Iranian Journal of

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Background and Objectives: The heavy metals pollution in aquatic ecosystems especially mercury, always makes concern about health of aquatic organisms. So, the purposes of this study were determination of total mercury in different tissues of the three species of the most important water birds at north of Iran and comparison with world health standards.
Materials and Methods: Generally, 51 birds were captured randomly. Then, samples of feather, liver, kidney and muscle were taken and the mercury concentrations were determined by Advanced Mercury Analyzer (Model Leco, AMA 254).
Results: The most amount of accumulated mercury was in great cormorant's liver (piscivorous species). Means of mercury concentration in liver of great cormorant, mallard, and coot were 14.80, 2.05, 0.18 in kidney 12.00, 1.90, 0.17 in feather 6.57, 1.09, 0.23 and in muscle 8.67, 0.26, 0.09 mg/kg dry weight respectively. Means Comparison showed significant difference among all tissues (P < 0.05), But there were not significant difference between sexes (P > 0.05)
Conclusion: The levels of accumulated mercury in all tissues of great cormorant were more than the established limits by WHO, FAO and EPA. The other species had less use limitation, but mercury concentration in mallards was considerable. These results can be a serious warning for consumers these birds, especially vulnerable people.

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Background and Objectives: Arsenic contamination is of great environmental concern due to its toxic effects as a carcinogen. In order to assess soil arsenic contamination and its distribution patterns, surface soil samples collected from the urban areas of Arak were analyzed. Materials and Methods: Totally, 62 surface soil samples were collected from depth of 0–20 cm of different locations including parks, green spaces, agricultural, roadsides, and squares of Arak City. The spatial distribution of arsenic in soil was mapped using GIS and kriging method. Results: The concentration of arsenic in the surface soil of Arak City was between 2.2- 10.8 mg/kg (average: 5.78 mg/kg). Spatial analysis showed that arsenic contamination enhances in the city center and there was an increasing trend from south to north. In addition, the mean arsenic concentration in the urban topsoil samples from Arak was lower compared with mean concentration for other cities around the world. Conclusion: It seems that arsenic in soil is controlled by natural and anthropogenic factors. The highest concentrations of arsenic in center and the north areas reflected arsenic loading is originated from anthropogenic sources such as vehicles and industrial processes.

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Background and Objective: Information about the history of exposed individuals to mercury and monitoring mercury levels in body can be obtained by analyzing the longitudinal section of hair. The aim of this study was to analyze changes of mercury concentrations in hair length and daily mercury intake in women living in Bandar Abbas, Bushehr and Mahshahr cities.
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional and questionnaire study, 43 hair samples were randomly collected from women in fisher and non-fishermen families. Mercury concentrations were determined by LECO AMA 254, Advanced Mercury Analyzer (USA) according to ASTM standard NO.D-6722.
Results: The mean mercury concentration in hair was 2.31 μg/g. ANOVA test showed that there is no significant difference among the mercury concentrations in the various parts of hairs. The mean daily mercury intake was 0.24 μg/kg/day. Age, fish consumption, city of residence, fishermen and non-fishermen family had a statistically significant effect on the daily mercury intake in the women but the number of dental amalgam filling variable had no significant effect on the daily mercury intake.
Conclusion: During the 6 month period that the study was conducted, the methyl mercury uptake in the women was steady. The daily intake of mercury in 23% of the women was exceeded JECFA guidelines. Also, according to possible risks for mercury exposure, it is necessary to study on mercury risk assessment, considering all possible routes for mercury exposure in these cities.