Assessment of heavy metals concentration in groundwater and their associated health risks near an industrial area

Background: Heavy metals (HMs) contamination from industrial wastewater is a major environmental problem that has been increasing in the past few years. The purpose of this study was to investigate the current status of HMs contamination in Bu-Ali industrial town, Hamedan, western Iran. Methods: The concentration of 9 serious HMs (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, lead, manganese, nickel, and zinc) in groundwater samples was studied during spring 2017. In order to evaluate water quality for aquaculture and drinking purposes, heavy metal evaluation index (HEI), heavy metal pollution index (HPI), and contamination (Cd) indicator were calculated. Health risk of HMs was also calculated to assess the risk of cancer. Results: The results showed that the mean concentration of the HMs according to the Cd index was as follows: Pb > Ni > Cr > Fe > Cd > As > Cu > Zn > Mn. The mean HEI and HPI values were 89.1 and 815.5, respectively. The results also showed that there was no relationship between the HMs concentration and cancer risk. Conclusion: The concentration of the studied HMs in most samples was higher than the permissible limit for drinking water. The HEI and HPI values in high-risk samples were higher than the permissible limit of drinking water, therefore, there is high risk and limitation for aquatic life, but there is no risk of cancer. Keywords: Groundwater, Drinking water, Heavy metals, Citie

Determination of cadmium, nickel, lead and vanadium concentrations in white Indian prawn sold in Shiraz town

زمینه و هدف: با گسترش آلاینده ها در محیط زیست و وابستگی انسان به محیط برای تأمین مواد غذایی و سایر نیازها، بررسی در مورد انواع آلودگی به خصوص آب ها و سایر آبزیان حائز اهمیت می باشد. هدف از این مطالعه بررسی و تعیین میزان غلظت فلزات سنگین کادمیوم (Cd)، نیکل (Ni)، سرب (Pb) و وانادیوم (V) در عضلات و پوست میگوی سفید هندی (Fenneropenaeus indicus) خوراکی در شهرستان شیراز بوده است. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه مقطعی در پاییز سال 1390 با مراجعه به بازار عمده عرضه آبزیان تعداد 120 نمونه میگو به صورت تصادفی از سطح شهر شیراز تهیه شد. آماده سازی و آنالیز نمونه ها مطابق با دستورالعمل های توصیه شده صورت پذیرفته و میزان فلزات سنگین با دستگاه نشر اتمی (ICP) مدل Varian V10-ES تعیین و با مقادیر توصیه شده استاندارهای جهانی WHO و FAO مورد مقایسه قرار گرفت. یافته ها: میانگین غلظت عناصر کادمیوم، نیکل، سرب و وانادیوم در نمونه های مورد مطالعه در بافت عضله به ترتیب برابر با 45/0±08/1، 25/1±62/8، 1/2±63/1 و 93/0±61/0 میلی گرم در کیلوگرم و در پوست 38/0±28/1، 53/1±61/7، 6/4±15/7 و 45/0±4/1 میلی گرم در کیلوگرم وزن بدن اندازه گیری گردید. میزان فلزات سنگین کادمیوم، سرب و وانادیوم در پوست میگو و میزان نیکل در عضله میگو در مقایسه با یکدیگر بیشتر بود (05/0

Investigation on wastewater quality of food industry of Hamedan Province (Case study: Khosh Noosh Company)

Food industries are among the main national industries allocating a significant contribution in terms of total production, water consumption, and effluent generation. Khosh Noosh company is one of the main food industry in Hamedan City that its effluent releases into the Jorghan River after treatment and finally IS USED for irrigation of agricultural lands. The aim of this study was to assess the company's effluent quality and its comparison with the standards of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, World Health Organization and the National Department of Environment. During this study, a station from the exit of the company and the entrance to the Jorghan River was selected and parameters of pH, TSS, TDS, COD, BOD5, total coliform and fecal coliform were evaluated. The study found that there is a significant relationship between pH and the standard of National Department of Environment at 95% confidential level. However, no significant relationship was stablished between other parameters and this standard. With a confidence level of 95%, there was a significant difference between TDS and the World Health Organization and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards. The correlation between chemical and biological factors in Khosh Noosh Company indicated that there is a significant relationship only between BOD5 to COD and pH and also between pH and total coliforms with 95% confidence level. While no significant relationship exists between other factors

Simple determination of Sudan dyes in fruit juice and spices by microfunnel-filter-based emulsification microextraction followed by high performance liquid chromatography

