Iranian Journal of

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Background and Objectives : Propylene glycol is the main compound of anti-freezing chemicals. A significant amount of propylene glycol is released to the environment after application and contaminates the soil. The main objective of this study was to determine the biological removal of propylene glycol from wastewater and its degradation in soil by the isolated bacteria from activated sludge process.
Materials and Methods: In the present study, the sludge taken from the return flow in a local activated sludge treatment system was used as the initial seed. The performance of the bioreactor in treating the wastewater was evaluated at four different retention times of 18, 12, 6 and 4 h all with the inlet COD concentration of 1000 mg/L. This phase lasted around 4 months. Then, a part of the adapted microorganisms were transported from the bioreactor to the soil which was synthetically contaminated to the propylene glycol.
Results: The average of propylene glycol removal efficiency from the wastewater in detention times of 18, 12, 8 and 4 h in steady state conditions was 98.6%, 97.1%, 86.4% and 62.2% respectively. Also, the maximum degradation in soil was found to be 97.8%.
Conclusion: According to the results obtained from this study, it appears that propylene glycol is inherently well biodegradable and can be biodegraded in liquid phase and soil after a short period of adaptation.

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Backgrounds and Objectives: True cholera with typical clinical features nearly always occurs by serologic groups O1 and O139 but the non-O1 group can produce a disease with same clinical characteristic sporadically. According to the important of climate and environmental conditions in the distribution and abundance of Vibrio cholera, in this study, the distribution of the serologic group was evaluated in different parts of Qom city with relation to the affected patients.
Materials and Methods: In this study 5220 environmental specimens were taken from 12 parts of Qom city and during different seasons of the year 1325, 60 clinical specimens were taken from the patients and all were evaluated for Vibrio cholera with standard methods. The study was of Descriptive and cross sectional and the results were analyzed with statistical soft ware (Epi-info).
Results: The most abundance of Nag strains were related to Emamzadeh Ebrahim and Sheikhabad parts and Shahed Street from Khak faraj and Niroogah area and the least abundance were related to Salariyeh area. The abundance distribution of Nag strain, 7 different specimens was most in hogwash, sewerage and vegetables and least in pipe water which reveal a significant difference (P< 0.05) according to statistical goodness of fit test. The frequency distribution of the patients in each part of area 4 with relevance to sex revealed that the most contamination percentage was attributed to Emamzadeh Ebrahim and Sheikhabad and Shahed from Niroogah area and no positive specimen was taken from Haftado-do-tan and Shahrdary areas.
Conclusion: According to high occurrence of the disease in same areas, and results from other researchers based on increased frequency of non-O1 strains in the environment during the epidemic, so can release a connection between Vibrio cholera O1 strains and non-O1 strains to conclude. On the other hand, none of the clinical and environmental samples, Vibrio cholera O1 was isolated, so probably human carriers in Qom, not the main factor is the emergence of this disease.

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Backgrounds and Objectives: Oil pollution can be generated as a result of spillage, leakage, discharge, exploration, production, refining, transport and storage of crude oil and fuels in the environment. Consequently, many researchers have developed and studied the chemical, physical and biological methods to degrade crude oil. Among them, the biological treatments are the most interesting as they are simple and economical methods. The aim of this study was to determine biokinetic coefficients of crude oil degradation by pseudomonas aerogenusa. This microorganism was isolated in our previous work.
Materials and Methods: In this study the bio-kinetic coefficients of crude oil biodegradation were evaluated. Pseudomonas aerogenusa bacteria which had been isolated from the soil sample taken from a gas station in our previous work were used in this study. This microorganism was cultured in the liquid medium containing crude oil as sole carbon source. Finally with determining the amount of microorganisms and crude oil concentration during biodegradation process, the bio-kinetic coefficients based on modified Monod equation were calculated.
Results: bio-kinetic coefficients obtained from laboratory studies are vital factors in industrial applications. As a result, the bio-kinetic study was performed to find bio-kinetic coefficients for biodegradation of crude oil using the isolated bacteria. The results showed that ,Y, k and were equal 0.107 , 0.882 , 9.39 and 169.3 respectively.
Coculusion:Our results showed that pseudomonas aerogenusa is usable for treatment of oily wastewaters in the full scale facility. Results of this study indicated bio kinetics confections.

