Graphical abstract

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.

No abstract

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.