{"title":"A Comparison of Performance of Artificial Neural Networks for Prediction of Heavy Metals Concentration in Groundwater Resources of Toyserkan Plain","authors":"M. Alizamir, S. Sobhanardakani","doi":"10.5812/AJEHE.11792","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5812/AJEHE.11792","url":null,"abstract":"Nowadays, about 50% the world’s population is living in dry and semi dry regions and has utilized groundwater as a source of drinking water. Therefore, forecasting of pollutant content in these regions is vital. This study was conducted to compare the performance of artificial neural networks (ANNs) for prediction of As, Zn, and Pb content in groundwater resources of Toyserkan Plain. In this study, two types of artificial neural networks (ANNs), namely multi-layer perceptron (MLP) and Radial Basis Function (RBF) approaches, were examined using the observations of As, Zn, and Pb concentrations in groundwater resources of Toyserkan plain, Western Iran. Two statistical indicators, the coefficient of determination (R2) and root mean squared error (RMSE) were employed to evaluate the performances of various models. The results indicated that the best performance could be obtained by MLP, in terms of different statistical indicators during training and validation periods.","PeriodicalId":8672,"journal":{"name":"Avicenna Journal of Environmental Health Engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"11792-11792"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42229433","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
R. Shokoohi, A. Dargahi, Razieh Khamutian, Y. Vaziri
{"title":"Evaluation of the Efficiency of Wastewater Treatment Plants in the Removal of Common Antibiotics from Municipal Wastewater in Hamadan, Iran","authors":"R. Shokoohi, A. Dargahi, Razieh Khamutian, Y. Vaziri","doi":"10.5812/AJEHE.10921","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5812/AJEHE.10921","url":null,"abstract":"The presence of antibiotics in the environment, especially aquatic environments, is a major health and environmental concern.Wastewater treatment plants play an important role in the treatment of municipal and industrial wastewater and removal of contaminants.The aim of this study was to determine the concentration of prevalent antibiotics in municipal wastewater of Hamadan,Iran and to evaluate the removal efficiency of wastewater treatment plants. During 3 months (April, May, and June 2016), a total of 12 composite influent and effluent samples were collected from the wastewater treatment plants. Solid-phase extraction (SPE) was used for preparing the samples, which were then analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV detection.Based on the analysis of 6 antibiotics, three antibiotics, including amoxicillin, imipenem, and cefixime, were detected, and their concentrations were measured at 1.6, 10.7, and 5.8 ug/L, respectively. The removal efficiency of these antibiotics in wastewater treatment plants was 55.66%, 34.01%, and 24.33%, respectively. Due to the presence of examined antibiotics in the effluent and influent wastewater treatment plants, they might cause direct and indirect effects on human health and environment if proper measures are not taken by the authorities. Since the removal of these antibiotics from wastewater treatment plants is relatively poor, it is suggested to use advanced wastewater treatment plants to reduce antibiotics in effluent wastewater and decrease the adverse effects of these micropollutants.","PeriodicalId":8672,"journal":{"name":"Avicenna Journal of Environmental Health Engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"10921-10921"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44924773","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Review of Groundwater Pollution Potential Threats from Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Sites: Assessing the Impact on Human Health","authors":"P. Kumari, N. Gupta, A. Kaur","doi":"10.5812/AJEHE.11525","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5812/AJEHE.11525","url":null,"abstract":"An attempt has been made in this paper to review various studies associated with groundwater contamination near landfill sites, basically caused by non-engineered landfills or open dumps in India and overseas, and its impact on human health. Landfill leachate contains different kinds of municipal toxic wastes as well as heavy metal, which finally percolates into the ground and joins the groundwater table. Consuming such water results in severe health hazards and may sometimes be fatal if consumed for long periods. Several studies have shown evidence on the high concentration of heavy metals in leachate