مقالات رزومه دکتر بهاره لرستانی

Monitoring of pollutants in urban ecosystems is of particular importance. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the capability of Robinia pseudoacacia and Pinus elderica for biomonitoring of Pb, Cr and Ni in urban areas of Hamedan in 2023.

A total of 36 soils and 72 plant samples were collected from 12 sites. The contents of elements were determined using ICP-OES. Also, the values of PI, PLI, BAF, and CR indices were computed. 

The highest values of Pb, Cr, and Ni (mg/kg) in soil samples with 72.2, 67.5 and 101 values belonged to the commercial, industrial, and commercial sites, respectively. The highest average content of analyzed elements in unwashed and washed leaves/needles for Pb both belonged to the commercial areas; for Cr and Ni, all belonged to the industrial areas. The average values of PI followed the descending order of Cr > Ni > Pb. The average values of PLI varied from 1.22 to 1.34. Moreover, BAF values of Pb, Cr, and Ni of R. pseudoacacia leaves and P. elderica needles were found to be in the range of 0.100-1.00. Also, the highest mean values of CR of Pb and Cr were both found in P. elderica; and the highest mean value of CR of Ni was found in R. pseudoacacia.

R. pseudoacacia and P. elderica could be used as suitable and efficient species for monitoring and remediation of toxic elements from soil and air in polluted ecosystems.

Antibiotics as emerging pollutants are harmful to environmental health. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the efficiency of Uio-66-NH2@CS-Iso-Gu nanohybrid for the removal of amoxicillin (AMX) from aqueous solutions.

In this study, for the first time, guanidine and isocyanate monomers are cross-linked with chitosan. The combination of this polymer with organometallic compounds contributes to its chemical/thermal stability and reusability. Uio-66-NH2@CS-Iso-Gu nanohybrid was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and BET methods. Also, the effects of pH, initial concentration of AMX, contact time, and temperature were evaluated. Moreover, isotherm, kinetic and thermodynamics studies were performed.

The results of TGA analysis showed that Uio-66-NH2@CS-Iso-Gu nanohybrid was resistant to temperatures up to 400 °C. Also, optimal adsorption of AMX occurred in the first 25 min. The synthesized nanohybrid has a surface area of 101.2 m2/g and a type IV isotherm. Acidic groups were present on the synthesized nanohybrid surface based on the pHpzc = 4.7. Langmuir (for 25 °C and 45 °C) and Freundlich (for 65 °C) isotherm models and pseudo-second-order kinetic models are more appropriate to fit the adsorption data with the experimental data. The maximum adsorption capacity of the synthesized nanohybrid was equal to 56.49, 40.65, and 0.382 mg/g at temperatures of 25°C, 45°C, and 65°C, respectively. Based on the findings, Uio-66-NH2@CS-Iso-Gu nanohybrid could be used for up to five cycles without significantly reducing their performance.

The results showed that Uio-66-NH2@CS-Iso-Gu nanohybrid has a significant efficiency for removing AMX and could be used as an effective adsorbent for the treatment of wastewater containing pharmaceutical residues.

Electrokinetic (EK) remediation is a very effective option for the soil decontamination; however, its efficiency depends on several factors. In the present study, the ability of Ethylene-diaminete-traacetic-acid (EDTA) and pulse current to improve this method for treating fine-grained soils containing heavy metals (HMs) was investigated. In so doing, first, the studied sample (mainly kaolinite) was mixed with a concentration of 5000 mg/kg zinc (Zn) and lead (Pb) and then subjected to an electrokinetic test with voltage gradient of 2 V(DC)/cm2 (in the form of continuous current and pulse) under 7, 14 and 28 days. The pulse current used was ON for 30 minutes and OFF for 10 minutes. In this process, different concentrations of EDTA (including a concentration of 0.1 M and 0.2 M) were also added to the anode and cathode reservoirs, separately and simultaneously. The obtained results showed that in the conditions of continuous current and without EDTA addtion (the common EK method), the EK removal efficiency, especially for lead, was not noticeable. According to the changes in the microstructure of soil sample and its electrical conductivity (EC) between the anode and the cathode electrodes, the reason can be ascribed to the decrease in current density due to precipitation of pollutants in the soil matrix and decresing the HMs transportation in the cathode side, as clearly confirmed by the XRD patterns and EC tests. In this case, increasing the test time from 7 to 28 days (despite more energy consumption) mainly caused the change of the pollution position in the around of anode side and the HMs removal in the cathode side is not enhanced, indicating that there is a limited effect (about 20%) on the total efficiency of the EK tests. It was found that the addition of EDTA only in the form of catholyte solution, even with the equivalent concentration of soil pollution, has a low effect on improving the electrokinetic response. On the other hand, the presence of the chelating agent in both reservoirs of the EK device, especially by applying the pulse current (with a frequency equal to 36 cycles/day) accelerates the treating process of EK remediation. In fact, as the results of macro-structural tests, scanning electron microscope (SEM) images and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses indicated, such improvement can be attributed to two major changes in soil-pollutant interaction. First of all, the presented EK method, by developing the penetration of the acid front towards the cathode side and limiting the polarization ability of clay particles, causes the formation of flocculation and reduces the soil ability to keep pollutants. Also, this system greatly reduces the contribution of insoluble phases through the processes of redissolution and formation of the stable complexes as well as generates a disturbance in the initial formation of metal precipitation due to the reduction in the hydrolysis reaction of the cathode part. Synergy of these changes has an prominent role in accelerating the EK mechanisms; so that compared to the conventional EK model, while reducing energy consumption by 25%, it can also increase the removal efficiency by nearly 2.6 times.

