This study aimed to investigate the presence/absence of SARS-CoV-2 genome in the air and high-touch surfaces. This cross-sectional study was conducted from late-2020 to mid-2021 in the sections of Intensive Care Unit (ICU), emergency, infectious disease ward, and nursing station of the COVID-19 patient reception center in Kerman, Iran. The presence/absence of SARS-CoV-2 genome in the 60 samples of high-touch surfaces and 23 air samples was analyzed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Fisher’s exact test was used to compare the number of positive samples in different sampling sites. The genome of SARS-CoV-2 was found in the eight samples (13.32%) taken from the high-touch surfaces (two samples in COVID-19 ICU, two samples in general ICU, two samples in emergency ward, and two samples in nursing station) and two air samples (8.70%) (one sample in the general ICU and one sample in the emergency ward). Statistical analysis showed that there was no significant difference between the type of sampling site and the positive cases of SARS-CoV-2 in the surface samples (
p
value = 0.80) and air samples (
p
value = 0.22). According to the results, the SARS-CoV-2 can find in the high-touch surfaces and indoor air of the COVID-19 patient reception centers. Therefore, suitable safety and health measures should be taken, including regular and accurate disinfection of surfaces and equipment and proper ventilation to protect healthcare workers and prevent disease transmission. More studies are recommended to investigate the SARS-CoV-2 concentration in the high-touch surfaces and air samples in the similar researches, efficacy of different disinfectants used on the high-touch surfaces and compare the effect of type of ventilation (natural or mechanical) on the viral load.
Introduction: Heavy metals (HMs) accumulated in the road dust may be transferred to the surrounding land and water bodies and pose ecological risks. Hence, such pollution should be considered, especially in coastal roads. This study focuses on the HMs pollution of dust settled on the surface of coastal roads along the Persian Gulf in Bandar Abbas city.
Materials and Methods: In this study, road dust samples were collected from 13 points in coastal roads and analyzed by ICP-OES for the measurement of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, and Pb. Based on the HMs contents of dust, pollution, and ecological risk indices, including contamination factor (CF), modified pollution index (MPI), and modified ecological risk index (MRI) were calculated.
Results: Among the studied HMs, Cu (4.73) showed the highest CF value. The levels of MPI showed that the road dust was strongly polluted by HMs (4.02), but it was mainly contributed by a low toxic metal (Cu). Therefore, the mean value of MRI was 132.3, indicating the low ecological risk of such pollution. Note that the MRI value was > 150 in some sampling points, indicating moderate ecological risk.
Conclusion: This study showed that the road dust along the Persian Gulf coastline is polluted to different levels of the studied HMs and may pose various levels of ecological risks. The current level of HMs pollution in the study area was not significantly high. However, high pollution levels in the west roads should not be overlooked.
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