The heavy metal (Pb, Cd, Cr, and Ni) content of a fish species consumed by the Sistan population and its associated health risk factors were investigated. The mean concentrations of Pb, Cd, and Cr were slightly higher than the standard levels. The Ni content of fish was below the maximum guideline proposed by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). The average estimated weekly intake was significantly below the provisional tolerable intake based on the FAO and WHO standards for all studied metals. The target hazard quotients (THQ) of all metals were below 1, showing an absence of health hazard for the population of Sistan. The combined target hazard quotient for the considered metals was 26.94 × 10. The cancer risk factor for Pb (1.57 × 10) was below the acceptable lifetime carcinogenic risk (10). The results of this study reveal an almost safe level of Pb, Cd, Cr, and Ni contents in the fish consumed by the Sistan population. Graphical abstract ᅟ.
Herein, activated carbon impregnated iron oxide nanoparticles (FeO/AC) were synthesized to determine their potentials for the adsorption of nonylphenol (NP) in aqueous solution with different experimental variables, namely the pH of the solution, contact time, adsorbent dosage and the initial NP concentration. Additionally, an artificial neural network system was used to find the relative importance of each of the aforementioned input variables on NP adsorption efficiency. Experimental findings indicated that the optimum solution pH for NP adsorption was 3.0. The equilibrium time of the adsorption process was 30 min. According to the results of isotherm and kinetic studies, among all applied models, the Liu and pseudo-first-order models showed the best fit with the experimental data. The pH of the solution, compared to other input variables, had the maximum impacts on NP adsorption efficiency. Under optimum conditions, the adsorption percentage decreased insignificantly from 99.6 to 92.6% after the fifth cycle. Also, the adsorption efficiencies of 70.7, 73.5 and 67.3% were observed for river water, tap water and wastewater effluent, respectively. Ultimately, from the findings of this study, it can be postulated that FeO/AC nanoparticles can be recommended as a promising and novel adsorbent to remove NP from polluted groundwater.
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