Monitoring and remediation of metal contaminants in aquatic ecosystems is of particular importance to estimate, control, and reduce the level of threats to alive creatures and humans. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate metal contamination of surface sediments and the ability to monitor and bioremediation of iron, lead, and copper by aerial and underground tissues of Typha Latifolia and Nasturtium microphyllum located along the aquatic ecosystem of the Lar River, Tehran, Iran in 2021.

In this descriptive study, after selecting four sampling sites, 48 plant samples and 12 sediment samples were collected. After preparation and acid digestion of the samples in the laboratory, the contents of the elements were determined using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Also, pollution index (PI), pollution load index (PLI), bioconcentration coefficient (BCF), bioaccumulation (BAF), and translocation factor (TF) were calculated. Statistical analyses of the results were performed using SPSS statistical software.

The highest values of Fe, Pb, and Cu (mg/kg) in sediment samples were 11.8 ± 0.665, 0.915 ± 0.030, and 0.710 ± 0.026, respectively, and belonged to station 4; and in plant tissues 11.4 ± 1.25, 0.578 ± 0.180, and 0.298 ± 0.095, respectively, and were belonged to the roots of T. Latifolia. The PI values showed that the pollution of Fe, Pb, and Cu was "low" and the average PI values for the elements followed the descending order of Pb > Cu > Fe. The average values of PLI also vary from 0.003 to 0.006, indicating the quality conditions of "no pollution" in all the studied stations. On the other hand, T. Latifolia had a BCF > 1 and TF < 1 for Fe.

Based on the results obtained, it can be concluded that T. Latifolia is a suitable species for stabilizing Fe in sediments and could be used to monitor and remediate potentially toxic elements from polluted aquatic ecosystems.

Antibiotics are emerging pollutants that enter the human environment through pharmaceutical, hospital, and urban wastewater. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate of removal efficacy of tetracycline (TC) from aqueous solutions using GO@Fe3O4@β-CD.

In this descriptive study, GO@Fe3O4@β-CD was synthesized and then used as an adsorbent for the removal of TC from aqueous solution. GO@Fe3O4@β-CD was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) methods. Also, the influence of variables including pH (3-9), amount of adsorbent (0.003-0.050 g), contact time (0-100 min), and temperature (25-55 °C) so assessed on the efficacy of TC removal. 

The results of TGA analysis showed that GO@Fe3O4@β-CD nanoparticles were resistant to temperatures up to 400 °C. Also, the results indicated that β-cyclodextrin was uniformly dispersed on the surface of [email protected] results indicated that removal efficiency increased up to 60 min contact time, 0.01 g of adsorbent, and decrease temperature to 25 °C. The optimum pH for TC removal was 7.0. Also, under these conditions, the adsorption process followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm with a correlation coefficient of 0.992 and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model with a correlation coefficient of 0.997, 0.999, and 0.998. The maximum adsorption capacity of the prepared adsorbent was 357 mg/g.

The GO@Fe3O4@β-CD could be an effective and efficient adsorbent for the removal of TC from industrial wastewater.

