Journal of Environmental Health and Sustainable Development
Volume:4 Issue: 2, Jun 2019

Glyphosate is known as the most used world's herbicides and contradictions exist over its classification as a probably carcinogenic for the human. This study aimed to review the newest evidences in toxicity, biodegradability and detection methods of glyphosate. To conduct this systematic review, databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and Google Scholar were searched to extract studies on the non-target toxicity, biodegradability and detection methods of glyphosate from 2000 to 2018. The applied key words included glyphosate, herbicide, biodegradation, and bio decomposition. The number of articles retrieved and reviewed was 84 and 23, respectively. Glyphosate could cause endocrine disrupting effects, dermal
irritation, embryo toxicity, electrolyte abnormalities, apoptosis, cardiovascular collapse, teratogenicity, and mutagenic effects. High-performance liquid chromatography, UV-visible spectroscopy, gas chromatography/ mass spectrometry, and ion-exchange liquid chromatography were techniques used for detecting glyphosate in soil and water. The biodegradation of glyphosate was performed by various bacteria and fungi microorganisms. Given the high consumption and low rates of biodegradation of glyphosate, more attention should be paid to its toxicity potential in the human's environment and health.

 Several diseases, especially in infants such as some cancer and blue baby are related to the presence of nitrate in drinking water. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) specified the maximum contaminant level (MCL) of nitrate as 50 mg L-1 for regulated public water systems. This study aimed to evaluate the concentration of nitrate and to assess its probabilistic risk exposure in drinking water wells of Abarkouh city, Iran.
 The average annual nitrate level was studied from 18 wells around Abarkouh in 2017. The Hazard Quotient (HQ) was also investigated as health risk assessment and sensitivity analysis was carried out for effective variables.
Average concentration of nitrate was 27.57 ± 6.80 mg L-1 and all measured concentrations were below the permitted maximum standard (50 mg L-1) according to the National Standard of Iran. The HQ value for children and adults were more than 1 (1.81) and less than 1, respectively. In calculating HQ for children, the most important variable was the concentration of nitrate in drinking water.
According to the results, children health is highly at risk in these areas and exposure to nitrate should be reduced for at-risk populations.

Concentration is a definite prerequisite for learning the lessons in the classroom and education, ensures learning, and leads to academic achievement. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of studying the ecological factors affecting concentration in the classroom from the viewpoints of students of Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences in Yazd in the academic year 2018-2019.
This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted on 650 students from six faculties of Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, from 21 April to 20 June 2018. Participants were selected by stratified random sampling. Data collection tool was a standard two-part questionnaire consisting of 29 questions about demographic characteristics and ecological factors influencing the concentration.  The data were analyzed by SPSS 24 using central tendency indices, t-test and chi-squared test.
In the domain of the teacher, "Teacher's skills in creating motivation” (4.21 ± 1.54), in the domain of the student, “Interest in the subject of study” (3.99 ± 1.51), and in the domain of environment, ​​"Noise pollution in the classroom” (3.11 ± 1.33), attained the highest score among ecological factors related to concentration in the classroom. There was a significant difference in the mean score of viewpoints in the domain of environment between male and female students (P = 0.00).
The results showed that paying attention to the three factors motivation, interest in the subject of study and relaxation in the classroom environment, which attained the highest scores according to the students' viewpoints, is essential to the educational planning by the University's Education Deputy authorities.

Nowadays, the appropriate selection of environmental instruments is considered a political priority in most countries. Given that one of the most important environmental tools in recent years to counteract industrial pollution has been levying green tax on polluting industries, the present study aims to identify interactive factors affecting the enforcement of green taxes between executive agencies [Department of Environment and Administration of Economic and Finance] and industries to reduce pollution.
In this qualitative study, 13 participants from the DOE, MEFA and Deputy of Industries’ Affairs of Yazd were selected by purposive and snowball sampling. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and then analyzed in the MAXQDA10 software by content analysis method.
From our data analysis, two main categories executive organizations and industries were drawn, which included 8 sub-categories tax justice, tax culture development, tax determination and tax collection, weak tax systems, tax laws, tax penalties, tax incentives and adoption of an environmental framework by the industry.
Reforming the environmental laws, approaches and policies, emphasizing education to develop the culture of tax payment, avoiding unilateralism in enforcing environmental policies and enhancing incentive policies seem essential.

Health monitoring and control of food preparation, supply and distribution centers are the responsibility of environmental health officers. Therefore, the present study was conducted to explain the interaction between environmental health officers and providers of food preparation based on the game theory model.
This research is a descriptive-analytical study in which after the determination of effective factors on the interaction between officers and directors, the so-called 22 games were designed and for each game four behavioral strategies determined and strategies identified as a two-choice I agree, I disagree questionnaire provided to environmental health officers and directors of food preparation, centers to select their desired strategy.. In the quantitative phase, SPSS 22 was used to analyze the data collected by questionnaires in order to determine the percentage of response frequency to each question. Gambit software was used to analyze for determination Nash equilibrium of any Games.
In the present study, the factors affecting the interaction between environmental health officers and directors were categorized to 24 subcategories assigned to six categories, and in the quantitative phase, finally, 22 dominant behavior strategies were identified and the final benefit percentage of each actor was determined.
Investigating selected strategies by directors suggests that there is a good fit between the rules and health behaviors among the directors. The emphasis on health inspection based on education and counseling and lack of acceptance of the activities of health self-reported companies by the directors and officers are the most important outcomes of this study.

Today, disinfection of surfaces by using antimicrobial agents is critical for the prevention and control of pathogens and reduction of infection in hospital. The aim of this study was to investigate and compare the effects of two disinfectants against Staphylococcus aureus isolated from the NICU of Shahid Sadoughi Hospital of Yazd in 2017.
In this descriptive cross sectional study, bacterial culture of samples collected from different surfaces of the NICU and S. aureus isolates were identified using conventional biochemical tests. Peracetic acid and chlorine dioxide various concentrations were used as disinfectants. Their effects against Staphylococcus aureus were determined by Standard disc diffusion method. Data were analyzed by linear mixed models in SPSS version 23.
39.39% of samples were found to be S. aureus infected. The mean diameter of growth inhibition zone for peracetic acid 0.1% was significantly lower than that for peracetic acid 0.2%, and peracetic acid 0.1% was significantly higher than that for chlorine dioxide (P < 0.001). The comparison of growth inhibition zone diameters for peracetic acid 0.1% and chlorine dioxide disinfectants showed that the average diameter of the inhibition zone created by peracetic acid 0.1% was significantly higher than that created by chlorine dioxide. The most effective disinfectant on S. aureus strains isolated was peracetic acid 0.2% and the least effective disinfectant was chlorine dioxide.
In health care facilities with S. aureus infection, peracetic acid 0.2% can be used effectively to reduce nosocomial infection rate.