The concentration and health risk assessment of radionuclides in the muscle of tuna fish: A worldwide systematic review and meta-analysis.

Exposure to radionuclides, especially in food, can endanger the health of consumers. In this study, a systematic review and meta-analysis were performed regarding the concentration of radionuclides in tuna fish muscle. International databases including PubMed, Scopus, and Embase were searched to find articles regarding the concentration of radionuclides in tuna fish muscle from 1 January 2000 to 20 February 2021. The lowest and highest concentration of radionuclides was related to Caesium-137 (137Cs) and Potassium-40 (4 K), respectively. The rank order of radionuclides based on their pooled concentration was 4 K (370.157 Bq/kg) > 210Po Polonium-210 (26.312 Bq/kg) > 210Pb (5.339 Bq/kg) > 226Ra (4.005 Bq/kg) > 137Cs (0.415 Bq/kg). The health risk assessment based on annual effective dose indicates that consumers are at the safe range of health risk (H < 1 mSv/y). The continuous monitoring concentration of radionuclides in seafood and health risk assessment should be recommended.

Fluoride in Iranian Drinking Water Resources: a Systematic Review, Meta-analysis and Non-carcinogenic Risk Assessment.

A systematic review, meta-analysis, and non-carcinogenic risk considering fluoride content of drinking water resources of 31 provinces of Iran among some international databases such as Science Direct, Scopus, PubMed, and national databases including SID and Irandoc (2011 to July 2017) were conducted. In this context, 10 articles (40 studies) with 1706 samples were included in meta-analyses and risk assessment studies. The pooled concentration of fluoride in the cold, mild, and warm weather provinces were calculated as 0.39 mg/L (95% CI 0.32-0.48 mg/L), 0.52 (95% CI 0.43-0.61 mg/L), and 0.75 (95% CI 0.56-0.94 mg/L), respectively. The pooled concentration of fluoride in Iranian drinking water resources was 0.51 (95% CI 0.45-0.57 mg/L). The minimum and maximum concentrations of fluoride content were related to Kermanshah (0.19 mg/L) and Kerman (1.13 mg/L) provinces, respectively. The HQ of fluoride in the children and adults were 0.462 and 0.077, respectively as children are more vulnerable than adults. The HQ for children and adults was lower than 1 value. Therefore, there is no considerable non-carcinogenic risk for consumers due to drinking water in Iran. Although the non-carcinogenic of fluoride in drinking water was not significant, fluoride entry from other sources, such as food or inhalation, could endanger the health of the residents of Kerman and Bushehr provinces.

Probabilistic risk assessment (Monte Carlo simulation method) of Pb and Cd in the onion bulb (Allium cepa) and soil of Iran.

Recently, the exposure to heavy metals through the consumption of vegetables has become a global concern. In this regard, the current study was aimed to measure the concentrations of lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) in the collected onion bulb samples as well as the surrounded soil using a flame atomic absorption spectrometer (FAAS). Additionally, the target hazard quotient (THQ) for males and females in all age groups of consumers were estimated by using Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) method. Furthermore, the soil threshold values (STVs) were evaluated to investigate the heavy metal contents in the soil based on the established standard limits. In this context, 45 onion bulbs (HashtBandi region, 25 and Ravang region, 20) and 41 soil (HashtBandi region, 21 and Ravang region, 20) samples were collected (March-May of 2016). The average concentrations of Pb in the onions from HashtBandi and Ravang regions were determined as 0.0052 ± 0.0011 and 0.0061 ± 0.0022 mg/kg, and for Cd were 0.0095 ± 0.0024 and 0.0011 ± 0.0035 mg/kg, respectively. The average concentration of Pb in the soil from HashtBandi and Ravang regions were measured as 3.99 ± 3.77 and 2.03 ± 0.69 mg/kg, and for Cd, the corresponding values were determined as 2.21 ± 3.17 and 2.22 ± 0.92 mg/kg, respectively. The average concentration of Pb and Cd in both investigated onion bulb and soil were lower than Iranian national (onion bulb: Pb = 0.1 mg/kg, Cd = 0.05 mg/kg) and FAO/WHO (onion bulb: Pb = 0.3 mg/kg, Cd = 0.1 mg/kg; soil: Pb = 50 mg/kg, Cd = 0.3 mg/kg) standard limits. Moreover, the THQ and total target hazard quotient (TTHQ) for males and females in all age groups were less than 1 value. Therefore, no risk of the exposure to Pb and Cd as result of onion bulb consumption was reported. STVs for Pb and Cd in the HashtBandi region were calculated as 3.99 and 2.21 mg/kg, and Ravang as 2.03 and 2.22 mg/kg, respectively. Due to the higher calculated STVs for Cd while compared with the established standard limit for the soil, the further revisions regarding the heavy metal standard limits in the soil were recommended.

Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risks of metal(oid)s in tap water from Ilam city, Iran.