Identification of the marine mammals’ suitable habitats is one of the requirements for coastal ecosystem conservation plans in southern Iran. A total of 42 points of Finless Porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides) presence were collected based on direct and random observation from late autumn to late winter of 2021. Depth map was created using a logarithm ratio model with a coefficient of determination of 0.784 and along with bed slope, channel width, average channel depth and width, channel length, channel width ratio and channel depth ratio (relative to the channels connected to it) were submitted into the Maxent model as predictor variables. The porpoise habitat suitability map was produced with an area under the curve of 0.887 for training and 0.832 for test data. According to the results of the Jackknife test, depth with an S-shaped response curve had the largest contribution (50.23%) to predicting suitable habitats of the porpoise. The suitability of the porpoise habitats increased with increasing depth and average channel depth, while the probability of the species' presence decreased with increasing slope, channel width, average channel width and channel length. The two variables of channel width ratio and channel depth ratio had insignificant effects on the probability of the species' presence. Moreover, an area of 4400 ha (10.6% of the total area) was identified as suitable habitat. Since these areas cover a small percentage of the study region and commercial fishing is performed more in such deep areas than the shallow waters, it is important to protect deep waters and reduce the resulting conflicts of interest with humans, thus ensuring the long-term survival of porpoise in the region. Therefore, it is necessary to outline porpoise conservation projects in deep areas and focus on efforts aiming to alleviate conflict with humans.

Nowadays, the growing population has increased the demand for food especially for protein triggering the aquaculture industry's expansion. However, unplanned and unregulated farm will caused be at the subsequent yield failure and cost of environmental stress in the aquaculture farm. Accordingly, ecological potential evaluation and site selection of suitable areas for establishment of aquaculture farms can be prevent the interference of different land uses, minimize the environmental impact of aquaculture development and prevent disruptions in development. Therefore, the currentstudy was conducted to ecological potential evaluation of rainbow trout (Onchorynchus mykiss (culture as coldwater fish species in Hamedan province, west of Iran.

In the current study, biological requisites of rainbow trout, socioeconomic factors, springs information, water flow, water temperature, pH, slope, protected areas and antiquities were used for ecological potential evaluation and site selection of suitable sites for rainbow trout culture. In so doing, 'Makhdoum Aquaculture Model' and ArcGIS 10.3 were used.

Based on the results obtained, 1420 ha of Nahavand county, 571 ha of Razan county, 472 ha of Bahar county, 311 ha of Hamedan county, 263 ha of Malayer county, 145 ha of Toyserkan county, 121 ha of Asadabad county and 84.0 ha of Kabudarahang county were identified as the suitable areas for establishment of rainbow trout culture farms.

Ecological potential evaluation and site selection for aquaculture by considering the land suitability could be taking to sustainable development and reduce of environmental stress of the aquaculture farm.

Nowadays, trace elements are known as useful indicators for monitoring of environmental pollution caused from traffic emmissions. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the effect of urban traffic and distance from the street side on heavy metals (Pb, Cd and Cu) concentration in surface soil and plant species of roadsides environment of city of Hamedan, west of Iran.

In this descriptive study, a total of 48 surface soil and plant samples were collected from four areas of city of Hamedan with different traffic density. After samples preparation, the concentrations of the analyzed elements in the soil and plant samples were determined using ICP-OES. Also, all statistical analyses of the obtained data were performed using SPSS software version 19.0.

Based on the results obtained, metals accumulation in soils and plants of the area with heavy traffic volume especially Basij Boulevard were higher than the other sampling areas. Also, distance from street side had been inverse relation with metals accumulation in soil and plant samples. So as the most accumulation of elements was recorded for samples collected at a distance of 5.0 m from street side.

Generally, inverse relation of metals accumulation in soil and plant samples with distance from street side might be related to vehicular emissions. Moreover, the results of this study also could be useful for managers and planners in the fields of architecture and urban design, urban land use planning, and urban traffic control managers.

Nowadays, the entrance of heavy metals as inorganic pollutants into agricultural waters is one of the major concerns in all over the world. In the past few years, the adsorption of heavy metals by various categories of bio-adsorbents has been investigated via different process, including surface and chemical adsorption. In this research, corn silk has been used as an efficient bio-adsorbent for adsorption of lead ions from agricultural effluents.

Firstly, corn silk prepared from the fields around Kermanshah, afterward washed with distilled water and heated in an oven for 24 hours until it dried and rubbed. The prepared sample used for the adsorption of lead metal experiments.

In higher concentration of the adsorbent, the absorption capacity of ions decreases drastically. Also, the optimal pH value for the absorption process obtained around 5. The kinetic data exhibited that the metal adsorption process followed pseudo-second-order kinetics. Furthermore, thermodynamic data revealed that the process of metal absorption is spontaneous and the absorption happened physically.

