Iranian Journal of health, Safety and environment
Volume:7 Issue: 2, Spring 2020

In the present study, the concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 were measured within and around the city of Arak from March 2016 through March 2017. The measurements were done every 12 days by means of TSI DustTrak sampler containing specific heads for PM10 and PM2.5. The sampling points included eight stations within the city as well as two stations around the city. The average (±SD) values of 108.56 ±55.56 and 42.58 ±15.88µg/m3 were obtained for daily concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5, respectively. PM10 showed the maximum concentrations during summer (144.47µg/m3 ) followed by spring (109.44 µg/m3 ), autumn (100.92µg/m3 ), and winter (77.12µg/m3 ). On the other hand, the highest values of PM2.5 was observed during winter (44.13 µg/m3 ) followed by autumn (42.74µg/m3 ), summer (37.58µg/m3 ) and spring (33.77 µg/m3 ). The correlation between PM10 and PM2.5 was highest in winter (R2=0.9288) followed by spring (R2=0.6728), summer (R2=0.6713), and autumn (R2=0.5592). It was concluded that more than 57 and 19% of the PM2.5 and PM10 samples exceeded the Iranian national ambient air quality standards, respectively.

Accumulation of metals and dust may lead to pneumoconiosis in long-term workers in the ceramic industry. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of pneumoconiosis and the affecting individual, occupational, medical, and socioeconomic factors in ceramic industry workers admitted to the clinic of the occupational disease of a university hospital. This cross-sectional study evaluated the medical records of 216 ceramic workers admitted to the Occupational Diseases clinic of a university hospital in Turkey, between May 2016 and June 2018. The sociodemographic characteristics, detailed occupational history, physical examination findings, respiratory function test results, and radiological results (chest x-ray and/or High-Resolution Computed Tomography-HRCT) of the workers were documented. Chest x-rays were evaluated by two occupational disease specialists with ILO pneumoconiosis certification. According to gender, 213 patients were male and 3 female. Pneumoconiosis was detected in 34 (11.1%) of the patients, all were male. There was a statistically significant correlation between total time of dust exposure and pneumoconiosis diagnosis (p=0.002). In total, 80.6% of patients were asymptomatic at presentation to the clinic. According to the evaluation of the standard chest radiography of the cases, most of the opacities were characterized as p (120, 55.6%) or q (13, 6.0%) and observed in mid and upper zones; 10 patients showed s opacity (4.6%) and 1 patient showed r opacity (0.5%). Spirometry results of the cases who were categorized according to the results of ILO radiological assessment were compared and no statistically significant difference was found between the groups (p>0.05). When the HRCT results of 196 workers were evaluated, 142 cases (65.7%) were shown reticular opacity, 87 (40.3%) nodule, and 2 cases (0.9%) large opacity. These results emphasize the importance of conducting follow-up studies in workers exposed to respirable particles in the ceramic industry and reforming health policies related to pneumoconiosis.

Due to the importance of vitamin B6 (VB6) drug for human health, especially in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, it is useful to develop new, simple, cheap and rapid methods for the determination of this compound. A high linear range and a sensitive potentiometric sensor for VB6 based on carbon paste electrode (CPE) modified with synthesized silver nanoparticles by co-precipitation method were prepared. The sensor fully characterized in terms of distinctive nanoparticles quality, electrode composition, and usable pH range. Under optimal conditions, a linear calibration curve with range 1×10-6 to 1×10-2mol L−1 and a detection limit of 4.84×10-7molL −1 was obtained for VB6 determinations. The research introduces the design and construction of the nanocomposite modified CPE for simple and low-cost determination of VB6 in pharmaceutical formulation. Validation of the method indicates the suitability of the sensor for application in quantity control analysis of VB6 drug in pharmaceutical formulation preparations.

