Water Quality Assessment of Groundwater Resources in Qaleeh Shahin Plain Based on Cd and HEI

Abstract Aims: The chemical elements in water resources, especially groundwater, can affect the water consumption purposes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the status of the overall pollution level of ground water of Qaleeh Shahin plain with respect to heavy metals by Cd and HEI methods. Instrument & Methods: This cross-sectional semi-experimental study was conducted in Sarpol-e Zahab township in Kermanshah Province, west of Iran. For this purpose, 20 groundwater wells were chosen randomly. The samples were filtered (0.45μm), stored in polyethylene bottles and were acidified at a pH lower than 2 by adding concentrated HNO3 in order to avoid metal adsorption onto the inner bottle walls. Element concentrations were determined using ICP-OES. The correlation between the metals in the different seasons, between the indices values and concentration of metals and between different indices values was assessed by Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Findings: There were no significant correlations between the concentrations of the elements in 2 seasons except between As and Cd in winter (r=0.544; p<0.05). Only the concentration of Pb had significant correlations with Cd (r=0.937; p=0.0001) and HEI (r=0.997; p=0.0001) values in winter and with Cd (r=0.997; p=0.0001) and HEI (r=0.810; p=0.0001) values in summer, which indicated Pb as the main contributory pollutant. The correlation between Cd and HEI was significant in winter (r=0.943; p=0.0001) and was significant in summer (r=0.818; p=0.0001). Conclusion: The water resources of Qaleeh Shahin plain, Kermanshah Province, Iran, are not polluted by heavy metals and are suitable for drinking

Retraction Note: Ambient particulate matter concentration levels of Ahvaz, Iran, in 2017 (Environmental Geochemistry and Health, (2019), 41, 2, (841-849), 10.1007/s10653-018-0182-0)

The Editor-in-Chief has retracted this article because it contains material that substantially overlaps with another published article [1]. Sina Dobaradaran agrees to this retraction. Gholamreza Goudarzi, Sahar Geravandi, and Mohammad Javad Mohammadi do not agree to this retraction. Nadali Alavi, Ahmad Reza Yari, Farzaneh Aslanpour Alamdari, Majid Farhadi, Hamed Biglari, Maryam Dastoorpour, and Bayram Hashemzadeh have not responded to any correspondence from the publisher about this retraction

Evaluation of basic violet 16 adsorption from aqueous solution by magnetic zero valent iron-activated carbon nanocomposite using response surface method: Isotherm and kinetic studies

Background and purpose: Increasing industrial activities and the subsequent discharge of untreated wastewater containing dye to aqueous environment can cause problems such as reducing the sun light penetration, creating anaerobic conditions, allergy and cancer. Adsorption is considered as one of the most efficient and effective methods for dye removal. The aim of this study was to magnetize the activated carbon with zero-valent iron and using it as an adsorbent for dye removal from aqueous solution. Materials and methods: In this study, co-precipitation method was used for synthesizing magnetic zero valent iron-activated carbon nanocomposite. Characteristics of absorbent were analyzed by SEM, TEM, EDX, XRD, and VSM techniques. We evaluated the effect of independent variables including contact time, solution pH, temperature, adsorbent dosage and the concentration of dyes on response performance (removal efficiency of Basic Violet dye) with response to surface methodology based on box-behnken design. ANOVA was applied to analyze the responses. Results: The optimum conditions for basic violet 16 dyes removal were obtained at pH= 3, contact time= 65 min, absorbent dose= 2 g/L and temperature= 45 C°. Investigating the isotherm and kinetic models showed that the experimental data were correlated with Langmuir adsorption isotherm model (R2>0.995) and pseudo-second order kinetic (R2>0.931). Conclusion: In optimal conditions, magnetic zero valent iron-activated carbon nanocomposite has the potential to remove violet 16 dyes. Also, its separation from the solution is more simple and faster due to its magnetism property. © 2015 Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Enhanced chromium (VI) removal using activated carbon modified by zero valent iron and silver bimetallic nanoparticles

Recently, adsorption process has been introduced as a favorable and effective technique for the removal of metal ions from aqueous solutions. In the present study, bimetallic nanoparticles consisting of zero valent iron and silver were loaded on the activated carbon powder for the preparation of a new adsorbent (PAC-Feo /Ag). The above adsorbent was characterized by using XRD, SEM and TEM techniqes. Experimental data were exploited for kinetic, equilibrium and thermodynamic evaluations related to the adsorption processes. The Cr(VI) adsorption process was found to be favorable at pH 3 and it reached equilibrium state within 60 min. The stirring rate did not have a significant effect on the adsorption efficiency. Furthermore, the monolayer adsorption capacity of Cr(VI) based on the Langmuir model was measured to be 100 mg/g. The experimental equilibrium data were fitted to the Freundlich adsorption and pseudo second-order models. According to the thermodynamic study, the adsorption process was spontaneous and endothermic in nature, indicating the adsorption capacity increases with increasing the temperature. The results also revealed that the synthesized composite can be potentially applied as a magnetic adsorbent to remove Cr(VI) contaminants from aqueous solutions