The results clearly showed that the corn silk as a biosorbent can be effective for the removal of lead ions from aquatic solutions compared to previous reports. We can conclude that, the efficiency of biosorbent refers to the functional groups with high absorption power such as hydroxyl. In addition, the rate of adsorption of pollutants by the corn silk is significant, so that after 30 minutes the surface adsorption process reaches equilibrium stage.

Phytoremediation is a new technology for remediation of contaminated soils, this study was conducted to evaluation of efficiency of EDTA, citric acid and salicylic acid chelating agents in phytoremediation enhancing of Amaranthus caudatus and Tagetes patula for elimination of Cr(III) and Cu(II) from contaminated soils in 2018.

After soil pots contaminating by 50 and 100 (mg/kg) K2Cr2O7 and 200 and 400 (mg/kg) CuSO4 salts, and 2.5 (mmol/kg) of EDTA and citric acid (CA) and 2.0 (mmol/kg) of salicylic acid (SA) solution treating, the cultured seedlings were harvested after 60 days. Then, after seedlings digestion, Cr and Cu contents were determined using ICP-OES

Based on the results obtained, the maximum contents of Cr (mg/ kg) in cultivated soil, root and stem samples of A. caudatus were 2.40, 5.18 and 1.86 were found in the SA, EDTA and EDTA treatments, respectively and in T. patula with 2.74, 6.00 and 1.30 were found to be in the SA, EDTA and EDTA treatments, respectively. Also, the maximum contents of Cu (mg/kg) in cultivated soil, root and stem samples of A. caudatus with 6.74, 3.77 and 3.34 were found to be in the SA, SA and EDTA treatments, respectively and in T. patula with 6.65, 3.45 and 9.50 were found to be in the SA, EDTA and EDTA treatments, respectively. On the other hand, translocation (TF) and bioconcentration (BCF) factors of A. caudatus both were greater than 1 in soils with 100 mg/kg added K2Cr2O7 containing CA, which indicates that this species can be known as hyperaccumulator of Cr

In conclusion, concerning to the considerable role of organic acids in soil refining electrokinetic and phytoremediation efficiency enhancing, using of these soil amendment agents is recommended to cleanup of contaminated soil with heavy metals

Ibuprofen is one of the most widely used drugs in the world, which affects the health of living organisms by causing pollution in water sources. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of determining the effectiveness of modified carbon of straw and sesame stubble in removing ibuprofen from aqueous solutions. For this purpose, ammonium chloride, zinc chloride, and phosphoric acid were used to optimize the adsorbent. Also, the changes in the absorbent surface and its characteristics were studied using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) technique. After determining the optimal conditions of pH variables, contact time, temperature, and adsorbent dose, the surface adsorption process was investigated under three Langmuir, Freundlich, and Dubinin-Radoshkevich models. On the other hand, first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models were used to process the adsorption data. The results showed that the surface adsorption process followed the Freundlich isotherm model pseudo-second-order kinetics. pH, contact time, initial concentration of ibuprofen, and optimal adsorbent dose were 3, 120 min, 50 mg/l, and 0.10 g/l respectively at 25°C. The results of this study showed that agricultural residues such as straw and sesame stubble can be used as effective and cost-effective adsorbents to remove the remaining pharmaceutical compounds from aqueous solutions.

The study of sediments as one of the reservoirs for absorbing environmental pollutants and especially heavy metals is of particular importance. Therefore, this research was conducted with the aim of identifying and evaluating the contamination of arsenic, cadmium, nickel, and vanadium elements in the sediments of Farahabad coast of the Caspian Sea in 2018. In this study, after collecting 36 sediment samples from 12 selected stations, the values ​​of pH, EC, organic matter, and texture of sediments were determined. The concentrations of elements were determined by inductively coupled plasma optical spectroscopy. In addition, in order to evaluate the pollution of sediments, environmental toxicology criteria were calculated, including indicators of pollution coefficient, enrichment, and pollution load. In order to identify the potential sources of elements and their grouping in the sediment samples, multivariate statistical methods were used, namely principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering. For statistical processing of the results, one-way analysis of variance, one-sample t-test, and Pearson's correlation coefficient were used in the SPSS software. The average concentration of arsenic, cadmium, nickel, and vanadium was 12.7, 0.191, 35.0, and 31.9 mg/kg, respectively. The output results of PCA, HCA models, EF index values, ​​and coefficient of variation, as well as Pearson's correlation matrix, showed that arsenic probably originates from man-made sources and cadmium, nickel, and vanadium elements have natural sources.

