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a b s t r a c tOne of the serious challenges in ensuring and promoting community health is gradual increase in contamination levels of drinking water of communities across the world. The purposes of this study were (1) to evaluate the chemical quality of groundwater in the Bandar-e Gaz city and (2) to determine spatial distribution of groundwater quality parameters (total hardness (TH), chloride, nitrate and fluoride concentrations, and (3) mapping the quality of groundwater using Geographical Information System (GIS) software. In this study 20 groundwater samples were collected from 5 wells in two successive 2010-2011, in the rainy and dry seasons. Sample preparation and analysis, according to standard methods were done. Based on the findings of this study, it can be expressed that the average concentration chloride and nitrate parameters in Bandar-e Gaz drinking water is within the 1053 standard limit in Iran, except fluoride content is lower than the standard and hardness was high in majority of water sample groundwater. According to the zoning maps of groundwater, in the dry season's nitrate and hardness concentration is greater than rainy seasonal. The data showed falling and rising trend in CL concentrations, respectively. This study indicated that all parameter within the standard except fluoride then, its necessity to addition fluoride in that's regions population food chain and drinking water. Management of the utilization and protection greed underground waters should be as a basic principle in the planning Bandar-e Gaz city.

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BackgroundImproper treatment of infectious waste can cause numerous adverse environmental and health effects such as transmission of diseases through health personnel and other susceptible groups,who come in contact with such wastes. On the other hand, selection of appropriate treatment alternatives in infectious waste management has become a challenging task for public health authorities especially in developing countries. The objective of this paper is to select the best infectious waste treatment alternative by the modified Sustainability Assessment of Technologies (SAT) methodology, developed by the International Environmental Technology Center of the United Nations Environment Program (IETC-UNEP).MethodsSAT methodology consists of three main components, including screening, scoping and detailed assessment. In screening, different infectious waste treatment alternatives undergo screening using the finalized environmental and technical criteria. Short-listed treatment options from the previous step, then go through the comprehensive scoping and detailed assessment (2nd and 3rd components) which is more qualitative and quantitative in nature. An empirical case in Tehran, the largest city in Iran, is provided to illustrate the potential of the proposed methodology.ResultsAccording to the final score, “Hydroclave”, was the most suitable infectious treatment technology. The ranking order of the treatment alternatives were “Autoclave with a shredder”, “Autoclave”, “Central Incineration” and “chemical treatment” on the basis of technical, economical, social and environmental aspects and their related criteria.ConclusionsAccording to the results it could be concluded that the top ranking technologies basically have higher scores in all the aspects. Hence it is easier to arrive at a decision for the final technology selection based on the principles of sustainability.

Although ambient air pollution has been linked to reduced lung function in healthy students, longitudinal studies that compare the response of asthmatic and healthy adolescents are lacking. To evaluate lung function responses to short-term ambient air particulate matter (PM, PM, and PM) levels, we conducted a study on high school students aged 15-18 years. The aim of this study was to assess effects of acute exposure to ambient air particulate matter (PM) on lung function in healthy and asthmatic late adolescents. We examined associations of lung function indices and ambient PM levels in 23 asthmatic and 23 healthy students. Paired-samples T test was used to evaluate the association of exposure to airborne PM concentrations with lung function test results (FVC, FEV, FEV/FVC, and FEF). We observed negative impact of exposure to an increased concentration of ambient air PM, PM, and PM on lung function parameters of asthmatic and healthy late adolescents. These findings are consistent with other similar short-term studies which have confirmed the adverse effect of PM air pollution. These associations were stronger in asthmatic subjects compared with those in healthy ones. There are significant adverse effects of ambient air PM on pulmonary function of adolescents, especially asthmatics.

In this research, an investigation of carbon monoxide in heavy traffic intersections of Kerman municipal districts in 2003-2004 has been performed. Kerman City is located at the south-eastern part of Iran. Carbon monoxide in highly toxic for human health and natural ecosystems in metropolition districts especially due to high traffic and industrial activities. For this reason, it was decided to investigate and find out the high concentration of CO pollutants in heavy traffic intersections of Kerman City. In this regards 21 heavy traffic squares and intersections were selected and the concentration of CO were measured. In the middle of each month during the year, sampling and measurement were scheduled three times at daily times according 7-12 a.m.; 12-16 and 16-20 p.m. In each period, 12 samples of 5 minutes were collected and CO concentration for 1-hr was calculated. The results obtained indicate that the hourly mean concentrations were lower than WHO guidelines and also lower than measurements of 1989, which has already done. In spite of more cases and higher populations, natural gas distribution was the cause of decline in CO concentrations.

Purpose A bioelectricity producing system was configured by connecting to a microbial electrolysis cell producing hydrogen, in which both systems were without mediator, to treatment the landfill leachate of the and generate bioelectricity and hydrogen. Methods The anode electrode was made with MWCNTs polyscale coating on graphite felt and the cathode electrode with activated carbon coating on carbon cloth. In the MFC-MEC coupled system, the electrodes were connected in series using copper wire. The system was set up in a fed-batch mode and the landfill synthetic leachate was injected into the anode MFC-MEC chamber as fuel. ResultsIn MFC, the highest voltage, current density and power density were 1114 mV, 44.2A/m 3 and 49.24 W/m 3 , respectively. The maximum of the coulombic efficiency system was 94.10%. The highest removed COD, NH 4 -N and P was 97.38%, 79.56% and 74.61%, respectively. In the MEC, the maximum of voltage input, current density and power density was 1106 mV, 43.88 A/m 3 and 48.54 W/m 3 , respectively. The maximum coulombic efficiency system was 125.54%. Also the highest removed COD, NH 4 -N and P was 97.46%, 78.81% and 76.25%, respectively. The highest biogas production rate and its yield were 39 mL/L.d, and 0.0118 L/g CODrem, respectively. Conclusion This study found that the MFC-MEC coupled system had promising potential for strong wastewaters treatment, such as the leachate of landfill; and the in-site use of generated electricity and the production of useful fuels such as biogas.

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