A vast variety of pesticides are used for agricultural pests in Iran. The release of these persistent organic pollutants into water supplies leaves adverse effects on both the environment and public health. This study aimed to compare the photo-degradation of atrazine in the aquatic environment using UV and UV/Fe (III)-TiO2 processes. The effects of parameters including pH, the initial concentration of atrazine, and reaction time on the removal of atrazine in the aqueous phase using ultraviolet radiation (1020 μW/cm2 ) and UV/Fe (III)-TiO2 were investigated. Residual concentrations were determined using HPLC. Finally, the data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 16) and the graph was made by MATLAB software. The results demonstrated that the atrazine removal rate in both processes was significantly increased in acidic and alkaline conditions. By increasing initial atrazine concentrations, the removal rate was increased in both processes as well. Data showed that at the lower initial concentration of atrazine (0.1 and 1mg/l) the removal rate in UV/ Fe (III) - TiO2 process was more than the UV process. However, at higher concentration, both processes were almost the same and the maximum removal efficiency (99.2% at UV and 99.11% at UV /Fe (III) - TiO2) occurred at pH=11, initial Atrazine concentration of 10mg/L and the reaction time 30 min In conclusion, UV and Fe+3 -TiO2/UV process was an appropriate method to reduce atrazine in contaminated water resources.

Careful assessment of lifestyle status among students is a necessity for identifying lifestyle problems and, it is an essential prerequisite for more efficient planning and implementing health promotion interventions among them. This study performed to estimate the current status of a health-promoting lifestyle among students of Iran University of Medical Sciences. This cross-sectional study was performed on 250 students of Iran University of Medical Sciences. By performing a proportional stratified random sampling method according to the number of students in each academic discipline, samples were chosen. The data gathering tool was a two-part questionnaire. The first part was related to demographic and socioeconomic information. The second part consisted of the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP-II) questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 23 through descriptive and inferential statistics. The results were statistically observed as significant at p < 0.05. The mean score of health-promoting lifestyle was 124.36 ± 18.41. The highest mean score was for the nutrition dimension (23.67±4.91) and the lowest was for the physical activity dimension (15.08±5.16). This research showed that a statistical proper correlation was found between marital status and spiritual growth. Also, there was a relationship between academic discipline and health responsibility. Additionally, another statistical significant relationship between financial status and health-promoting lifestyle, health responsibility, spiritual growth, and stress management was observed. Since the status of a healthpromoting lifestyle is not satisfactory, a wide range of planning and implementing health interventions are needed to improve the health-promoting lifestyle among the students.

This study examines the issue of food security and the trend analysis of agricultural productivity in Kwara State, Nigeria. Agricultural data on maize, sorghum, rice, millet, yam and cassava were collected from Kwara State Agricultural Development Project (KWADP), Ilorin for a period of twenty-two years (1992-2013). Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variation were used in data analysis. A standardized Anomaly Index was used to analyze fluctuation in crop yields. The semi-average method was used in the trend analysis of crop yield. The result of the descriptive statistics shows that the production of sorghum was heterogeneous. The Standardized Anomaly Index (SAI) revealed that the crop yields fluctuated around the long-term mean. Annual sorghum and rice yields vary positively from 1999 to 2002 while maize and yam vary negatively from 1995 to 2002 and 1997 to 2000 respectively. About 59.1% of the cassava yields fall below the long-term means. The result of the semi-average method shows that all the identified crops exhibit an upward trend. This implies that the production of these crops will keep on increasing and thereby ensuring food security in the country. The study, therefore, suggests that both the State government and private organizations should encourage modern agricultural techniques like the application of fertilizer and pesticides to sustain the increasing pattern of crop productivity in the State.

Chronic kidney failure is a progressive and irreversible degeneration of renal function that affects the quality of life of patients. Social support as a coping mechanism can help promote health and improve the quality of life of a person. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of educational intervention based on social support theory on the improvement of hemodialysis patients’ QOL. This is a controlled quasi-experimental conducted in 2015 in Sari and with the participation of 100 hemodialysis patients that were randomly assigned to 2 groups. Prior to education, the patients were evaluated with demographic form, quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF) and social support (MOS-SSS) questionnaires. Then, an educational program was developed based on social support theory and implemented for the intervention group. The two groups were reevaluated with the same questionnaires after 1 and 3 months and the data were analyzed in SPSS. In the intervention group compared to the control group, the mean scores of quality of life and social support increased significantly after the intervention (p<0.001). There was a significant relationship between quality of life with education and income, and likewise between social support and income (p<0.05). There was no significant relationship between social support with education, age, gender, marital status, and duration of dialysis, or between QOL with age, gender, marital status, and duration of dialysis. Educational intervention based on social support theory is effective in the improvement of hemodialysis patients’ quality of life. Accordingly, patients’ nursing care and education in terms of social support and its dimensions should be high on the agenda.