Human health risk assessment due to ambient PM10 and SO2 by an air quality modeling technique

Exposure to air pollutants may be an important environmental risk factor for human health. The main objective of this study was to assess the health impacts of exposure to particulate matter of aerodynamic diameter <= 10 mu g (PM10) and to sulfur dioxide (SO2) using the AirQ2.2.3 software developed by the WHO European Center for Environment and Health. Daily concentrations of PM10 and SO2 were used to assess the health effects. With regard to the mortality, the results showed that 3.9 (95 CI: 3.3-4.5) of total, 4.2 (95 CI: 2.7-9.05) of cardiovascular, and 6.2 (95 CI: 4.2-16.9) of respiratory mortality were related to PM10 concentrations above 10 mu g/m(3), respectively. In addition, 1.7 (95 CI: 1.3-2.06) of total, 3.4 (95 CI: 0.78-5.0) of cardiovascular, and 2 (95 CI: 2.5-5.7) of respiratory death were attributed to SO2 levels higher than 10 mu g/m(3), respectively. Given these findings, urgent policy decisions are needed to reduce the death caused by air pollution, and better quantification studies are recommended. (C) 2017 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Low-cost sorbent for the removal of aniline and methyl orange from liquid-phase: Aloe Vera leaves wastes

In this study, Aloe Vera leaves wastes-based sulfuric acid modified activated carbon (AV-SAC) was applied for the sorption of aniline as a health-toxic substance and methyl orange (MO) as a anionic dye from aqueous phase. The batch sorption system was used to assess the effect of different parameters including contact time, pH, adsorbent dosage, and adsorbate contents on the adsorption. The equilibrium was obtained at contact time of 60 min for both the adsorbates. The pH of 3 had a significant influence on the uptake capacities of aniline and MO from aqueous media. Fitting the experimental data to different kinetics and isotherms models indicated that the experimental data were well fitted by the pseudo second-order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm models, respectively. The maximum monolayer adsorption capacities were acquired 185.18 and 196.07 mg/g for aniline and MO, respectively. Due to its low-cost and high uptake capacity, AV-SAC can be considered as one of the effective sorbents for wastewater treatment contains of aniline and MO. (C) 2016 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Air Quality and Health Risks Associated With Exposure to Particulate Matter: A Cross-Sectional Study in Khorramabad, Iran

Background: Among ambient air pollutants, particulate matter (PM) has the most undesired adverse effects on human health. Many studies have reported that there is a strong correlation between PM concentrations and hospital admissions due to chronic or acute respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Objectives: The aims of this study were to evaluate the relationship between air quality and health endpoints of PM10 in Khorramabad, Iran. Materials and Methods: The PM10 sampling was carried out with a high-volume sampler at a flow rate of 1.1-1.4 m(3)/min from January through December 2014. Meteorological data was also collected and evaluated. The total mortality and morbidity rates were calculated using the AirQ2.2.3 software model. Results: The highest concentrations of PM10 were obtained in July, with the mean concentration of 136.48 mu g/m(3). Eastern and southeastern winds are the prevailing and semi-prevailing winds in Khorramabad. The worst air quality was also observed in July. The total mortality rate during the study was estimated to be 320 persons. Conclusions: In order to diminish the health impacts of particulate matter in Khorramabad, health training for the public, especially for persons with chronic lung and heart diseases, the elderly, and children, should be conducted by health systems to encourage them to reduce their activities during dusty days

Removal of aniline as a health-toxic substance from polluted water by aloe vera waste-based activated carbon

Aniline is a toxic chemical compound and one of the common pollutants found in the effluents from the pharmaceutical, pesticide, dyestuff, petrochemicals and agrochemical industries. The aim of this study was to investigate the sorption of aniline using Aloe Vera wastes-based activated carbon (AV-AC) from water. In this batch study, the effects of various factors including contact time, pH, adsorbent dosage and initial aniline concentrations were surveyed on the aniline sorption. The results illustrated that the optimum pH and contact time for the removal of aniline by AV-AC was obtained at 3 and 60 min, respectively. The decrease of pH had a significant influence on the increasing aniline adsorption. Fitting the experimental data to various kinetics and isotherms models showed that the experimental data were better descripted by pseudo-second order and Freundlich models, respectively. Because of low-cost, eco-friendly, non-toxicity and high sorption capacity, this sorbent can be used as a very effective option to removal of aniline from aqueous media

