Evaluation of mercury contamination in soils of industrial estates of Arak city

Background and Aims: Mercury is generally considered one of the most toxic heavy metals that rapid industrial development and industry uses of mercury cause accumulation of mercury in soil. The purpose of this study was to investigate the concentration and degree of mercury pollution in topsoil of three major industrial estates of Arak city.Materials and Methods: In this study three estates was investigated. Soil samples were collected from thedepth of 0 to 20 cm . 22 samples were taken and analyzed. Mercury concentrations in soil samples were determined by Advanced Mercury Analyzer (Model; Leco, AMA 254).Results: The mercury concentrations in soil samples range from 68.43 to 137.03 μg/ kg for soils, with a mean value of 102.07 μg/ kg. Means comparison showed significant difference among industrial town 2 with other industrial towns .Also there was no significant correlation between soil pH and Hg concentration.Conclusion: The result of this research showed that: Compared to earth crust, surface soils in industrial towns had higher mercury concentrations, but compared to other soils around the world, it did not show high levels of mercury and it seems that most of the sources of mercury pollution are natural. Despite the concentration of total Hg in soils are not acute, however the planning for emission control of this metal and other pollutants, with application of green plants purification technology should be considered seriously.Key words: Mercury, Soil, Industrial estate, Arak cit

Environmental Impact of Water Use in Life Cycle of Milk Production

Water has a key role in dairy industry and life cycle assessment (LCA) is one of the tools for environmental assessment of products & processes. A cradle to gate assessment of market milk was performed by separating the system into three sub-systems: agronomy, animal farm and processing plant. Data were gathered from multiple sources e.g. published papers, questionnaire, national and international databases, and the processing plant. Throughout the study, ISO framework and IDF guideline on LCA were used. The functional unit for reporting results was one liter of pasteurized milk (2.5% fat) packaged in plastic pouch. Finally, to quantify and assess the environmental impacts from blue water consumption, parameters of a global water impacts assessment model were modified and used in this case study. In production of one FU, about 370 liters of water is needed mostly for feed production. Feed agriculture sub-system alone withdraws 97% of total. Throughout the market milk product chain, about 40 and 28% of total water withdrawal come from alfalfa and barley production mainly from irrigation. In production of one FU, modified model’s estimate for the impact on human health with the unit of disability-adjusted life years (DALY) was about 0.35*10-6, and its estimated value for the impact on ecosystem quality was 0.324 m2*y

Agricultural life cycle assessment (LCA) as a routine exercise in Iran: Opportunities and challenges

To direct sustainability in agricultural sector via Life Cycle Management (LCM), an easy access to high quality environmental, social and economical data is important. In this study, we explored the possibility of performing environmental life cycle assessment in Iranian dairy sector. Main life cycle stages were examined for availability and quality of needed data. At each stage, applicable databases are introduced. To spur life cycle studies, we need legislation to encourage all parties by incentives for more sustainable products. Next step may be to review & restructure already existed databases, articles and grey publications to extract suitable data for LCI stage. However, it is now possible to assess some impact categories in dairy industry

Energy assessment in product chain of pasteurized milk: agronomy, animal farm and processing plant

The objectives for this study were first to understand and estimate energy consumption in each stage of production and processing of milk using regional data and second, suggesting improvement opportunities. A cradle to gate assessment of market milk was performed by separating the system into three stages: agronomy, animal farm and processing plant. Data were collected from multiple sources e.g. questionnaire, published papers, national and international databases, and the processing plant database. Throughout the study, ISO framework and International Dairy Federation guideline on life cycle assessment were used. The functional unit (FU) was one liter of pasteurized milk packaged in plastic pouch at the processing plant gate. The average energy demand for producing 1 kg of fat-protein corrected milk at farm-gate was 10.8 MJ, although for the final packaged milk, it was 12.5MJ. Main stages in overall energy use of FU were agronomy 68 %, animal farm 19 % and processing plant 13%. The average energy use for raw milk production was 2-5 times higher than previous European reports. To enhance efficiency in this sector, we need to assess other regions’ potentials for feed and milk production and then to focus on agronomy stage for lower energy use by optimization of irrigation, or even importing energy intensive feed such as barley and alfalfa from other countries

Energy assessment in product chain of pasteurized milk: agronomy, animal farm and processing plant

The objectives for this study were first to understand and estimate energy consumption in each stage of production and processing of milk using regional data and second, suggesting improvement opportunities. A cradle to gate assessment of market milk was performed by separating the system into three stages: agronomy, animal farm and processing plant. Data were collected from multiple sources e.g. questionnaire, published papers, national and international databases, and the processing plant database. Throughout the study, ISO framework and International Dairy Federation guideline on life cycle assessment were used. The functional unit (FU) was one liter of pasteurized milk packaged in plastic pouch at the processing plant gate. The average energy demand for producing 1 kg of fat-protein corrected milk at farm-gate was 10.8 MJ, although for the final packaged milk, it was 12.5MJ. Main stages in overall energy use of FU were agronomy 68 %, animal farm 19 % and processing plant 13%. The average energy use for raw milk production was 2-5 times higher than previous European reports. To enhance efficiency in this sector, we need to assess other regions’ potentials for feed and milk production and then to focus on agronomy stage for lower energy use by optimization of irrigation, or even importing energy intensive feed such as barley and alfalfa from other countries