as well as in nearby groundwater sources. Moreover, various studies have confirmed the fact that there is an increased threat of adverse health effects (low birth weight, birth defects, and certain types of cancers), congenital malformations in children, and higher risks for malformations of the nervous and musculoskeletal systems for skin, hair, and nails in local residents. Pregnant women and children are more vulnerable to these pollutants, and newborn children are more prone to the health risk. These findings may signify the real health risks associated with residents residing near landfill sites.","PeriodicalId":8672,"journal":{"name":"Avicenna Journal of Environmental Health Engineering","volume":"4 1","pages":"11525-11525"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47459912","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Heavy Metal Levels and Potential Health Risk Assessment in Honey Consumed in the West of Iran","authors":"S. Sobhanardakani, Mona Kianpour","doi":"10.5812/AJEHE.7795","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5812/AJEHE.7795","url":null,"abstract":"Since the worldwide research on content of heavy metals in honey is narrow, this study was carried out to analyze heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Ni, and Zn) in honey and assess its associated health risk in Hamadan City, Iran, in 2015. Totally, 15 freshly ripened samples of honey were analyzed for heavy metals using ICP-OES with three replications after burning to ash and digesting with dilute nitric acid. The potential health index was then calculated. The results showed that the mean levels of Cd, Cr, Ni, and Zn in the honey samples were 63.18 ± 43.39, 58.05 ± 30.32, 56.15 ± 54.32, and 684.43 ± 190.43 µg kg-1, respectively. Also, the health risk assessment showed no potential risk for children and adults in relation to the consumption of honey in the studied region. According to the results of the current study, although there is no adverse effect for the local population through the consumption of honey, due to the increased discharge of pollutants especially heavy metals into the natural environment, it is very important to assess foodstuff before release to the consumer market","PeriodicalId":8672,"journal":{"name":"Avicenna Journal of Environmental Health Engineering","volume":"134 5 1","pages":"7795-7795"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71247125","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zeinab Atashzaban, A. Seidmohammadi, D. Nematollahi, G. Azarian, Omid Heydari Shayesteh, A. Rahmani
{"title":"The Efficiency of Electrocoagulation and Electroflotation Processes for Removal of Polyvinyl Acetate From Synthetic Effluent","authors":"Zeinab Atashzaban, A. Seidmohammadi, D. Nematollahi, G. Azarian, Omid Heydari Shayesteh, A. Rahmani","doi":"10.5812/AJEHE.7469","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5812/AJEHE.7469","url":null,"abstract":"Polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) is a type of thermoplastic resin generated by a polymerization of vinyl acetate. Effluent of this polymer is highly rich with chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total solids (TS). Due to lack of studies on the above problem, the current study aimed at obtaining a sufficient method for the effluent pre-treatment. In fact, the study discussed PVAC effluent treatment by electrocoagulation (EC) and electroflotation processes.The study considered the effect of various operating parameters such as pH and current density, initial concentration of pollutant, inter-electrode distance, electrolysis times, and types of electrode materials (iron and aluminum); COD and TS removal efficiency and optimal values of operational parameters were calculated. In the study, COD and TS reduction rates in the optimized conditions in batch flow reactor were 83% and 78%, and 80% and 72% for Fe and Al electrodes, respectively. Optimized conditions were taken as 24 mA cm -2, 20 g/L PVAC, and neutral pH in 20 minutes for Al-Al electrodes and 15 minutes for Fe-Fe electrodes, 1 cm distance between electrodes with parallel-type monopole of connection modes. According to the results, electrochemical process with batch flow tends to be a suitable pre-treatment process that is inexpensive, easily operated, and highly sufficient for effluent treatment, which contains polyvinyl acetate.","PeriodicalId":8672,"journal":{"name":"Avicenna Journal of Environmental Health Engineering","volume":"75 1","pages":"7469-7469"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71246594","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Almasi, M. Soltanian, F. Asadi, Parvin Nokhasi, K. Godini, M. Mohammadi, G. Azarian, A. Mohammadi