Individuals spend a lot of time indoors, thus they can generally be exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as a teratogen, mutagen, and carcinogen pollutants with the potential for environmental and also human health risks. Therefore, the current study was performed to analyze PAHs in household dust samples of the city of Khorramabad, Iran in 2019. A total of 50 indoor dust samples were collected from 10 sampling sites. After the extraction of analytes, the gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC–MS) method was used to determine PAHs in the studied samples. All statistical analyses were performed by SPSS software. The results showed that 16 priority PAHs were detected in the samples with the minimum, maximum, and mean values of 14.0, 23.3, and 19.2 µg/kg. Also, based on the results the mean contents of detected PAHs were lower than the maximum permissible concentration (MPC) established by MHWS and Iran DOE. In conclusion, due to exposure risks of PAHs, regular and periodic analysis of these pollutants in different environmental samples including soil, sediment, dust, particulate matter, air, water, and tissues of living organisms for environmental and human health maintenance is recommended.

Wastewater of food industries contains large amounts of suspended solids and other chemicals which produced during cleaning and sanitary purposes. Therefore, removal of these pollutants from effluent is very important. The aim of this study was to removal of turbidity from the effluent of Hamedan Pegah Dairy Company using extracted natural coagulant from plane seed.

In this descriptive study, the effects of contact time, adsorbent dose, pH and turbidity values on efficiency of turbidity removal from food industries effluent were investigated. Also, adsorbent characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), moreover, the adsorption of turbidity studied from both kinetics and equilibrium points of view.

Based on the results obtained, the highest turbidity removal efficiency at optimum conditions (i.e. pH of 8, contact time of 60 min, initial turbidity of 1 NTU and adsorbent dose of 0.1 g/l) was found to be 98%. Also, the adsorption kinetic of turbidity via plane tree seed coagulant followed pseudo second-order (PSO) model (R2 = 0.991), while the adsorption isotherm obeyed Langmuir model (R2 = 0.994) with maximum adsorption capacities of 0.203 mg/g.

In conclusion, due to the natural coagulant from plane tree seed showed a high efficiency to removal of turbidity from wastewater, it could be used as a suitable alternative in comparing with common chemical coagulants for reduce the pollutants from the effluent of food industries in wastewater treatment plants.

Since use of domestic wastewater contain organic pollutants for irrigation of agricultural farms will lead to be adverse health effects, this study was conducted to compare the efficiency of brick kiln ash, thermal power plant ash and also commercial activated carbon for removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) from domestic wastewater.

In order to removal of COD from domestic wastewater by studied adsorbents, under optimal conditions the effects of pH, amount of adsorbent, contact time and  agitation speed were evaluated. Also, equilibrium data were fitted to Langmuir (L) and Freundlich (F) isotherm models.

The results showed that the removal efficiency was increased by increasing in adsorbent dose, contact time and agitation speed. The optimum pH for COD removal was 7. Also, the results indicated that, the adsorption isotherm was well fitted by the Langmuir model with R2 = 0.997, 0.996 and 0.993 for commercial activated carbon, thermal power plant ash and brick kiln ash, respectively. Moreover, maximum adsorption capacity of COD for commercial activated carbon, thermal power plant ash and brick kiln ash were obtained 83.0, 28.6 and 14.9 mg/g, respectively.

Based on the results obtained, the commercial activated carbon found to be as an effective adsorbent for removal of COD from domestic wastewater compared to thermal power plant ash and brick kiln ash, but due to low cost of them, thermal power plant ash and also brick kiln ash could be used for removal of COD from wastewater.

It is necessary to study the spatial-temporal trend of drought, which affects agriculture and food supply with its slow process and Multiple generating factors; Therefore, the present study was conducted to assess agricultural drought in Kermanshah using satellite indicators (Average images of Sentinel2 and Landsat8 satellites during the growing season) and terrestrial (using rainfall and temperature data from 1990 to 2020). The results of terrestrial indicators the absence of drought in 2002, 2007, 2018 and 2019. The 12-month and 24-month SPEI of 2001 and the 24-month SPI estimated 1999 in the category of very severe drought. Satellite indicators in 2015 and 2017 increased the Land Surface Temperature and in 2019 (increasing soil surface moisture and Temperature Vegetation Dryness) and 2020 estimated vegetation density. The decrease in sugar beet yield in the years 1999 to 2003 and the increase in the years 2006 to 2009, 2012/2011 and 2021/2020 confirm the high results. In the north, northeastern and eastern regions; High temperature, low rainfall and low humidity have dried the soil and negatively affected the growth, health and density of plants, but the southern region has always been humid. The presence of drought during the study period and Sentinel II images were more sensitive to vegetation indicators.