In this work, a rapid method termed as microfunnel-filter-based emulsification microextraction is coupled with high performance liquid chromatography for a simple determination of the banned Sudan dyes (I, II, and III) in fruit juice, spice, and water samples. According to the method, in order to speed-up the extraction and concentration of the target analytes, a micro-volume of a low-density organic solvent (1-octanol) is dispersed into an aqueous sample solution (45 mL), and a simple separation of the extractant phase is obtained using a syringe filter and microfunnel. The method provides a low-toxic extraction, it is centrifuge-less, and the extraction process is totally performed in a few minutes. The influencing factors including the type of organic solvent, number of extraction cycles, pH of the sample solution, and volume of the extraction solvent are investigated to achieve the optimal conditions. A good linearity (in the range of 0.7–1000 ng mL−1 (R2 > 0.995)) and a low limit of detection (in the range of 0.2-0.5 ng mL−1) are obtained, the extraction recovery is in the range of 94-107%, and the developed method provides a high enrichment factor (in the range of 294-354)

Equilibrium and Kinetic study of Ibuprofen Removal from Aqueous Solutions Using Modified Carbon Sesame Straw

Ibuprofen is one of the most widely used drugs in the world, which affects the health of living organisms by causing pollution in water sources. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of determining the effectiveness of modified carbon of straw and sesame stubble in removing ibuprofen from aqueous solutions. For this purpose, ammonium chloride, zinc chloride, and phosphoric acid were used to optimize the adsorbent. Also, the changes in the absorbent surface and its characteristics were studied using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) technique. After determining the optimal conditions of pH variables, contact time, temperature, and adsorbent dose, the surface adsorption process was investigated under three Langmuir, Freundlich, and Dubinin-Radoshkevich models. On the other hand, first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models were used to process the adsorption data. The results showed that the surface adsorption process followed the Freundlich isotherm model pseudo-second-order kinetics. pH, contact time, initial concentration of ibuprofen, and optimal adsorbent dose were 3, 120 min, 50 mg/l, and 0.10 g/l respectively at 25°C. The results of this study showed that agricultural residues such as straw and sesame stubble can be used as effective and cost-effective adsorbents to remove the remaining pharmaceutical compounds from aqueous solutions

Source Identification and Evaluation of Elemental Pollution of Surface Sediments in Farahabad Coast, Caspian Sea

The study of sediments as one of the reservoirs for absorbing environmental pollutants and especially heavy metals is of particular importance. Therefore, this research was conducted with the aim of identifying and evaluating the contamination of arsenic, cadmium, nickel, and vanadium elements in the sediments of Farahabad coast of the Caspian Sea in 2018. In this study, after collecting 36 sediment samples from 12 selected stations, the values ​​of pH, EC, organic matter, and texture of sediments were determined. The concentrations of elements were determined by inductively coupled plasma optical spectroscopy. In addition, in order to evaluate the pollution of sediments, environmental toxicology criteria were calculated, including indicators of pollution coefficient, enrichment, and pollution load. In order to identify the potential sources of elements and their grouping in the sediment samples, multivariate statistical methods were used, namely principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering. For statistical processing of the results, one-way analysis of variance, one-sample t-test, and Pearson's correlation coefficient were used in the SPSS software. The average concentration of arsenic, cadmium, nickel, and vanadium was 12.7, 0.191, 35.0, and 31.9 mg/kg, respectively. The output results of PCA, HCA models, EF index values, ​​and coefficient of variation, as well as Pearson's correlation matrix, showed that arsenic probably originates from man-made sources and cadmium, nickel, and vanadium elements have natural sources

Efficient Removal of Pb(II) and Cr(III) Ions from Aqueous Solutions Using Modified Cellulose Nanocrystals into the Polyamide Nanofiltration Membrane

Nowadays, discharge of toxic heavy metals through industrial, domestic, and agricultural effluents into the environment, in this study, the efficiency of thin-layer nanocomposite (TFN) nanofiltration membranes made using surface polymerization in combination with modified cellulose nanoparticles (mNC) was assessed for the removal of lead and chromium ions from aqueous solutions. In so doing, after modification of MNCSNCs, fabrication of membrane substrate and also PA selective layer, and then testing the performance of the membrane, the physical properties of the modified nanoparticles and nanocomposite membranes were also investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and zeta potential. Based on the Results obtained, the water flux of TFN2 membranes increased from 42 to 125 l/m2/h. Also, at pH = 8.5, the removal rate of Pb(II) and Cr(III) was 93% and 100%, respectively. Moreover, under these conditions, the adsorption process followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm and the pseudo-second-order kinetic models. In general, the results showed that the synthesized nanofiltration nanocomposite membrane by embedding modified cellulose nanocrystals can be used to effectively remove Pb(II) and Cr(III) ions from aqueous solutions

