مجله سلامت و بهداشت
سال هشتم شماره 2 (پیاپی 31، بهار 1396)

Rapid sand filter backwashing water typically consists of 2-5% of the total treated water and it has high turbidity. Therefore, effluent treatment of rapid sand filter backwashing is essential. This research aimed to survey turbidity removal from filtration effluent of Tehranpars water treatment plant using Electrocoagulation (EC)/Electroflotation (EF) process.
This practical study was done in a continuous system at laboratory scale. An electrocoagulation tank with the dimensions of 24×17×18 cm and volume of 7.35 l from plexiglass was used in this work. Inside the tank 4 Al or Fe plates (15×22×0.1cm) were used as cathode and anode. Each electrode was immersed up to 16 cm in effluent of electrocoagulation tank. 126 samples with turbidities of 320, 350, and 400 NTU were taken from effluent of rapid sand filter backwashing and the removal efficiency was tested at current densities of 4.16, 5.83, 7.5, 10, 11.66, and 13.33 mA cm-2 in detention times ranging from10 to 30 min. The space of electrodes is fixed at 1.5cm and pH at 8.2. Data analyzed by excel software.
The optimum pH of 8.2 was determined for this process. The optimum current density and detention time for both electrodes were the same and equal to 13.33 mA cm-2 and 30 min, respectively. At optimum conditions the respective highest turbidity removal by Al and Fe electrodes were 95.13 and 4.87%.
Regarding the results, using electro coagulation-electro floatation processes has an appropriate efficiency in turbidity removal. One can say that aluminum electrode has higher efficiency than iron electrode to remove turbidity.

One of the most important environmental problems is soils contamination by heavy metals in industrial areas and agricultural lands. Use of earthworms in soil bioremediation causes decrease in the pollutants concentration through bioaccumulation of the contaminants in earthworms.
This experimental study was carried out on the soils contaminated with chromium and cadmium at concentrations of 0.04 and 0.08 mg/g along with the control samples. Organic matters (Manure) at the concentrations of 5 and 9% t were added. Chromium and cadmium concentration in soil and the worms were measured at two time periods of 21 and 42 days by ICP spectrometry. Two-way variance was used for statistical analysis and p According to the results of this study, the removal efficiency decreased by 5% with increasing the organic material of the soil contaminated with chromium from 5% to 9% at the concentration of 0.06 mg/g. Bioremediation efficiency decreased by 20% at chromium concentration of 0.1 mg/g implying that the earthworms have probably more tendency to consume organic material rather than the soil contaminated with metals.
Considering increased mortality of worms at chromium concentration of 0.08 mg/g, this method is not recommended for soil bioremediation. In the case of cadmium further study is required. One can say that the organic material had no influence in bioremediation of the soil.

Cadmium and lead are the common environmental contaminants used in various cosmetic products. The aim of this study was to determine concentrations of cadmium and lead in hair dye and lipstick marketed in Kermanshah.
In this study, 300 samples were taken from six different brands of lip gloss and four different brands of hair color with the highest sales rate in Kermanshah city. Concentrations of lead and cadmium were measured by AAS and reported as μg/kg of dry weight.
Concentrations of lead were higher than cadmium levels found in the cosmetics. The lead and cadmium concentrations in lipsticks ranged from 211.71 to 429.19 µg/kg and 25.11 to 68.25 µg/kg, respectively. Lead and cadmium concentrations in hair color were in the ranges of 57.69-76.42 µg/kg and 7.91-14.58 µg/kg, respectively. The highest concentration of lead and cadmium were found in American lipstick and the lowest concentration was measured in Iranian and Italian hair colors. Cadmium and lead concentrations in different brands of lipstick and hair color were significantly different (p The concentrations of cadmium in cosmetics were higher than the recommended levels. Given the health risks of these metals, comprehensive interventions are necessary to increase community awareness on hidden dangers of cosmetics to promote health and to enforce regulatory and legal actions.

Achievement on improving nursing care quality has always been considered by administrators. "Improving the productivity of clinical staffs’ law" has been adopted to address nurse's problems and providing better services to the patients. This study aimed to investigate the situation of this law enforcement.
The study population is all the administrators and clinical staffs employed in 4 hospitals affiliated to Ardabil University of Medical Sciences. The subjects were selected by both census (for administrators; n=52) and simple random sampling (for clinical staffs: n=300) methods. Data were collection using a researcher made questionnaire. Data collection tools reliability and validity were evaluated through content validity and test–re-test method, respectively. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and spearman, Mann-Whitney & Kruskal-Wallis tests.
Mean attitude scores among administrators and clinical staffs were 3.27±0.70 and 3.35±0.64, respectively. Among the factors affecting attitude, improving working conditions (3.48±1.00) in perspective of managers and increasing the quality of services (3.45±0.87) in perspective of clinical staffs were the most important factors on creating a positive attitude. The most important weakness of the law enforcement in perspective of both staffs and administrators was shortage of clinical staffs. Clinical staffs’ age, sex, marital status, employment history, education level, and type of employment had significant relationships with the attitude and satisfaction scores (p Enforcement of "improving productivity of clinical staffs’ law" has had advantages for the majority of clinical staffs and it can resolve many of their concerns subject to modification made in employment system, improving work conditions based on the needs, and implementing incentive programs. It can also be effective on improving productivity of nurses and thereby improves the health system.

