fariba zamani hargalani

Considering the increasing dependence of humans on fresh water, especially groundwater, which is the most important source of water supply in arid and semi-arid regions, assessing the sustainability of aquifers is crucial. In this regard, assessment indicators are used, which usually do not have a clear boundary between the classification of indicators and they overlap with each other in different fields such as economy, society and environment. Also, researchers usually rely on a number of indicators that can be measured for their case study. Due to this lack of data, in this article, an attempt has been made to collect and categorize various indicators that have been used to assess groundwater in aquifers in arid and semi-arid regions of the world.

This research has been a literature review of previous articles and studies in the world in the field of assessing the sustainability of groundwater based on different indicators. The course of movement and progress of these indicators in articles and their classification in environmental, social, economic and institutional categories has been in the framework of this research. Also, the composite indicators that have been prepared for topics under the sustainability subcategory, such as the water poverty index, have been considered in this research. The water poverty indicator is a subset of the competition criterion and a social indicator. This indicator has been proposed as a subset of the water competition criterion, which is an important indicator for measuring the level of poverty caused by water scarcity, especially in arid and semi-arid lands such as significant parts of West Asian countries. In other words, this indicator connects water and poverty. 

The results indicate that the environmental indicators with a share of 63% have the highest number among the articles and physical indicators include more than half of the environmental indicators. After that, economic indicators with 18%, social indicators with 14% and institutional indicators with 7% are in the next ranks in terms of numbers, which shows the attention of experts to the importance of the environment and economy on the sustainability of aquifers.

Although social indicators comprise only 13% of all indicators, but due to their importance and weight, they need more studying. Also, these types of indicators are mainly dependent on the case study, so using the studies of sociologists is a great help for real investigation and it will aim at the sustainability of aquifers. Also, due to the fact that sustainability evaluation is an interdisciplinary field, the selection of its indicators needs strong theoretical foundations, therefore, team work with the presence of different experts will increase the quality of the study results. Considering that the institutional indicators mainly play the role of the answer in the issue of aquifer sustainability, therefore, compiling institutional indicators in the future and including a logical weight for these indicators during the assessment of sustainability is very important in raising the quality of the assessment. Institutional indicators are mainly related to governance, and considering that the development approach is to reduce the concentration of management from top to bottom, there are fewer institutional indicators and the focus is on other indicators.

Evaluating the metals concentration and their environmental risk for pollution monitoring is necessary to maintain the quality and the health of the ecosystem. In this study, the distribution and ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in the sediments of the estuaries around the petrochemical units were investigated. The purpose of this research is the pollution value and ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in the sediments in Shadgan wetland. A systematic method of random classification was used to determine the sampling points and 36 sediment samples were collected and transferred to the laboratory for analysis. Preparation and complete digestion of sediments were performed according to standard Mopam instructions. For analyze to of samples, was used ICP-OES model 730-ES device. Important environmental indicators such as the geochemical index (Igeo) and ecological risk index (ERi) were calculated. Based on the results obtained, mean concentrations of Ni, Pb, Hg, and V were 55.8, 8.5, 6.9 and 88.7µg/g, respectively. The research results showed that distribution pattern of heavy metals in the sediments was V>Ni>Pb>Hg. Based on Muller's geochemical index, pollution degree was severe contamination for nickel and lead, severe to very severe contamination for mercury, and moderate contamination for vanadium. The ecological risk index (ERi) analysis showed that the risk situation is considerable for Ni, Pb, and Hg and moderate for V. It can be concluded that the Shadgan wetland is contaminated with heavy metals due to the inflow of effluents from petrochemical industries. The use of modern treatment plants, decomposition of pollutants and the use of raw materials with a lower percentage of pollutants in wastewater management are necessary to reduce pollutants.