Fluoride is one of the developed compounds that can enter water resources in different ways. The World Health Organization has recommended its maximum permissible concentration in drinking water of 1.5 mg/l so that its concentration exceeding the permissible limit can be harmful to the health of living organisms and ecosystems. The aim of this study was to determine the efficiency of activated carbon modified by the thermo-chemical method from oak fruit in fluoride removal. This research was conducted in a discontinuous system on a laboratory scale, and for this purpose, the effect of effective parameters such as time, pH, concentration, adsorbent dose, and other factors was investigated. The results of the experiments showed that the maximum amount of removal takes place during 90 min, pH=3, adsorbent dose of 0.1 g/l, and pollutant concentration of 50 mg/l. The results of the synthetic models showed that the Freundlich model with the coefficient of determination (R2=0.863) is a better model than the Langmuir model with the coefficient of determination (R2=0.736) to describe the synthetic behavior of the absorber. Until now, most absorption methods have been performed to remove the pollutant concentration of 30 mg/l. In the current study, with the input pollutant concentration of 50 mg/l, it can be stated that the activated carbon modified from the oak fruit is a cheap, efficient, and effective adsorbent. It is considered available to remove fluoride from aqueous solutions.

Nowadays, discharge of toxic heavy metals through industrial, domestic, and agricultural effluents into the environment, in this study, the efficiency of thin-layer nanocomposite (TFN) nanofiltration membranes made using surface polymerization in combination with modified cellulose nanoparticles (mNC) was assessed for the removal of lead and chromium ions from aqueous solutions. In so doing, after modification of MNCSNCs, fabrication of membrane substrate and also PA selective layer, and then testing the performance of the membrane, the physical properties of the modified nanoparticles and nanocomposite membranes were also investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and zeta potential. Based on the Results obtained, the water flux of TFN2 membranes increased from 42 to 125 l/m2/h. Also, at pH = 8.5, the removal rate of Pb(II) and Cr(III) was 93% and 100%, respectively. Moreover, under these conditions, the adsorption process followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm and the pseudo-second-order kinetic models. In general, the results showed that the synthesized nanofiltration nanocomposite membrane by embedding modified cellulose nanocrystals can be used to effectively remove Pb(II) and Cr(III) ions from aqueous solutions.

Amoxicillin (AMX) is one of the commonly used commercial antibiotics due to its high resistance to bacteria and its large spectrum against a wide variety of microorganisms, which it´s existence in the wastewater from pharmaceutical industries and hospital effluents causes unpleasant odor, skin disorder, and microbial resistance among pathogen organisms, and it can lead to the death of microorganisms which are effective in wastewater treatment. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate of removal efficacy of AMX from aqueous solutions using GO@Fe3O4@CeO2.

In this descriptive study, GO@Fe3O4@CeO2 was synthesized and then used as a photocatalyst for the removal of AMX from aqueous solution. GO@Fe3O4@CeO2 was characterized using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM), SEM-EDX elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) methods. Additionally, the influence of variables including pH (3-11), amount of photocatalyst (0.006-0.04 g), contact time (0-150 min), and temperature (25-55 °C) was assessed on the efficacy of AMX removal. 

The results indicated that removal efficiency increased up to 90 min contact time, 0.02 g of photocatalyst, and at the temperature of 25 °C. The optimum pH for AMX removal was 10.