This study was performed due to increasing concern about intake of heavy metals by contaminated foods. Health effects due to dietary intake of heavy metals is well known. Metals can be entered into cheese at various stages of production. The aim of this study was to estimate weekly intake of heavy metals (i.e. lead, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, tin, zinc and nickel) through consumption of cheese in Iran to estimate proportion of metal intake through dietary pathway.
This descriptive study was performed on 54 cheese samples with high consumption which their producers were distributed across the country. Lead, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, tin, zinc and nickel in cheese samples were measured by ICP-OES and weekly intake of metals through consumption of cheese was estimated. Then the proportion was expressed as a percentage of provisional tolerable weekly intakes (PTWI).
The highest metal concentration (µg/g wet weight) was determined for Zinc (5.10) and the lowest for cadmium (0.005). The highest Estimated Weekly Intake (EWI) was determined for Zn (464.1µg) and the lowest (0.45 µg) for cadmium. All estimates of the metals intake (through consumption of cheese), excluding nickel (1.19 %) was less than 1% of the maximum tolerable weekly intake.
The results show that cheese has no significant contribution to intake of the investigated heavy metals in Iran. It should be considered that cheese is not the only source for metal intakes and maximum residue level (MRL) for Pb in present study is greater than Codex limit of 0.02 mg/kg. Studing sources for lead contaminant in cheese is recommended to better understand, manage and prevent from further pollution.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a public health concern in most of tropical areas of Iran. CL is important because of its dermal lesions on patient’s bodies. This study was conducted to determine the effect of education based on BASNEF model to promote cutaneous leishmaniasis preventive behaviors among students in Markazi district of Qom Province in 2014.
This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 192 middle school students reside in endemic areas of Qom Province based on BASNEF model. Data were collected before and 2 months after intervention using a researcher-made questionnaire with approved validity and reliability. Data were analyzed by Chi- Square, T independent, and GLM statistics using SPSS software.
Mean scores of knowledge, attitude, enabling factors, behavioral intentions and healthy behavior in case group after educational intervention showed significant differences compared with control group (p Educational intervention, before, during and after the implementation of vector control programs can have a significant impact on the success of cutaneous leishmaniasis prevention and control programs. In this context, the use of BAZNEF model could be effective on preventive behaviors to control leishmaniasis.

Heavy metals in surface soil which originate from different sources (e.g. traffic, industrial emission, weathering of building) can be accumulated in human body via inhalation and dermal absorption pathways. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate heavy-metal pollution profile of the soils and assess the soil quality in Zahedan.
Heavy metal concentrations in surface soils were investigated by a cross–sectional study carried out in early autumn 2013. Street dust samples were collected from different areas (5 regions) using a clean plastic dustpan and broom. At each sampling location, 5 subsamples were randomly taken and mixed together to obtain a composite soil sample. In total 50 samples were taken from all regions. The street dust samples were dried at room temperature prior to acid digestion and the concentrations of Zn, Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb and Cu were measured using ICP-MS.
Results of analysis showed that in all studied areas; urban park, commercial area, high traffic, residential area and industrial area the concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn were 0.01± 0.06, 37.53 ± 6.96, 29.68 ± 10.25, 51.09 ± 8.53, 28.37±6.52 and 184.30 ± 25.94 mg/kg, respectively. The concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn in all the regions studied (except residential area) exceed the corresponding background levels (i.e. suburb area).
This study showed that land use significantly increase heavy metal levels of urban soil in Zahedan. The highest concentrations of heavy metals were found in commercial and high traffic areas where the traffic rates are high. Therefore, decrease in traffic rate and improving public transportation may increase quality of urban soils.

Stress and difficult conditions in some occupations (e.g.nursing) severely impaire marital and family relations. The present study aims to investigate the role of psychological hardiness, Islamic optimism and patience in predicting marital satisfaction of female nurses.
This research was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The research population included all married female nurses working in Ardabil governmental hospitals where 144 female nurses were selected by multistage cluster sampling method in 2014. Standard questionnaires were used for data collection. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics consisting of pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regressions using SPSS v.16.
The results showed that psychological hardiness (r=0.49), Islamic optimism (r=0.43) and patience (r=041) have significant positive relationships with marital satisfaction. Multiple regression analysis showed that 34.6% of nurse's marital satisfaction is explained by psychological hardiness, optimism and patience (p Based on the findings, conflicts in married nurse's life can be controlled by training and strengthening psychological hardiness, optimism and patience, and avoiding interference of occupational stress on family and marital relationships by adopting these psychological approaches.

Sodium dithionite is used to improve the appearance of sugar products such as Shakar-Panir and rock candy. Use of this product at higher levels than the standard values will have dangerous side effects. The aim of this study was to determine residues of sulfur anhydride as an indicator of the presence of Blankit in sugarloaf, Shakar-Panir and rock candy in Ardabil province and comparing with the maximum allowable limits.
In this cross-sectional study, 88 samples of sugar products (48 sugarloaf, 11 Shakar-Panir and 29 rock candy) from Ardbil province markets were collected to determine sulfur anhydride residue as an indicator of the presence of Blankit in sugar products. The blankit residues of samples were measured using iodometry method and compared with the licensed 10 ppm by Institute of Standards & Industrial Research of Iran. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and ANOVA.
The results showed that the Blankit levels in one-third of sugar products are higher than the maximum allowable levels of 10 ppm in Iran (33.3% of sugarloaf and 36.3% of Shakar-Panir). Blankit levels in all rock candy samples were less than the standard value of 10 ppm. Blankit in sugarloaf was significantly higher than Shakar-Panir and rock candy in Ardabil province, however, Blankit in Shakar-Panir samples was higher than rock candy and sugarloaf distributed in Ardabil city (p=0.013).
The results indicated that blankit levels in traditional rock candy are less than Shakar-Panir and sugarloaf as well as the national standard of Iran. One can say that in terms of Blankit level rock candy is suitable for consumption in comparison to other sugar products.