Toxicity and LC50 determination of phenol and 1-Naphtol in Caspian Kutum and bream fingerlings

In this investigation acute toxicity of phenol and 1-naphthol were determined based on OECD guideline in the laboratory. Experimental fishes were Caspian kutum (Rutilus frisii kutum) and bream (Abramis brama orientalis). Static bioassays were used for acute toxicity tests during the period of 96 hours and all of important physicochemical parameters of water including pH, dissolved oxygen, hardness, temperature and conductivity were monitored continuously and maintained at a constant value. Five treatments were used and three replicates run for each treatment. The 96h LCSO values of phenol and 1-naphthol for Caspian kutum and bream were 21.5928 and 2.1544 mg/lit and 25.1880 and 2.8490 mg/lit, respectively. The Maximum Allowable Concentration (MAC) of phenol in Caspian kutum and bream were 2.1593 and 2.5188 mg/lit, respectively. The MAC value of 1-naphthol in Caspian kutum and bream were 0.2154 and 0.2849 mg/lit, respectively. It is evident from the results of the present study that Caspian kutum is more sensitive comparing to bream and the toxicity of I-naphthol is higher than phenol

Wet deposition of hydrocarbons in the city of Tehran-Iran

Air pollution in the city of Tehran has been a major problem for the past three decades. The direct effects of hydrocarbon contaminants in the air are particularly important such as their carcinogenic, mutagenic, and teratogenic effects which can be transported to other environments via dry and wet deposition. In the present study, rainwater samples were collected and analyzed for 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and xylene (BTEX) as well as fuel fingerprints in two ranges of gasoline (C5–C11) and diesel fuel (C12–C20) using a gas chromatograph equipped with a flame ionization detector (GC/FID). Mean concentrations of ∑16 PAHs varied between 372 and 527 µg/L and for BTEX was between 87 and 188 µg/L with maximum of 36 µg/L for toluene. Both gasoline range hydrocarbons (GRH) and diesel range hydrocarbons (DRH) were also present in the collected rainwater at concentrations of 190 and 950 µg/L, respectively. Hydrocarbon transports from air to soil were determined in this wet deposition. Average hydrocarbon transportation for ∑PAHs, BTEX, GRH, and DRH was 2,747, 627, 1,152, and 5,733 µg/m2, respectively

Using ecological niche modeling to determine avian richness hotspots

Understanding distributions of wildlife species is a key step towards identifying biodiversity hotspots and designing effective conservation strategies. In this paper, the spatial pattern of diversity of birds in Golestan Province, Iran was estimated. Ecological niche modeling was used to determine distributions of 144 bird species across the province using a maximum entropy algorithm. Richness maps across all birds, and separately for rare and threatened species, were prepared as approximations to hotspots. Results showed close similarity between hotspots for all birds and those for rare birds; hotspots were concentrated in the southern and especially the southwestern parts of the province. Hotspots for threatened birds tended more to the central and especially the western parts of the province, which include coastal habitats. Based on three criteria, it is clear that the western part is the most important area of the province in terms of bird Faunas. Despite some shortcomings, hotspot analysis for birds could be applied to guide conservation efforts and provide useful tool towards efficient conservation action

A zinc oxide-coated nanoporous carbon adsorbent for lead removal from water: Optimization, equilibrium modeling, and kinetics studies

A zinc oxide-coated nanoporous carbon sorbent was prepared by acid modification and ZnO functionalization of mesoporous carbon. The synthesized materials, such as mesoporous carbon, oxidized mesoporous carbon and zinc oxide-coated nanoporous carbon, were characterized by nitrogen adsorption-desorption analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectra, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. ZnO on oxidized mesoporous carbon gradually increased with increase in the number of cycles. Furthermore, the effects of agitation time, initial metal ions concentration, adsorbent dose, temperature and pH on the efficiency of Pb(II) ion removal were investigated as the controllable factors by Taguchi method. The value of correlation coefficients showed that the equilibrium data fitted well to the Langmuir isotherm. Among the adsorbents, zinc oxide-coated nanoporous carbon showed the largest adsorption capacity of 522.8 mg/g (2.52 mmol/g) which was almost close to that of the zinc oxide-coated (2.38 mmol/g), indicating the monolayer spreading of ZnO onto the oxidized mesoporous carbon. The results of the present study suggest that ZnO-coated nanoporous carbon can be effectively used for Pb(II) adsorption from aqueous solution, whereas a part of acidic functional groups may be contributed to binding the Pb(II) for the oxidized mesoporous carbon and mesoporous carbon. Kinetic studies indicated that the overall adsorption process of Pb(II) followed the pseudo-second-order model. The ZnO-coated nanoporous carbon was regenerated and found to be suitable of reuse of the adsorbent for successive adsorption-desorption cycles without considerable loss of adsorption capacity

