Journal of Advances in Environmental Health Research
Volume:5 Issue: 4, Autumn 2017

Enterococci are found worldwide and are considered to be opportunistic pathogens. Antimicrobial resistance in these bacteria is increasing and is associated with their capability to sustain in the wastewater. We, therefore, aimed to determine the antimicrobial resistance of Enterococcus spp. that are isolated from the wastewater and clinical specimens. Isolation, identification, and determination of the antibiotic susceptibility patterns in the Enterococcus isolates were performed according to the standard procedures. The concentration of amoxicillin in the wastewater was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A total of 20 Enterococci were isolated and identified in this study. Of all the Enterococcus spp. isolates, 85 and 70% were resistant to tetracycline and ciprofloxacin, respectively. Surprisingly, the antimicrobial susceptibility tests revealed that the wastewater isolates had a higher rate of resistance than the clinical isolates. Amoxicillin concentrations in both the teaching hospitals were analyzed to be 8.6 and 6.8 ppm, respectively. The results of this study revealed that the hospital wastewater, which mixes with the environment, usually comprises resistant Enterococci. The use of HPLC allows the detection of amoxicillin concentrations in the wastewater samples of the teaching hospitals.

Air pollution is a major environmental issue in the world that can be harmful for human health. The aim of this study was to determine the health impacts of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤10μm (PM10) in Ilam in 2013 and 2014. The air pollution data were obtained from the Ilam Department of Environmental Protection. The data were analyzed by Excel software, and the annual mortality and morbidity due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases attributed to PM10 exposure were estimated by AirQ software.According to the results, the average of annual, winter, and summer PM10 concentration was 68.1, 46.7, and 89.3 μg/m3, respectively, in 2013. In 2014, the average annual, winter, and summer PM10 concentrations were 51.4, 40.3, and 62.6μg/m3, respectively. The total mortality, cardiovascular mortality, respiratory mortality, and hospital admissions due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in 2013 were estimated at 89, 47, 9, 46, and 119 cases, respectively, and in 2014 they were estimated at 64, 33, 6, 33 and 85 cases, respectively. The results revealed that 9.6% of total mortality in 2013 and 5.8% total mortality in 2014 were associated with concentrations of more than 20 μg/m3 PM10 concentration. Therefore, it is concluded that exposure to PM10 can increase morbidity and mortality. Thus, urgent and substantial actions to deal with the adverse effects of particulate matters are found to be necessary.

Since Babagorgorfountain in the Ghorveh city of Kurdistan province is located in the arsenic belt of Iran, to raise awareness about the quality of drinking water from this fountain the concentration of arsenic and other heavy metals as well as other physicochemical parameters were investigated to protect the public health. In this study, water samples were collected from Babagorgorfountain. Arsenic in the water was measured by field and laboratory methods. Its concentration was estimated to be more than 500 ppb in a field method and 596 ppb in a SDDC method with absorbance measurements at 520 nm. The SDDC method can measure arsenic species separately and the concentration of arsenite and arsenate were found to be 239 and 357 ppb, respectively. Other physiochemicalparameters and heavy metals in the fountain water were evaluated according to standard methods. According to the World Health Organization guidelines the maximum safe level of arsenic in drinking water is 10 ppb. The concentration of arsenic in this fountain’s water is estimated at 60 times the limit and therefore its use is very dangerous for public health.

Chromium enters surface and ground waters through the wastewater of electroplating, textile, metallurgical, dye production, and other industries, leading to numerous adverse health effects. The potential property of nanoparticle adsorption of nickel oxide (NiO) and the economic nature of ultraviolet/hydrogen peroxide (UV/H2O2) process have eased the usage of these two processes for chromium removal. In this study, the parameters including chromium concentration, pH, and NiO dosage were examined by the adsorption process. Furthermore, following the separation of NiO nanoparticles by magnet and filtration, in UV/H2O2 reactor, the effects of H2O2 concentration, radiation time, and pH were studied on the removal efficiency. In the reactor containing NiO, with an increased dose of NiO from 0.2 to 1 g, the removal efficiency increased from 26 to 76%. Moreover, at different pHs (3, 5, 7, and 11) and reaction times (10, 20, 30, and 40 min), the maximum efficiency of 79% was obtained at pH = 3 and reaction time of 40 min. The isotherm of the adsorption followed the Langmuir model. In the UV/H2O2 reactor, elevation of H2O2 concentration from 20 to 100 µmol resulted in an elevated chromium removal efficiency at pH = 3 from 35 to 95%. In this process, pH = 3 was chosen as the optimum pH. The results indicated that the removal efficiency is highly influenced by pH, reaction time, dose of NiO nanoparticles, and H2O2. By optimizing the effective parameters, this process can be used to remove chromium in aqueous solutions.