{"title":"Tetrachloroethylene Removal Rate from Aqueous Solutions by Pumice Doped with Copper: An Evaluation of the Effect of pH","authors":"A. Almasi, M. Soltanian, F. Asadi, Parvin Nokhasi, K. Godini, M. Mohammadi, G. Azarian, A. Mohammadi","doi":"10.5812/AJEHE.5658","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5812/AJEHE.5658","url":null,"abstract":"Tetrachloroethylene (TCE) is a chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon, used in many industries. Effective and efficient treatment of industrial \u0000wastewater, containing TCE, is one of the environmental requirements. The purpose of this study was to determine the role \u0000of alkaline environments in TCE removal rate from aqueous solutions, using copper-doped pumice. This experimental study was \u0000performed, using granulated pumice stones with a mesh 4 (8.4 mm) in alkaline conditions; the samples were coated with copper. \u0000Copper-doped pumice was prepared as a bed at doses of 1, 2, and 3 g/L; the study was performed at pH ranges of 3, 7, and 11. Based \u0000on the results, copper-doped pumice showed good efficacy in TCE removal; in addition, its performance increased in alkaline conditions. \u0000Therefore, use of this stone for the treatment of wastewater, containing TCE, is effective due to its availability and low cost. \u0000Besides, it can be considered a good option, given its high efficiency in the absorption process.","PeriodicalId":8672,"journal":{"name":"Avicenna Journal of Environmental Health Engineering","volume":"3 1","pages":"5658-5658"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71246535","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Samadi, M. Leili, H. Alizadeh, K. Godini, D. Ahmadi
{"title":"Increasing Methane Production by Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Slaughterhouse with Fruit and Vegetable Wastes","authors":"M. Samadi, M. Leili, H. Alizadeh, K. Godini, D. Ahmadi","doi":"10.5812/AJEHE.8541","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5812/AJEHE.8541","url":null,"abstract":"Despite fossil fuels, the energy supply from biogas process is of renewable energy resources; this kind of energy can be generated in all parts of the world. Thus, the potential of anaerobic co-digestion for production of methane from wastes of an industrial slaughterhouse and fruit and vegetable center in the Hamadan city, west of Iran, was investigated. The digester was operated under the mesophilic (35 - 37°C) condition for a period of 40 days with 3 different C/N ratios (20/1, 30/1 and 40/1). Before operation of digester, the amounts of C and N in the wastes were measured and during the experiments pH and composition of the biogas were determined. The cumulative amounts of the generated total biogas and methane at the 3 examined C/N ratios 20/1, 30/1 and 40/1 were, respectively 181, 201.7 and 162.5 L and 129.8, 149.2 and 114 L. The results indicated that the highest contents of biogas and methane (201.68 and 149.29 L, respectively) were obtained at C/N of 30 within 31 days.","PeriodicalId":8672,"journal":{"name":"Avicenna Journal of Environmental Health Engineering","volume":"3 1","pages":"8541-8541"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71246728","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
R. Shokoohi, M. Samadi, G. Asgari, M. V. Tabar, K. Godini
{"title":"Synthesis of Manganese Tetroxide Nanoparticles Using Precipitation and Study of Its Structure and Optical Characteristics","authors":"R. Shokoohi, M. Samadi, G. Asgari, M. V. Tabar, K. Godini","doi":"10.5812/AJEHE.8565","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5812/AJEHE.8565","url":null,"abstract":"Considering extensive applications of manganese tetroxide nanoparticles in various industries due to its special properties, conducting studies on how to achieve more suitable ways to produce smaller nanoparticles is of great importance. In this study, nanoparticles of manganese tetroxide (Mn3O4) were synthesized by a co-precipitation method. In order to determine the characteristics of the structure, size, and specific surface of the resulting nanoparticles, techniques such as XRD, BET, BJH, FESEM, and FTIR were employed. Also, the nanoparticles were quantified with EDS and their colony size was examined using DLS experiments. The findings revealed a production of crystalline manganese tetroxide nanoparticles with a space group of 141/amd (S.G.) (141) and a molecular weight of 228.81 with the international code of ICSD Card # 89 - 4837. The specific surface area was 32.147 m2 /g with a pore volume of 0.1041 cm3 /g. The XRD and EDX analyses verify the production of the Mn3O4 nanoparticles. The size of the nanostructures is approximately 19 nm. The method used in this study could produce the Mn3O4 nanoparticles in a much easier way without the need for surfactants. Compared to the nanoparticles produced in other studies, the size of the nanoparticles produced in the present study is remarkably smaller. Moreover, less amount of the metal salt was used.","PeriodicalId":8672,"journal":{"name":"Avicenna Journal of Environmental Health Engineering","volume":"3 1","pages":"8565-8565"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71246749","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