Spatial Pattern Determination of Biodiversity Threats at Landscape Level (Case Study: Golestan Province)

Mapping spatial patterns of potential biodiversity threats is one of the important steps for effective conservation planning and activities. To determine the spatial patterns of threats in Golestan province, 12 criteria in four main groups including structural (fractal coefficient of perimeter, circularity ratio of area, average slope), compositional aspects of biodiversity (presence of species at risk), non-biological threats (distance to city, distance to village, distance to road, distance to infrastructure, distance to agricultural land, soil pollution, risk of fire) and isolation (Nearest Neighbor Index) were used. These data layers were digitized in GIS environment and were weighted through Analytical Hierarchy Process. A weighted linear combination was then used to map the spatial pattern of biodiversity threats in the province. Compositional aspect (0.59), non-biological threats (0.23), isolation (0.11), and structural aspect (0.07) were relatively weighted in the order of importance. Central parts of the province and patches in the northern and southern parts were recognized to be more exposed to biodiversity threats. The central parts of the province were mostly threatened by urban, industrial, road and agricultural development, whereas the northern and southern parts were recognized as areas of conservation importance having a variety of threatened birds

Remotely Sensed Empirical Modeling of Bathymetry in the Southeastern Caspian Sea

Abstract: Remotely sensed imagery is proving to be a useful tool in estimating water depths in coastal zones. On the other hand, many coastal zone studies in the southern part of the Caspian Sea are only concerned with areas of shallow water and would benefit from easily updated bathymetric estimates. In this study, we tested three different methods for extracting bathymetry information from Landsat 5 data in the southeastern Caspian Sea, Iran. The first method used was a single band algorithm (SBA), utilizing either blue or red bands. The second method was principal components analysis (PCA), and the third method was the multi-layer perceptron (back propagation) neural network between visible bands and one output neuron (bathymetry). This latter MLP-ANNs method produced the best depth estimates (r = 0.94). The single band algorithm utilizing a red band also produced reasonably accurate results (r = 0.66), while the blue band algorithm and PCA did not perform (correlation between the estimated and measured depths 0.49 and 0.21, respectively). Furthermore, the shallow waters have negative influences on the accuracy of bathymetric modeling, thus the correction of data in these shallow waters is challenged b

Levels and variability of metals in soils of the province of Golestan (Iran)

Studying the concentration distribution of metals is necessary for soil pollution monitoring and maintaining environmental quality. To date, very little large-scale research has been performed to investigate metal contamination in developing countries. In this study, the content and spatial distributions of five metals (cadmium [Cd], copper [Cu], nickel [Ni], lead [Pb], and zinc [Zn]) were quantified based on 346 topsoil samples from 12 districts in the province of Golestan (northeast [NE] Iran). The concentration levels (mg/kg) of Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni and Zn varied from 0.02 to 0.36, 9.3 to 93.7, 6.8 to 44, 9.5 to 85.35, and 25 to 417.4, respectively. The average concentrations (mg/kg) obtained were as follows Cd 0.12 ± 0.07, Cu 23.9 ± 9.07, Ni 34.88 ± 11.59, Pb 15.42 ± 5.81 and Zn 82.08 ± 30.87. Significant differences in the distribution of trace elements among districts were detected. The AzadShahr and BandarGaz districts displayed the highest metal concentrations. Greater metal values were obtained in the central, south, west, and NE areas, although Zn concentration was also high to the north of the province. Values of contamination factor and contamination degree indicated that the metal pollution level was on the order of Zn > Cd > Pb > Cu > Ni and that all of the metals belonged to a low or moderate pollution category. Ni and Cu levels derived from natural sources, whereas Cd, Pb, and Zn derived from anthropogenic activities with greater mean concentrations than reference concentrations. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

Mercury concentration in the milk of mothers living near the southern coast of the Caspian Sea during different stages of lactation period

The aim of this study was to determine mercury levels and changes during lactation in colostrum, transitional milk, and mature milk (1 month and 2 months post partum). The mercury mean concentration in milk samples collected from 18 women was 90 ?? 20 and 100 ?? 30 ng L-1 for colostrum and transitional milk, respectively. Also, mean concentration of 160 ?? 70 and 140 ?? 50 ng L-1 for mature milk 1 month and up to 2 months post partum were found. The concentration of mercury did not decline during the lactation period. Mercury daily intake was estimated when the infants were fed human milk only. The intakes ranged from 0.0 to 80 and from 0.0 to 70 ng kg-1 body weight day-1 for colostrum and transitional milk, respectively. For mature milk at the first month and up to 2 months the intakes were estimated from 1 to 200 and from 0.0 to 270 ng kg-1 body weight day-1. Significant difference was found between mothers without amalgam-filled teeth and mothers with one to five amalgam-filled teeth. Fruit and vegetable consumption showed negative correlation with the mercury concentration in human milk.close0