The Impact of war on environmental health focusing on the bio-environmental implications of the Iran-Iraq war

Undesirable consequences due to war are imposed on the entire system of the society, and one of them is the environmental consequences. Considering the importance of this subject, the present study was performed to address the impact of war on environmental health, focusing on the bio-environmental consequences of Iran-Iraq war.

In this review study, the search was conducted using the keywords “environmental pollution, consequences of air pollution on the environment, Iran-Iraq war” and their Persian equivalents in the national and international scientific databases until the end of 2021. Articles that were not in line with the purpose of the research or were published in the form of “letter to the editor” were excluded from the study. Out of 35 searched articles, 11 related were selected.

The results of the reviewed studies showed that the war between Iraq and Iran has caused damage to the water ecosystem, the drying up of large wetlands, marine environmental pollution, air pollution, and the dissemination of toxic dust, soil pollution and reduction of pastures, and turning them into salt lands.

Considering the importance of environmental health in war zones, removing environmental pollution near these zones should be prioritized. Therefore, the authorities should identify and analyze the problems with a close cooperation with eachother to provide appropriate solutions for prevention and effectively controling of the environmental pollution.