated factors, as well as the impact of educational messages. Thus, the present study was conducted to develop and psychometrically assess CL prevention behaviors questionnaire in female students. METHODS: The present study was performed from October 2020 to May 2021 by developing a preliminary questionnaire based on integration of Cultural Model and Extended Parallel Process Model. The questionnaire was completed online by 460 adolescent female students living in endemic areas of Isfahan, Iran. Exploratory factor analysis was performed using SPSS 24 to ensure the construct validity. Internal reliability was assessed via Cronbach's alpha and external reliability was determined using the test-retest method based on the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) index. RESULTS: The first version of the questionnaire contains 110 items, out of which 82 remained according to content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI) criteria. Afterwards, 11 items were removed due to low factor load in the construct validity process using the factor analysis technique. Ultimately, a 71-items questionnaire was developed and 12 factors were extracted from it. According to Cronbach's alpha index, the internal reliability for the questionnaire was 0.877 and the ICC index calculated the external reliability as 0.833. CONCLUSIONS: Integration of a Cultural Model with individual model was used for the first time to measure the factors related to CL prevention behaviors in this questionnaire; owing to the strength of the factor structure and appropriate psychometric properties, the questionnaire is applicable in the evaluation process of educational interventions concerning CL prevention, especially in female students.

Seroprevalence of Rubella among Women of Reproductive Age in Iran: A Prisma-Based Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Rubella is a highly contagious viral disease with a significant teratogenic effect. Various results have been published about the seroprevalence of rubella in Iran. A PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses)-systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to assess the immunity against rubella in Iranian women. METHODS: Eleven English and Persian electronic databases including PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Embase, Scientific Information Database, Iran doc, Iran Medex, Magiran, and Medlib were searched using the keywords: Epidemiology, Prevalence, Rubella, Women, Childbearing age, Reproductive age, and Iran. A mathematician (NS) reviewed all steps for accuracy. RESULTS: Out of 1,520 articles, 25 well-conducted studies with a total amount of 10,145 women were reviewed. The pooled prevalence rate of anti-rubella IgG was 84% (95% CI: 83%-86%). The highest prevalence rate of IgG was in Zahedan, Rasht, and Arak (each 100%), while the lowest prevalence was in Jahrom (54%). Subgroup analysis showed that from 1989 through 2012, the IgG prevalence rate increased from 78% (95% CI: 73-83%) to 99% (95% CI: 98 100%). CONCLUSIONS: Although the vaccination program seems working in Iran, some peripheral regions may be a target to improve health care policies.

Assessment of serum cortisol and thyrotropin correlation in euthyroid and subclinical hypothyroid subjects.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed on healthy volunteers and those who had been referred with a diagnosis of subclinical hypothyroidism (TSH<10 mIU/L). Subjects with the age of 18-35 years were enrolled. The sera were analyzed for Cortisol, FT4, FT3, TSH, Ani-TPO, and Anti-Tg. RESULTS: Final sample of 36 in group A (TSH<2.5), 45 in group B (TSH: 2.5-4.2), and 71 in group C (TSH: 4.3-10) were included. Cortisol levels were significantly different in the three groups, the lowest for the A group and higher for the C group, and the two-to-two difference in the groups was also significant (p < 0.001). There was a positive and significant correlation between cortisol levels with TSH (r = 0.740; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: There was a potential link between TSH and serum cortisol in young people so that with an increase in TSH from 2.5, the serum cortisol level also increases, but this positive correlation in TSH ≤2.5 was not observed.

Dietary intake and health risk assessment of nitrate, nitrite, and nitrosamines: a Bayesian analysis and Monte Carlo simulation.

Nitrate, nitrite, and nitrosamines intake from the diet creates human health risks. In this study, nitrate/nitrite intake from diet and its association with nitric oxide (NO) level in humans have been surveyed. Besides nitrate/nitrite, nitrosamines risks were also determined from the diet. This study was conducted as a pilot study; 33 heathy adults participated in and completed the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) for 3 days. Then, concentrations of nitrate, nitrite, and nitrosamines were studied by the literature review. Also, the association between the intake of nitrate and nitrite with salivary and urinary NO was evaluated by Bayesian bi-variate analysis. Then, the health risk was assessed for nitrate/nitrite from food groups and drinking water, and nitrosamines from food groups based on hazard index (HI) and cancer risk with the Monte Carlo simulation. The nitrate/nitrite intakes had no association with NO level in the saliva and urine samples. The mean of HI value for the mean of 3 days was 3.57 and 0.32 from food groups and drinking water, respectively. The cancer risk amount of nitrosamines from food groups was (1.74 to 2.22) × 10-3 based on 95% confidence interval (CI 95%) values. This study showed the Iranian diet had a high risk, but drinking water consumption was safe based on nitrate/nitrite and nitrosamines for humans. There is a need to determine the concentration of nitrosamines in drinking water in Iran and to recommend for decrease risk of nitrate, nitrite, and nitrosamines exposure by food groups.

Data on microbiological quality assessment of rural drinking water supplies in Tiran County, Isfahan province, Iran.

A lack of access to safe drinking water can lead to adverse health effects such as infection, disease, and undesirable aesthetic problems. The current study focused on the investigation of groundwater quality in Tiran's villages (Isfahan province, Iran). To determine essential microbiological quality, water samples were collected from 46 randomly-selected water wells during a one-year period. The parameters of pH and chlorine were measured on-site. Turbidity was measured at 420 nm using a DR5000 spectrophotometer. Microbiological tests including general thermoforms, Escherichia coli, and thermophiles were carried out according to the National Iranian Standard Method 3759. Data showed that 1.8% of the villages under study had contaminated water resources. The turbidity values for 94.5% of the resources were within recommended limits (<5NTU). In 20.6% of the samples, the residual free chlorine was in the range of 0 to 0.2 mg/L, 8.79% of samples had values greater than the recommended limits, and18.5% had no free residual chlorine.

Groundwater quality assessment for drinking and agriculture purposes in Abhar city, Iran.

The main objective of this study is to assess the quality of groundwater for drinking consume and agriculture purposes in abhar city. The analytical results shows higher concentration of electrical conductivity (100%), total hardness (66.7%), total dissolved solids (40%), magnesium (23%), Sulfate (13.3%) which indicates signs of deterioration as per WHO and Iranian standards for drinking consume. Agricultural index, in terms of the hardness index, 73.3% of the samples in hard water category and 73.3% in sodium content were classified as good. Therefore, the main problem in the agricultural sector was the total hardness Water was estimated. For the RSC index, all 100% of the samples were desirable. In the physicochemical parameters of drinking water, 100% of the samples were undesirable in terms of electrical conductivity and 100% of the samples were desirable for sodium and chlorine parameters. Therefore, the main water problem in Abhar is related to electrical conductivity and water total hardness.