GO@Fe3O4@CeO2 could be an effective and available photocatalyst for the removal of AMX from industrial wastewater under UV light.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are a large group of ubiquitous environmental pollutants with teratogenic, mutagenic and carcinogenic potential, which are products of incomplete combustion and pyrolysis of fossil fuels and combustion of organic matter. This study was performed to determine and identify the origin, concentration and source of PAHs compounds in surface soils of industrial areas, Hamedan, Iran, in 2021. In this descriptive study, 36 surface soil specimens were collected from 12 sampling sites of industrial areas. After extraction of analytes based on the soxhlet method, the gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC–MS) method was used for the determination of PAHs compounds in the samples. Molecular diagnostic ratios (MDRs) were used to determine the origin of PAH compounds. Furthermore, the amounts of pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and total organic carbon (TOC) parameters of soil samples were measured. Statistical data processing was performed using SPSS statistics 20 software. The results showed that the total concentrations of 16 identified isomers ranged from 2417 to 16279 µg/kg with a median of 7675 µg/kg and with a dominance of 4-6 rings hydrocarbons (66% of total PAHs). Furthermore fluoranthene (Fla), pyrene (Pyr) and benzo(b)fluoranthene (BbF) were the most abundant compounds in soil and the average of compounds such as benzo(a)anthracene (BaA), benzo(b)fluoranthene (BbF), benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) and dibenzo(a,h)anthracene (DB(ah)A) were higher than MPC established by The Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (MHWS). The results of the MDRs method indicated that both pyrogenic and petrogenic sources are the origin of PAHs in the study area. The result of this study indicates the high impact of anthropogenic activities on the contamination of the study area with PAH compounds. Thus, appropriate soil remediation (especially bioremediation) approaches should be considered.

Although cement stabilization is used extensively to modify the soft clays, it may show limited success in some applications. Hence, this paper presents a multiscale investigation on the viability of employing zeolite and fiber to enhance the durability of cement treated soil against the freezing-thawing (F-T) cycles. In so doing, a wide range (0 to 30%) of additives including sole cement and cement-zeolite mixture (CZ) with different cement replacement were separately added to a soft soil sample and then mixed with the optimal fiber content of 0.75% (by weight), which was determined by the indirect tensile strength test. A set of experiments at various curing days (up to 90 days) were performed to study the mechanical and microstructural changes of the stabilized soils. The results indicated that while a low level of cement can modify the geo-mechanical parameters of soil sample, the compressive strength of cemented soil could decay up to 60% when the specimens exposure to the successive F-T cycles. Such changes may be ascribe to the F-T-induced particles rearrangement and degradation of the cementation structure-bonding, forming many new voids and cracks subsequently decreasing the interlocking of matrix. As a result, to get the strength guidelines threshold and make the composite water proofing a high dosage of sole cement and a long time of curing (at least 28-day) are needed, which may be uneconomical and lade to the brittle behavior. Adding zeolite (≤ 25% proportion) to supplant part of cement could effectively enhance the engineering properties of cement-mixed soil, due to an increase in the cementitious products [e.g. Calcium-aluminate-hydrate (CAH) and Calcium-silicate-hydrate (CSH)] induced by the pozzolanic activity, subsequent reduction of the inter pore-spaces and eventually a more compacted microstructure, as confirmed by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and scanning electron microscope (SEM) images. It should be emphasized that the zeolite/cement ratio is a very influential factor on the behavior of cement-zeolite mixture. Therefore, the cemented soil mixes with Zopt showed a further (up to 1.3 folds) resistance relative to the mere cemented soil as well as a greater tensile strength; however, the binary system was still vulnerable under the F-T action. In this case, the insertion of fiber could significantly enhance the soil durability (decrease the degree of damage by an average value of 50%), which was more evident at the small binder dosage and early stage of curing time. Incorporating fiber into the system also led to a higher tensile strength (nearly 1.5 times) than those deduced from the stabilization alone. Moreover, this strategy was effective to overcome the brittle nature of stabilized mixes, resulting an increase the post-strength up to 270%. These observations can be justified by the extended cementing gels formation and the enhanced interlocking of matrix through the CZ-fiber application. Overall, the combination of CZ blend and fiber can be considered as an effective technique for the soft soil modification with the fact that triggered a prominent reduction (~ 30%) in the needed amount of cement an time of curing (up to 3 folds) for the successful treatment against the F-T cycles.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are persistent organic pollutants produced by anthropogenic activities that contaminate all environmental matrices, including soils, and can enter the food chains. Therefore, this study was conducted for the analysis of PAHs compounds content in agricultural soils of Hamedan city, west of Iran, in 2021.

a total of 36 surface soil specimens were collected from 12 sampling sites in agricultural soils and after extraction of analytes based on the soxhlet method, the gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC–MS) method was used for the determination of PAHs compounds in the samples. Furthermore, soil samples were further analuzed for the amounts of pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and total organic carbon (TOC). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software.