F. Karimi, M. Samarghandi, R. Shokoohi, K. Godini, M. Arabestani
{"title":"Prevalence and Removal Efficiency of Enterococcal Species and Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci of a Hospital Wastewater Treatment Plant","authors":"F. Karimi, M. Samarghandi, R. Shokoohi, K. Godini, M. Arabestani","doi":"10.5812/AJEHE.8623","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5812/AJEHE.8623","url":null,"abstract":"Simultaneous presence of various antibiotics and bacteria in hospital wastewaters creates a suitable environment, in which the \u0000bacteria, such as enterococci become resistant to the antibiotics. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of different \u0000units of the hospital wastewater treatment plant (HWTP) to remove Enterococcus spp and Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus \u0000(VRE). The study was performed on the 27 samples collected from HWTP in Hamedan, Iran during December 2014 to August 2015. \u0000Enterococcus spp and VRE were identified by biochemical tests and then the isolates were confirmed by PCR. Finally, the antibiotic \u0000susceptibility test was performed using disk diffusion methods. Of the 27 samples examined, 315 a total of enterococcal isolates were \u0000obtained. Of the 315 isolates of enterococci investigated, 162 (51.42%) were identified as E. faecium, 87 (27.61%) as E. hirae, 35 (11.11%) as \u0000E. faecalis, 11 (3.5%) as E. gallinarum, 7 (2.22%) as E. casseliflavus, 4 (1.26%) E. avium, and 9 (2.85%) isolates VR E. faecium.The results of \u0000antibiotic susceptibility testing showed that of the total 315 isolates, 146 (46.34%) were resistance to tetracycline, 9 (2.85%) were resistance \u0000to vancomycin and Teicoplanin. Lower antibiotic resistance was seen with Nitrofurantoin 2 (1.26%). This study indicates a \u0000high prevalence of multidrug resistance among E. faecium isolated from HWTP, thus, it could be considered as a threat to the health \u0000and safety of wastewater workers and even public health.","PeriodicalId":8672,"journal":{"name":"Avicenna Journal of Environmental Health Engineering","volume":"7 1","pages":"8623-8623"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71246796","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nahid Ghobadi, R. Shokoohi, A. Rahmani, M. Samadi, K. Godini, M. Samarghandi
{"title":"Performance of A Pilot-Scale Vermifilter for the Treatment of A Real Hospital Wastewater","authors":"Nahid Ghobadi, R. Shokoohi, A. Rahmani, M. Samadi, K. Godini, M. Samarghandi","doi":"10.5812/AJEHE-7585","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5812/AJEHE-7585","url":null,"abstract":"In this study, the performance of a pilot-scale vermifilter (VF) for the treatment of hospital wastewater using the earthworm species Eisenia fetida was evaluated. The earthworms’ gut acts as a bioreactor and can ingest the wastewater solid and liquid organic wastes and expel these as vermicompost. A pilot-scale vermifilter was installed and operated for 133 days in one of hospitals in Hamadan city; the designed system was fed with the influent passed through coarse and fine grillage and the sedimentation tank of the hospital’s sanitary collection system. In order to study the efficiency of the system, the variations of pH value, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), and total suspended solids (TSS) were measured. In addition, a conventional geofilter (GF) without Earthworm was used as the experimental control. The vermifiltration caused a significant decrease in the levels of COD (75%), BOD5 (93%), and TSS (89%) as well as neutralized pH in the wastewater. Also, these contents in the geofilter were observed to be 65%, 71%, and 71%, respectively. The vermifiltration technology can, therefore, be applied as an environmentally friendly method for hospital wastewater treatment.","PeriodicalId":8672,"journal":{"name":"Avicenna Journal of Environmental Health Engineering","volume":"51 1","pages":"7585-7585"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71246854","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}