Greenhouse gas emissions of packaged fluid milk production in Tehran

The main purpose of this study was first to estimate the carbon footprint (CF) of packaged fluid milk through life cycle assessment (LCA), using regional data in Tehran, and then to identify opportunities for lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The system boundary for cradle to gate assessment was divided into three life cycle stages: agronomy, animal farm and dairy plant, and data were gathered from multiple sources, e.g. questionnaire, published studies and dairy plant database in 2011–2012. Through the study, the IPCC 2006 methodology and the International Dairy Federation (IDF) Carbon Footprint Guide were used to calculate the CF of milk. The functional unit (FU) was one litre of pasteurized milk packaged in a plastic pouch. The average CF for 1 kg of fat-protein corrected milk (FPCM) at the farm gate was 1.57 kg CO2-eq, however, for the FU, it was 1.73 kg CO2-eq. The main contributors to overall CF of milk product were enteric methane 30%, electricity 14%, diesel 8.9%, manure emissions 8.8% and transportations 8.6%. The average CF of FPCM at farm gate was higher than the previous European reports, but lower than the previous estimate of 3–5 kg CO2-eq/kg milk. Developing the infrastructure to utilize renewable energy sources, such as solar energy, may be a solution for high share of energy-related emissions from the dairy sector. We call for more research on CF and other environmental impacts like eutrophication, and impacts from water consumption in different regions of the country both in traditional and industrial dairy farm systems

Assessing Diazinon Pollution in the Three Major Rivers Flowing into the Caspian Sea (Iran)

The aim of this study was to investigate the seasonal and spatial variations in the concentrations of a widely used organophosphorous pesticide (OPP), diazinon, and the associated risk posed by this OPP in the surface water from the three largest rivers located in the northern province of Iran: the Haraz, the Talar and the Babolrood rivers. These rivers are located in the agriculture province of Mazandaran, and are exposed to high doses of organophosphorus pesticides, especially diazinon. The concentration of diazinon was determined using gas chromatography, while the potential risk posed by diazinon was elucidated using a Risk Quotient (RQ) calculated for general (RQm) and worst-case (RQex) scenarios. The obtained results demonstrated that the average diazinon concentrations ranged from 41 ± 76 ng/L in the Talar River and 57 ± 116 ng/L in the Haraz River, to 76.5 ± 145 ng/L in the Babolrood River, with a significant difference noted between summer and autumn seasons for all three rivers. For some stations, the concentration of diazinon is higher than the standard guidelines of Australian/New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality (FMWQ) and the United States Criteria Maximum Concentration (CMC). The calculated RQs indicated a medium risk of diazinon, RQm = 0.73 and RQex = 2.27, in the Talar River; RQm = 1.02 and RQex = 2.49 in the Haraz River; and RQm = 1.35 and RQex = 4.54 in the Babolrood River. The overall exposure of diazinon was defined to have a high risk (RQm and RQex > 1); however, the summer sampling revealed a high risk (RQm and RQex > 1), while the autumn had a medium risk (RQm and RQex < 1). The obtained results revealed not only elevated concentrations of diazinon in the studied rivers but most importantly the high risk posed by this OPP for the aquatic organisms and the wellbeing of the whole river ecosystem. The current study showed that development and implementation of appropriate standards and regulations toward diazinon in countries such as Iran are required to reduce the pollution levels and risks related to elevated concentrations of the studied pesticide

Fish consumption limit for mercury compounds

Background and objectives: Methyl mercury can carry out harmful effects on the reproductive, respiratory, and nervous system of human. Moreover, mercury is known as the most toxic heavy metal in nature. Fish and seafood consumption is the major MeHg exposure route for human. The present study tries to cover researches which have been conducted on mercury levels in 21 species of fish from Persian Gulf, Caspian Sea and Anzali Wetland during the past 6 years, and in addition to stating mercury level, it provides recommendations about the restriction of monthly fish consumption for each species separately. Material and methods: Fish samples were transferred to the laboratory and stored in refrigerator under -20oC until they were dissected. Afterwards, the muscle tissues were separated and dried. The dried samples were ground and changed into a homogenous powder and then the mercury concentration rate has been determined by advanced mercury analyzer, model 254. Results: In general, mercury contamination in fishes caught from Anzali Wetland was much more than fishes from Caspian Sea. Also, from among all studied fishes, oriental sole (Euryglossa orientalis), caught from Persian Gulf, allocated the most mercury level to itself with the rate of 5.61ml per kg., therefore, it exercises a severe consumption restriction for pregnant women and vulnerable groups. Conclusion: Based on the calculations, about 50% of fishes, mostly with short food chain, can be easily consumed during the year. However, with regard to Oriental sole (Euryglossa orientalis) and shark (Carcharhinus dussumieri), caught from Persian Gulf, special consideration should be taken in their consumption. On the other hand, careful planning should be made for the high rate of fish consumption among fishing community

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