In this work, CKCr-6A strain was found to be highly resistant to some toxic heavy metals such as Cr, Cr, Cu, Co, Cd, Pb, Hg, U, tellurium, and selenite. Herein, high chromate tolerance of an isolated strain is reported with a high minimum inhibitory concentration value of 80,000 mg/L and the effective parameters (pH, temperature, shaking, and glucose concentration) were selected for Cr(VI) removal by this isolated strain. Cr(VI) elimination by the target strain increased with glucose addition to the culture medium. We optimized the possible parameters and their interactions using design experimental software. After optimization, this strain showed high efficiency in detoxifying chromate; this could reduce up to 100 mg/L of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) over 3 h. The CKCr-6A strain exhibited ability to in vitro reduction after 3 h and repeated removing of Cr(VI) without any amendment of nutrients, suggesting its possible application in continuous bioremediation.

Opportunistic fungal pathogens are known to increase infection in the health care workers and patients with immune deficiency. This study aimed to investigate the qualitative and quantitative airborne fungal contamination load in two Sanandaj hospitals. In this cross-sectional study, 112 biological samples from 15 different hospital wards were collected for 6 months by using the single-stage Anderson sampler in Sabouraud’s dextrose agar. Data were analyzed for the descriptive and analytical tests using IBMSPSS V.21 software and the air fungal contamination load (AFCL) was calculated (cfu/m3). The average hospital AFCL in Besat and Tovhid was 21.13 and 14.51 cfu/m3, respectively. No statistically significant differences were observed between AFCL and relative humidity (RH) in the two hospital samples (p = 0.495) according to independent t-test, whereas this difference in the average temperature in the hospital wards was significant (p

Seven majorly consumed brands of several teas (A1, A2, M1, M2, S, D, and C teas) were selected for the present study. In this study, the heavy metal contents including copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), and lead (Pb) were assessed in the black tea samples consumed in Iran. The content of the heavy metals in the samples was analyzed using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Notably, the minimal amount of As (0.043 ± 0.006 ppm), Pb (0.040 ± 0.005 ppm), Cd (0.016 ± 0.001 ppm), and Cu (5.36 ± 0.49 ppm) concentrations were found in the M1, S, M2, and M2 teas, respectively; whereas, the maximal amount of As (0.287 ± 0.007 ppm), Pb (0.228 ± 0.002 ppm), Cd (0.101 ± 0.040 ppm), and Cu (37.4 ± 0.53 ppm) concentrations were found in the D, A1, M1, and D teas, respectively. Considering the present safety standards, the tea versions selected in this study were determined to be fit and safe for human consumption.

Nowadays, discharge of toxic heavy metals into the environment is anincreasing global concern. In light of this and that the per capita consumption of mushrooms has increased in Iran, the current study was carried out to investigate the levels and health-risk assessment of elements arsenic (As) and zinc (Zn) through consumption of button mushrooms marketed in Kermanshah city in 2016.In this descriptive study, a total of 30 samples from 10 brands of edible mushrooms were collected from the market basket of Kermanshah city. After preparation and processing of the samples in the laboratory, the contents of the studied elements were determined using ICP-OES. Also, all statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS version 19 statistical package. Based on the results, the contents (mg/kg) of arsenic and zinc with an average of 65.23±13.57 and with an average of 66.23±2.80 respectively were higher than the maximum permissible limit (MPL). Also, the results showed that all the computed values of health risk index (HRI) of both elements in adults, but only Zn in children, were within safe limits (HRI