Leila Rezaei; Vali Alipour; Amir Hesam Hassani; Mohsen Dehghani
Abstract
Background: the Persian Gulf ecosystem is facing degradation, so further degradation must be prevented. The present study was conducted to assess the environmental pollution risk potential of the coastal ecosystem due to heavy metal content in desalination plant’s effluent.Methods: In this cross-sectional ...
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Background: the Persian Gulf ecosystem is facing degradation, so further degradation must be prevented. The present study was conducted to assess the environmental pollution risk potential of the coastal ecosystem due to heavy metal content in desalination plant’s effluent.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the researchers selected five stations in the west of Bandar Abbas beach, located at the outlet of desalination effluent canals to the shore, and two stations in the east shore (without effluent discharge) as case and control stations, respectively. The researchers collected 51 Sediment samples and measured heavy metal concentration, using an AA spectrophotometer, and assessed the potential ecological risk. They used SPSS software and the T-test to statistically analyze data.Results: The concentration means for sediments in case and control stations samples were: 40.63±16.79, 96.64±30.60, 159.74±50.65, 109.22±17.09, 205.35±86.96 mg.kg-1 and 40.15±17.21, 79.16±28.26, 152.43±90.07, 101.82±43.55, and 193.82±112.90 mg.kg-1, respectively for (Pb, Cu, Ni, Cd, and Zn). The ecological risk and Pollution Load Index were (31.72, 35.95, 3.30, 36.96, and 45.61) and (0.62, 0.63, 0.71, 0.68, and 0.9), respectively for metals mentioned order. Individual potential risk for all stations showed a low-risk degree.Conclusion: Although the heavy metals accumulated in coastal sediments due to the discharge of desalination plant effluents, severe ecological and environmental damage has not occurred. Therefore, there is still time to prevent an environmental catastrophe on the shores receiving desalination effluents. Therefore, it is recommended to all responsible persons to take the necessary measures to monitor and control the plan and reduce the discharge of effluents to the shores.
masoud neghab; ahmad soltanzadeh; roghayeh abedini; jafar hasanzadeh; saeed sarvestani
Volume 2, Issue 2 , April 2014, , Pages 42-48
Abstract
Background: Noise pollution has a particular importance in quiet environments such as hospitals. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of noise exposure on the auditory system, blood pressure and precision, concentration and other psycho-neural components.Methods: This cross-sectional ...
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Background: Noise pollution has a particular importance in quiet environments such as hospitals. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of noise exposure on the auditory system, blood pressure and precision, concentration and other psycho-neural components.Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in three large hospitals of Shiraz, during the period of 2012 to 2013. The study population consisted of 81 health care personnel (the exposed group) and 79 non-exposed individuals (the referent group). Day and night time sound levels were measured at different wards of the hospitals by a sound level meter (B&K 7110). Hearing status was assessed by pure tone audiometry of subjects by an Interacoustic AD27 audiometer. Blood pressure was measured with a mercury sphygmomanometer at resting time and psycho-neural components including sleep disturbances, headache, irritability and … were evaluated by a questionnaire devised and validated for this purpose. Data were analyzed by SPSS 16 software.Results: Average sound pressure level for the exposed group (65.32±5.23 dB) was significantly higher than that of the referent group (53.26±2.46 dB) (P<0.05). Similarly, the mean values of permanent threshold shift (dB) as well as systolic and diastolic blood pressure were significantly higher in the exposed group than in their counterpart individuals (P<0.05). Likewise, symptoms such as headache and irritability were significantly more common among the exposed subjects. Conclusion: The findings suggest that exposure to sub-TLV levels of noise (recommended by ACGIH) in hospital environments is also associated with decreased hearing threshold, increased blood pressure, and prevalence of psycho-neural disorders.