Nanoadsorbents, as an emerging product, play a key role in the control and removal of environmental contaminants. Moreover, the enhancement of environmental pressure due to the human activities reveals the necessity for the utilization of novel approaches to identify the environmental impacts of new products. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the cradle to grave Life Cycle (LCA) of synthesized nanoadsorbents including MGO@β-CD and Fe3O4@β-CD in term of determination of the environmental indicators involving global warming, energy consumption, water use, human toxicity and ecotoxicity, in order to removal of one kilogram of pb (II) from contaminated water. In the present study after the synthesis of MGO@β-CD and Fe3O4@β-CD nanoadsorbents through Sima pro 9.2, CED, ReCiPe, IPCC (GWP 100year) and USEtox methods were used to assess the energy use, water use, global warming, environmental and human toxicity, respectively. By utilizing one-way ANOVA analysis in order to compare the environmental effects of the study through removing one kilogram of lead from the synthesized adsorbents, it is shown that the carbon-based adsorbent has less environmental effects than the synthesized Fe3O4-based adsorbent. The results showed that the amounts of global warming, water use, energy consumption, human toxicity and ecotoxicity for the synthesized nanoadsorbents including MGO@β-CD and Fe3O4@β-CD in order to removal of pb (II) are 539403588 and 772235968 kg CO2 eq, 6856670 and 9816204 m3, 8043724501 and 11515811540 MJ, 1365 and 1954 CTUh ,43889257263 and 62833049032 CTUe. The nanoadsorbents that are synthesized using eco-friendly material and eco-friendly processes could improve the environmental indicator such as human toxicity and eco-toxicity.

Hypericum perforatum L. belongs to the Hypericaceae family has been considered due to its medicinal properties. The use of nanofertilizers can improve the yield and medicinal value of plants. Selenium has a protective role and a positive effect on the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of plants.

Due to the importance of secondary metabolites of this plant and its economic value as well as the use of environmentally friendly fertilizers, this study was performed in the greenhouse of Shariati University of Tehran in 2019 in the form of a randomized complete block design with 3 replications.

Nano selenium and selenate selenium were applied at concentrations of 6, 8, 10 and 12 mg/L in the rosette stage. Essential oil components were identified using gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

The results showed that the highest amount of α-pinene with 22 % was obtained in the control treatment and also in the treatments of 6 and 8 mg/L sodium selenate with 21.6 % and 19.5 %. The maximum content of n-octane was in the foliar application of 12 mg/L nano selenium with 16 %. Maximum nonane was obtained with 18 % and 16 % of 12 and 10 mg/L sodium selenate, respectively.

Sodium selenate treatments are recommended if the purpose is producing normal hydrocarbon compounds.

Nitrate pollution is a pervasive and international challenge worldwide and trigger various environmental issues and negative effects on the earth. Therefore, studies and researches in the field of nitrate reduction from drinking water are crucial. The present study synthesized activated carbon from plum kernel and then the effect of activated carbon produced in reducing the concentration of nitrate in the water of wells supplying drinking water in Mallard region. In this study, a sample of activated carbon adsorbent was synthesized by pyrolysis furnace method. The structure of synthesized activated carbon was confirmed using XRD, FTIR and BET analyzes. The results showed that at 25 °C, 120 min, pH=5 and with the activated carbon 80 mg L-1, nitrate concentration can be reduced 45%. Studies in Friendlich and Langmuir adsorption isotherm models also showed that the nitrate adsorption process completely followed the Langmuir adsorption equation and the value of R2 was 85 percent. The findings of the present study showed that activated carbon synthesized from plum kernel lingocellulosic residue is an acceptable option for reducing nitrate from aqueous solutions.

Anzali, one of the most important international wetlands, is located on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea in Iran. This wetland receives discharges of domestic, agricultural and industrial wastewater, which affect the distribution of elements. In this study, ten sediment samples from the Anzali wetland were collected and analyzed for total concentration of metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn and Fe). The results showed relatively higher concentrations of most elements in comparison to that of crust. The chemical partitioning of metals in each sample was determined in four fractions (Loosely bonded, Sulphide bonded, Organo-metallic bonded, Resistant bonded). Based on the chemical partitioning of metals, As and Cd were the most abundant in the loosely bonded, so these elements were major hazard for the aquatic environment and were a major pollutant in this area. Cd is the metal that showed the highest percentages in the Organo-metallic bonded. As, Fe and Cr are displayed in the greatest percentages in the resistant bonded; this imply that these metals are strongly linked to the sediments.