Water Quality Assessment of Groundwater Resources in Qaleeh Shahin Plain Based on Cd and HEI

Abstract Aims: The chemical elements in water resources, especially groundwater, can affect the water consumption purposes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the status of the overall pollution level of ground water of Qaleeh Shahin plain with respect to heavy metals by Cd and HEI methods. Instrument & Methods: This cross-sectional semi-experimental study was conducted in Sarpol-e Zahab township in Kermanshah Province, west of Iran. For this purpose, 20 groundwater wells were chosen randomly. The samples were filtered (0.45μm), stored in polyethylene bottles and were acidified at a pH lower than 2 by adding concentrated HNO3 in order to avoid metal adsorption onto the inner bottle walls. Element concentrations were determined using ICP-OES. The correlation between the metals in the different seasons, between the indices values and concentration of metals and between different indices values was assessed by Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Findings: There were no significant correlations between the concentrations of the elements in 2 seasons except between As and Cd in winter (r=0.544; p<0.05). Only the concentration of Pb had significant correlations with Cd (r=0.937; p=0.0001) and HEI (r=0.997; p=0.0001) values in winter and with Cd (r=0.997; p=0.0001) and HEI (r=0.810; p=0.0001) values in summer, which indicated Pb as the main contributory pollutant. The correlation between Cd and HEI was significant in winter (r=0.943; p=0.0001) and was significant in summer (r=0.818; p=0.0001). Conclusion: The water resources of Qaleeh Shahin plain, Kermanshah Province, Iran, are not polluted by heavy metals and are suitable for drinking

Association between Local Illumination and Visual Fatigue among the Research and Development Staffs of Industry

Abstract Aims: Work proper lighting means a safe, healthy and comfort conditions for work under a lighting system that includes qualitative and quantitative features. This study aimed to evaluate the surface local lighting of works and eye fatigue among research and development staffs of an automotive industry. Instrument & Methods: In this descriptive study in Research and Development Department of an automotive industry in 2015, 126 official staffs were selected randomly. A demographic questionnaire and the Visual Fatigue Questionnaire (Persian Version) were used for data gathering. Hagner EC1 Luxmeter was used to measure the local lighting. Data were analyzed by SPSS 20 software, through descriptive statistics. Findings: The lighting in 382 stations (75.8%) was improper and less than standard. The minimum and maximum intensity of light was between 22.4lux in station 2 (inventory department) and 581lux in station 4 (systems and methods department). The overall intensity in more than 50% units, except the Systems and Methods Department, were less than the standard (300lux). 40.4% of the participants had severe eye fatigue, 28.6% had moderate visual fatigue, 28.6% had low visual fatigue and only 2.4% had no visual fatigue. The average of visual fatigue was 3.50±1.97. Conclusion: The workplace lighting and the eye fatigue of computer users in the Research and Development Department of the studied automotive industry are not in an acceptable condition

Photocatalytic degradation of aniline in aqueous solution using ZnO nanoparticles

Aniline is a priority pollutant, which is known as a toxic organic pollutant released as effluent from several industries. Several physicochemical methods have been used for degradation of this pollutant. In this study, photocatalytic degradation of aniline from synthetic wastewater by ZnO nanoparticle was considered. The effects of different variables, such as irradiation time, the amount of photocatalyst, initial pH values and initial concentration of pollutant on the photodegradation of aniline were investigated to find the optimum condition. A laboratory-scale batch photocatalytic reactor with a low pressure UV lamp in the center was used. Results showed that the photocatalytic system was highly efficient for degrading aniline in a reasonable time. No statistically significant changes for photodegradation of aniline was observed in different concentrations of ZnO, pH and irradiation times (Pvalue&lt;0.05). The maximum degradation efficiency of aniline was 93.9 in 500 mg/L of ZnO and alkaline pH. The degradation kinetic of aniline, based on Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism, illustrated a pseudo first-order kinetic model with a rate constant of surface reaction equal to 3.04 mg/L.min, and adsorption equilibrium constant of 0.31 L/mg. As a conclusion, the photocatalytic process by using ZnO has great potential for aniline degradation in wastewaters. © 2016, Gh. Asachi Technical University of Iasi. All rights reserved