Adsorption of Congo Red Dye from Aqueous Solutions by Montmorillonite as a Low-cost Adsorbent

In this study, the sorption of Congo red (CR), as a toxic dye, from aqueous media was investigated using montmorillonite (MMT) as a low-cost adsorbent. The influence of several factors such as contact time, pH, adsorbent dosage, dye content, and ionic strength was investigated on the dye removal. MMT was characterized by Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). Different kinetic and isotherm models including pseudo-first and pseudo-second order kinetic and Langmuir and Freundlich were applied to analyze experimental data, respectively. The results showed that the data were well fitted by pseudo-second-order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm models. The optimum conditions for the sorption of CR were achieved over 40 min and at pH=2. According to the results of the present study, MMT can be used as a low-cost, eco-friendly and effective option for the adsorption of CR from aqueous solutions

Risk of morbidity attributed to ambient PM10 in the western cities of Iran

The incidence of hospitalizations due to cardiovascular (HACVD) and respiratory diseases (HARD) associated with PM10 was assessed with AirQ2.2.3. Daily PM10 data were used to this purpose. The results showed that 8.2 (95 CI: 5.6-11.4), 7.2 (95 CI: 4.9-10.1), and 4.4 (95 CI: 3.0-6.3) of HACVD and 7.3 (95 CI: 4.5-10), 6.4 (95 CI: 4.0-8.8), and 3.9 (95 CI: 2.4-5.4) of HACVD in the cities of Ahvaz, Khorramabad and Ilam were attributed to PM10, respectively. Governmental authorities need to act to control the dust hazard by spreading mulch and developing green space using vegetation amenable to the local climate

Impact of Middle Eastern Dust storms on human health

Air pollution is emerging as a significant risk factor for human health in developing countries, particularly in Iran where air pollutant concentrations are elevated. Currently, knowledge of health effects of air pollution in developing countries is limited. The objective of this study was to estimate the excess number of hospitalizations for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and the number of excess cases of Respiratory Mortality (RM) associated with daily averages levels of particulate matter less than 10 mu m in diameter (PM10) in Ilam (Iran) over 1-year period (2015-2016). The excess instances of COPD and RM were estimated based on relative risk (RR) and baseline incidence (BI). The numbers of excess cases for COPD and RM during normal, dusty and Middle Eastern Dust (MED) storm days were 60 and 5, 200 and 15, and 78 and 6 persons, respectively. The results also showed that about 4.9 (95 CI: 3.0-6.8) of hospital visits for COPD and 7.3 (CI: 4.9-19.5) of RM could be attributed to 10 mu g/m(3) increase in PM10 concentration, respectively. It was found that a higher number of people were admitted to hospital when PM10 concentrations exceed 200 mu g/m(3) related to the MED events. Significant exposure to air pollutants, particularly during MED event, led to an excess of hospital admissions for COPD and an excess of the respiratory mortality. Several immediate actions such as strategic management of water bodies or planting of tree species in suburbs particularly bare area around the city could be effective to mitigate the impact of desert dust on respiratory illness. (C) 2017 Turkish National Committee for Air Pollution Research and Control. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

H2SO4-modified Aloe vera leaf shells for the removal of P-chlorophenol and methylene blue from aqueous environment

In this study, the surface properties of activated carbon from Aloe vera leaf shells were modified by sulfuric acid Aloe vera-acid activated carbon (AV-AAC) and then used as a novel adsorbent to remove para-chlorophenol (p-CP) and methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions. The adsorbent was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR). The maximum monolayer adsorption capacities were found to be 137 and 192.3 mg/g for p-CP and MB, respectively. Due to low-cost and high adsorption capacity, AV-AAC can be considered as an effective adsorbent for wastewater treatment containing p-CP or MB