Results showed that 16 PAHs (∑16PAHs) total concentrations ranged from 435 to 3292 µg/kg with an average value of 1806 µg/kg. PAHs with higher molecular weight (≥ 4 rings) were dominant in PAHs profiles accounting for 78%. Based on the results, the mean concentrations of all 16 PAHs were lower than MPC established by MHWaS. Furthermore, the mean concentrations of Pyr, B(a)A, Chy, B(b)F, B(k)F , B(a)P, and B(ghi)P were higher than the MPC established by the Iranian Department of Environment.

Based on the results obtained, as the mean contents of some PAHs were higher than the MPC, therefore, periodic monitoring of soil contamination with PAHs is recommended for the environmental and human health aspects.

The qualitative assessment of groundwater resources as the most important sources of drinking and agricultural water is very important. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate the quality of heavy metals in groundwater resources of the Hamadan-Bahar plain in 2018 using water quality indices. In so doing, a total of 120 groundwater samples were collected from 20 stations during the spring and summer seasons and the values of physico-chemical parameters were determined based on the standard methods and also the content of heavy metals was determined using inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy (ICP). The results showed that the mean concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn (µg /L) in the samples in the spring season were 5.08, 0.260, 1.05, 2.70, 1.50, 0.490, 1.50, 7.48, and 1.75, respectively, and in the summer season were 20.7, 0.220, 0.950, 7.12, 1.34, 0.490, 1.29, 8.23, and 2.08, respectively and except for As in the summer season, the mean content of other elements was lower than maximum permissible limits established by WHO for drinking water. Meanwhile, the mean values of Cd, HPI, HEI, MI, and PoS indices in the spring season with -7.51, 9.91, 1.42, 1.42, and 328, respectively, indicate the water quality was categorized as low, low, low, low and moderately affected and in the summer season with -5.90, 10.0, 3.04, 3.04, and 673, respectively, were categorized as low, low, low, moderately affected, and high pollution. Due to the extensive use of agricultural inputs, especially chemical and organic fertilizers and chemical pesticides containing heavy metals by farmers in the study area, the possibility of increasing the concentration of heavy metals in the soil and their penetration into groundwater aquifers will not be unexpected in the medium term. Therefore, periodic monitoring in groundwater resources of the study area is recommended.

Since pharmaceutical residues are important pollutants that lead to producing serious hazards to humans, and other living organisms, their removal from the effluents is essential for environmental protection. This study was conducted to the evaluation of the removal efficacy of methotrexate from aqueous solutions using AC@Fe3O4@ZnO nanocomposite. In so doing, AC@Fe3O4@ZnO nanocomposite was synthesized by hydrothermal method and used as a novel adsorbent for the removal of methotrexate from an aqueous solution. AC@Fe3O4@ZnO nanocomposite characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), pHpzc, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET) and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) analysis methods. The influence of pH, amount of adsorbent, temperature, and contact time on the removal efficacy were studied. Based on the results, the removal efficiency increased until 0.02 g adsorbent and 60 min contact time. The optimum pH for methotrexate removal was 7.0. In addition, under these conditions, the adsorption process followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm with a correlation coefficient of 0.994 and a pseudo-second-order kinetic model with a correlation coefficient of 0.999. The maximum adsorption capacity of the synthesized adsorbent was 400 mg/g. In conclusion, the AC@Fe3O4@ZnO nanocomposite could be considered as an efficient adsorbent for the removal of methotrexate from pharmaceutical wastewater.

Soils and sediments contamination with trace and toxic elements lead to potential ecological risk and adverse effects on human health and so have been the cause of increasing concern worldwide. Therefore, this study was carried out to potential ecological risk assessment of As, Cd, Ni and V in surface sediments of Khazar Abad, southern parts of Caspian Sea in 2019.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, a total of 36 surface sediment samples were collected from 12 sampling sites. After samples preparation, the elemental contents were determined using ICP-OES. Also, potential ecological risk factor (Eir) and cumulative potential ecological risk index (RI) were calculated. All statistical analyses were performed by SPSS software.

Based on the results obtained, the mean contents of As, Cd, Ni and V in analyzed samples were found to be 12.7, 0.191, 35.0, and 31.9 mg/kg, respectively. The computed values of Eir  showed that factor values were decreased in the order Cd > As > Ni > V. Additionally, the mean values of RI with 53.7 indicated that all the examined elements have the "low potential ecological risk".

Accordingly, although the examined elements have shown a low potential ecological risk, cadmium with 46.4% and arsenic with 45.4% mean values of RI can cause for concern. Therefore, source identification and management of organic and inorganic pollutants and also periodic monitoring of water and sediments as the sink of environmental pollution are recommended.