One of the most important pathways for exposure to metals is drinking water ingestion. Chronic or acute exposure to metals can endanger the health of the exposed population, and hence, estimation of human health risks is crucial. In the current study for the first time, the concentrations of Mercury (Hg), Arsenic (As), Zinc (Zn), Lead (Pb) and Cobalt (Co) in 120 collected tap water samples (2015, July-November) from Ilam city, Iran were investigated using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Also, the metal-induced carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks for consumers exposed to tap drinking water were calculated. The average (range) concentrations of Hg, Zn, As, Pb and Co were defined as 0.40 ± 0.10 µg/L (ND-0.9 µg/L), 5014 ± 5707 µg/L (2900.00-5668.33 µg/L), 21.008 ± 2.876 µg/L (3.5-62 µg/L), 30.38 ± 5.56 µg/L (6-87 µg/L), and 11.34 ± 1.61 µg/L (0.1-50 µg/L), respectively. Average concentrations of all examined metals were significantly higher than WHO and national standard recommended limits. The ranking order of metals concentrations in the tap drinking water was Zn > Pb > As > Co > Hg. Except for Hg and Co, at least one age group consumers were at considerable non-carcinogenic risks induced by Zn, As and Pb [Target Hazard Quotient (THQ > 1)]. The rank order of age groups consumers based on THQ and Incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) was <1 years >1-9 years > 20 + years > 10-19 years. The calculated ILCR for As in all age groups were higher than 10-3 value. All age groups of consumers in Ilam city, especially infants (<1 years) and children (1-10 years), are at considerable non-carcinogenic and carcinogenesis risk.

First cases of severe congenital factor XIII deficiency in Southwestern Afghanistan in the vicinity of southeast of Iran.

Factor XIII deficiency (FXIIID) is an extremely rare bleeding disorder with the highest global incidence in southeast of Iran. Southwestern Afghanistan (Nimruz Province) is located near the border with Iran in the vicinity of Sistan and Baluchestan Province in southeast Iran, and there seems to be a high prevalence of FXIIID in Nimruz. Thus, this cross-sectional study was designed to assess the prevalence of FXIIID, molecular basis as well as clinical manifestations of FXIIID in Southwestern Afghanistan. During the course of the study, all patients suspected of FXIIID were clinically examined and assessed by routine coagulation tests, including bleeding time, activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, as well as platelet count and clot solubility test. Patients with normal routine coagulation tests, but abnormal clot solubility test, underwent further investigations by FXIII activity, as well as molecular analysis for FXIII-A gene mutation (Trp187Arg) by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism that confirmed by sequencing. Patients with confirmed FXIIID deficiency were registered to receive prophylaxis treatment. All data including demographic information, clinical manifestations, as well as therapeutic response and type and duration of treatment, were recorded, and the data were analyzed by SPSS software. In this cross-sectional study, we found five patients with abnormal clot solubility test, among whom two patients abandoned the study, whereas three patients remained for a more precise study. All the patients were residents of Zaranj city, the capital of Nimruz Province. All these patients had undetectable activity of FXIII, which indicates a severe deficiency. Molecular analysis of patients showed mutation of Trp187Arg in all of them. Hematoma was the most common clinical presentation leading to diagnosis of FXIIID in these patients (100%). Epistaxis (67%), gum bleeding (33%), and hematuria (33%) were other recurrent clinical presentations of the patients. Three cases of death due to FXIIID were detected in the family of these patients. There was a high prevalence of FXIIID in Zaranj city with a population of 50 000, which was appropriately equal to the prevalence of the disorder in southeast of Iran, which seemed to have the highest global prevalence of FXIIID, and underlines that the same mutation (Trp187Arg) in both regions is same.

Assessment of carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk lead in bottled water in different age groups in Bandar Abbas Ciry, Iran.

The presence of heavy metals such as lead in drinking water resources can be dangerous for human because of toxicity and biological accumulation. The consumption of water or food which contains lead in high concentration can lead to prevent from Hemoglobin Synthesis (Anemia) and Kidney diseases. In this present study, the researcher collected 432 samples of bottled water in the popular marks in summer and winter from the surface of Bandar Abbas. The lead concentration was measured by atomic absorption Spectrophotometer in model DR2800 through the Dithizone method. CDI, R and HQ which are caused by lead for adult men, women and children, have been calculated and evaluated through the equations of EPA and WHO. The mean concentration of lead, which is 3.46± 0.47 µg/l, and its range, which is 1.9-17.6 µg/l, are lower than the guideline of WHO (10 µg/l) and MPC of EPA is (15 µg/l). But the 40 samples of the bottled water (9.2%) have the concentration higher than guideline WHO and 8 samples (1.85%) has the concentration higher than the permissible limits of the EPA. CDI in different age groups is as following manner: Children>adult men>adult women. CDI in children is more than twice as much as in the adult men and women. The R of lead for children (24E-7), adult men (11E-7) and for adult women (10E-7) are more than the acceptable level of R in EPA (1E-6) but less than the acceptable level of R in WHO (1E-4). Since HQ of adult men (34E-5), adult women (31E-5) and children (84E-5), is lower than 1, it can be said that the population of Bandar Abbas is in a safe area regarding the HQ of the bottled water's lead.