Removal of Methotrexate from Aqueous Solutions Using AC@Fe3O4@ZnO Nanocomposite: Equilibrium and Kinetic Studies

Since pharmaceutical residues are important pollutants that lead to producing serious hazards to humans, and other living organisms, their removal from the effluents is essential for environmental protection. This study was conducted to the evaluation of the removal efficacy of methotrexate from aqueous solutions using AC@Fe3O4@ZnO nanocomposite. In so doing, AC@Fe3O4@ZnO nanocomposite was synthesized by hydrothermal method and used as a novel adsorbent for the removal of methotrexate from an aqueous solution. AC@Fe3O4@ZnO nanocomposite characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), pHpzc, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET) and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) analysis methods. The influence of pH, amount of adsorbent, temperature, and contact time on the removal efficacy were studied. Based on the results, the removal efficiency increased until 0.02 g adsorbent and 60 min contact time. The optimum pH for methotrexate removal was 7.0. In addition, under these conditions, the adsorption process followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm with a correlation coefficient of 0.994 and a pseudo-second-order kinetic model with a correlation coefficient of 0.999. The maximum adsorption capacity of the synthesized adsorbent was 400 mg/g. In conclusion, the AC@Fe3O4@ZnO nanocomposite could be considered as an efficient adsorbent for the removal of methotrexate from pharmaceutical wastewater

Evaluation of Removal Efficiency of Fluoride from Aqueous Solutions Using Modified Carbon of Oak Fruit: Isotherm and Kinetic Studies

Fluoride is one of the developed compounds that can enter water resources in different ways. The World Health Organization has recommended its maximum permissible concentration in drinking water of 1.5 mg/l so that its concentration exceeding the permissible limit can be harmful to the health of living organisms and ecosystems. The aim of this study was to determine the efficiency of activated carbon modified by the thermo-chemical method from oak fruit in fluoride removal. This research was conducted in a discontinuous system on a laboratory scale, and for this purpose, the effect of effective parameters such as time, pH, concentration, adsorbent dose, and other factors was investigated. The results of the experiments showed that the maximum amount of removal takes place during 90 min, pH=3, adsorbent dose of 0.1 g/l, and pollutant concentration of 50 mg/l. The results of the synthetic models showed that the Freundlich model with the coefficient of determination (R2=0.863) is a better model than the Langmuir model with the coefficient of determination (R2=0.736) to describe the synthetic behavior of the absorber. Until now, most absorption methods have been performed to remove the pollutant concentration of 30 mg/l. In the current study, with the input pollutant concentration of 50 mg/l, it can be stated that the activated carbon modified from the oak fruit is a cheap, efficient, and effective adsorbent. It is considered available to remove fluoride from aqueous solutions

Phytoremediation of Heavy Metals Nickel, Cadmium and Lead in the Coasts of the Persian Gulf Using Mangrove (Avicennia marina)

Phytoremediation is one of the most important sustainable biological methods to deal with the increasing effects of pollutants. In this study, the efficiency of Avicennia marina for refining heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and nickel from aqueous media was investigated. For sampling of mangroves and sediments in 2019, 20 stations throughout Khorkhoran wetland located in the west of Bandar Abbas were identified and samples were collected from water, sediments and different parts of the plant. According to the results, the highest accumulation of metals with a value of 4.38 mg/kg in the root of mangrove was related to lead and the lowest accumulation of metals with a value of 0.261 mg/kg in the root of the mangrove was related to cadmium. The results of transfer coefficient for lead and cadmium in mangrove roots was greater than 1 and for nickel less than 1. Moreover, there was a statistically significant correlation between pH and temperature parameters with the mean concentration of all heavy metals in sediment and between EC and the mean concentration of all heavy metals except nickel in water (P> 0.05). According to the results, the difference in the concentration of metals in the leaf and root tissue of mangroves may be due to differences in the physiological structure of the tissues; Therefore, mangrove roots seem to be more suitable than heavy leaves for refining heavy metals