Landfill site selection using a hybrid system of AHP-Fuzzy in GIS environment: A case study in Shiraz city, Iran

Landfilling with simplicity and economic advantages is the most common element for waste management in both developed and developing countries. Landfill site selection in a proper way is an important municipal planning process which prevent environmental issues including water pollution imposed for insanitary landfills. The present research was developed to exhibit a simplified method of multi criteria decision making (MCDM) and Fuzzy memberships in GIS environment to ascertain best landfill sites for Shiraz county, located south of Iran. 15 most common sub-criteria, documented in literature and implicated by Iranian environmental protection organization (IEPO) including surface water, ground water, land use, distance to well, soil type, slope, protected area, fault in environmental group, residential area, road, airport, village, infrastructure, historical area, wind direction in socio-economical group were selected and the weight of each criterion was determined based on expert's knowledge with use of analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The results of the present research are as follows: � Distance to residential area and groundwaters with weight of 0.36 and 0.28 were recognized as the most important criteria for landfill site selection. � The six suitable areas for landfill in Shiraz county is 1.003 of total area equal to 8710 ha. � AHP and Fuzzy memberships has a great potential and ability for landfill site selection. © 2019 The Author(s

Risk assessment of sari fatemeh zahra hospital using failure mode effect analysis, individualized rapid assessment tool, and preliminary hazard analysis

Abstract Background and purpose: Identification of risk in hospital waste management have a major role in reducing the cost of surplus and preventing the spread of diseases. In this quantitative analysis, we aimed at determining waste components, evaluating hospital waste management, and prioritizing the risks in Sari Fatemeh Zahra Hospital. Materials and methods: We performed a descriptive-cross-sectional study in 2015. Tchobanoglous method was used for quantitative-physical analysis of the waste. The individualized rapid assessment tool was applied to evaluate waste management. Preliminary Hazard Analysis and failure mode and effect analysis models were used to identify and prioritize the risks. Results: Total waste production, general waste, infectious wastes, and sharp objects were 1011.54, 600.45, 384.94, and 26.15 kg/day, respectively. Plastics, organic materials, and textiles constituted the highest amount of waste products. According to the individualized rapid assessment tool, the score obtained by the hospital was 82.15% indicating an excellent waste management. In preliminary hazard analysis, failure mode, and effect analysis models, 23 errors were observed, of which 9 had a priority number greater than 100. Conclusion: The models studied showed that mixing the sharp waste material with other garbage, disposal of non-infectious and semi-household waste in infectious bins and vice versa are of high risk and need corrective measures. Keywords: hospital waste management,quantitative analysis, risk assessment,preliminary hazard analysis, Hazard Analysis and Failure mode

TVOCs and BTEX concentrations in the air of south pars special economic energy zone

cold season were higher than those in warm season. High concentrations of Benzene in cold and warm seasons were used to identify areas of high exposure risk.survey TVOCs and BTEX in the air of South Pars Special Economic Energy Zone in 2014. Materials and methods: In a cross-sectional study sampling and analysis was done by NIOSH 1501 method. The study was carried out in 336 activated carbon tubes and personal sampling pump in 6 sampling stations during one year. The compounds were extracted by solvent carbon disulfide and analyzed using Gas Chromatography- Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID). Data analysis was performed in SPSS Ver.18 applying Kruskal-Wallis, Fligner test and ANOVA. Results: The mean concentrations of TVOCs and TBTEX were 229.34 and 31.23 µg/m3 in cold season and 212.19 and 29.89 µg/m3 in warm season, respectively. The mean concentrations of Benzene in all stations were 11.72 µg/m3 which were higher than the threshold levels recommended by Iranian Clean Air Act and US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). The ANOVA results showed a significant difference between the concentration of pollutants and hour, month and sampling stations (P<0.05), but no significant difference was found between the concentration of pollutants and seasons (P>0.05). Conclusion: The concentrations of measured pollutants in cold season were higher than those in warm season. High concentrations of Benzene in cold and warm seasons were used to identify areas of high exposure risk. © 2016, AMazandaran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Prenatal exposure to parabens and anthropometric birth outcomes: A systematic review

Parabens are ubiquitous substances commonly used as preservatives because of their antibacterial activity. The estrogenic activity of parabens may cause undesirable health effects and adverse birth outcomes. The objective of the present systematic review was to investigate the association between prenatal exposure to parabens and anthropometric birth outcomes. PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Embase databases were systematically searched until April 18, 2018. Of 326 records that remained after removing duplicates, 6 original articles were included in the final analysis after excluding irrelevant articles. The included studies indicated that most of the pregnant mothers were exposed to parabens, especially methyl and propyl parabens. However, no definitive association was found between the prenatal urinary concentration of parabens and birth weight or head circumference. In addition, a positive but non-significant association was detected between birth length and maternal exposure to parabens. The present systematic review revealed that assessment of significant associations in current epidemiological studies is impermissible due to methodological limitations and absence of inter-study consistency. Furthermore, because of the complexity of the effect of environmental factors on health, future large-scale studies with proper study design are required to investigate the effect of parabens exposure on birth outcomes. © 2019 Elsevier Inc

Prenatal urinary concentrations of environmental phenols and birth outcomes in the mother-infant pairs of Tehran Environment and Neurodevelopmental Disorders (TEND) cohort study

Daily exposure to environmental phenols can lead to potential undesirable effects on the health of pregnant women and fetuses. The present study is aimed to evaluate the relationship between maternal urinary concentrations of phenols in pregnancy and anthropometric birth outcomes. The studied population comprised of 189 pregnant women participating in the Tehran Environment and Neurodevelopmental Disorders (TEND) prospective cohort study, which had been ongoing since March 2016 in some hospitals and health care delivery centers in Tehran, Iran. Concentrations of bisphenol-A, triclosan, 4-nonylphenol, and parabens were determined in spot urine samples of pregnant mothers in the first trimester. Weight, length, and head circumference at birth were also extracted from the mothers' delivery files. Multivariable linear regression was used to examine the relationship between log-concentrations of phenols and birth outcomes. When we analyzed all samples regardless of neonates' gender, none of the urinary concentrations of phenols were associated with weight and length at birth. Indeed, in sex-stratified adjusted models, one log-unit increase of butylparaben was related to a 283.6 g (95 CI: 23, 544) increase in boys' birth weight. Prenatal urinary concentration of triclosan and propylparaben was respectively related to a decrease of 4.8 cm (95 C: -8.5, �1.1) in boys' length and 0.9 cm (95CI: -1.8, �0.04) in girls� length. In the adjusted models for estimating the changes in head circumference, one log-unit increase of triclosan, methylparaben, and butylparaben led to a reduction of 1.6 cm (95 CI: -3.17, 0.03), increase of 0.8 cm (95 CI: -0.01, 1.6) and 0.7 cm (95 CI: 0.08, 1.4) in head circumference at birth respectively. Our results suggested that prenatal triclosan and parabens exposure might be associated with head circumference at birth. Furthermore, we observed a sexually dimorphic pattern between maternal triclosan and parabens exposure during pregnancy and fetal growth. However, these findings must be interpreted while taking into account the limitations of this study. © 202