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Bachgrounds and Objectives: Oil, gas and petrochemical are known as important sources of air pollutants and emission of green house gases. About 99 percent of sulfur dioxide in the air is produced from human resources. Although several samples have been taken from industries and refineries' output by environmental experts and private companies, but accurate assessment is not available based on pollutant emissions on product levels (emission coefficients) and on the total amount of the annual emission which, can be used as basic modeling of air pollution and planning.
Materials and Methods: This study was cross sectional and the output of the chimney measured with Testo 350 XL system. Performance standard was determined based on ASTM D6522 EPACTMO30-41. The amounts of sulfur dioxide were measured from Tehran oil refinery's outlet from the beginning of the march 2007 till the year 2008 for 20 months. Sampling was carried out on averaged range (9 am to 14 pm).
Results: The results showed that Northern Distillation unit produced pollutants' concentration more than 3 times in the southern Distillation unit. An emission of pollutants from Northern unit was, 2.8 times higher than the Southern unit. The northern emission factor was 5.6 times higher than the value obtained from southern unit. The Concentration, emissions and coefficient of sulfur dioxide in North catalyst convert unit were more than 2 times in comparison with the same South unit. These three factors in northern concentration breakers unit were 3, 2.6 and 2.6 times higher than the Southern concentration breakers unit‚ respectively.
Discussion: Emission rate in all northern units is 2 to 3 times more than similar southern units. The production volumes in northern units are higher than the southern units and the southern units designed properly to remove more pollutants .The use of new technologies in production processes and application of the latest scientific resources can play a major role on pollutants' reduction.

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MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Background and Objectives:The poor accessibility of microorganisms to PAHs in soil has limited success in the process of bioremediation as an effective method for removing pollutants from soils. Different physicochemical factors are effective on the rate of biodegradation. The main objective of this study is to assess effects of nutrient and salinity on phenanthrene removal from polluted soils.
Materials and Methods:The soil having no organic and microbial pollution was first artificially polluted with phenanthrene then nutrients and salinity solution in two concentrations were added to it in order to have the proportion of 10% w:v (soil: water). After that a microbial mixture enable to degrade phenanthrene was added to the slurry and was aerated. Finally, the residual concentration of Phenanthrene in the soil was extracted by ultrasonic and was analyzed using GC. We measured the microbial populationusing MPN test. This study was conducted based on the two level full factorial design of experiment.
Results: MPN test showed that the trend of microbial growth has experienced a lag growth. The full factorial design indicated that nutrient had the maximum effect on bioremediation the rate of phenanthrene removal in the maximum nutrients - minimum salinity solution was 75.14%.
Conclusion: This study revealed that the more nutrient concentration increases, the more degradation will be happened by microorganisms in the soils. However, salinity in the concentration used had no effect on inhabitation or promoting on the Phenanthrene removal.

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Background and Objectives: Soil pollution by oil compounds is a serious environmental and ground water problem throughout the world. Total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) are a combination of many distinctive compounds. Some of these compounds in exposure with human and animal can cause cancer, disorder central nervous system, liver and lungs affects. The objective of this research was to investigate gasoline removal (C10 – C 28) using Brij 35 and Tween 80 from polluted soil. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, the efficiency of soil washing with nonionic surfactants (Brij 35, Tween 80) for remediation of gasoline polluted soils was studied. The effects of soil washing time, agitation, surfactant concentration, and pH on the removal efficiency were studied. Results: The results showed that gasoline removal efficiency increased with increasing agitation speed and washing time. In addition, it was found that removal efficiency of gasoline was decreased by increasing surfactant concentration. But, increasing pH did not have remarkable effect on removal efficiency of gasoline. The efficiencies of Tween 80 and Brij 35 for removal of gasoline under optimal condition were 70 -80 and 60- 65% respectively. Conclusion: The results showed that soil washing with non ionic surfactants was effective in removal of gasoline from polluted soil and it can be recommended for treating surface soil polluted.

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Background and Objectives: In arid and semi-arid regions, wastewater reuse has become an important element in agriculture. However, irrigation with this resource can be either beneficial or harmful, depending on the wastewater characteristics. The aim of this research was to investigate the soil bacterial and crops quality irrigated with treated wastewater. Material and Methods: This research was conducted on a maize field near the wastewater treatment plant in Shahr-e-kord in summer,2011. Plots were arranged in a randomized complete block design in 3 replications and 2 treatments, well water (W1) with fertilizer and effluent (W2). Results: At the end of growth season, soil samples were collected from depth of 0-5 and 5-15 cm and plant samples consisting of old and new leaves and seeds were collected for bacteriological analysis. According to bacteriological analysis, total number of positive lactose bacteria, total and fecal coliforms in depth of 0-5 cm was 42% more than depth of 5-15 cm. In the case of old leaves, total number of coliform and fecal coliform was 88 and 40 MPN/100 mL respectively. Moreover, for new leaves, it was 38 and 2 MPN/100 ml respectively. Conclusion: According the results, number of indicator bacteria in soil is decreased (about 35%) by passing time.

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Background and Objective:Application of compost containing heavy metals can increase the concentration of metals in soil and groundwater. Therefore,the aim of this study was to investigate leaching lead, chromium,and cadmium from three soils (a sandy loam, a sandy clay loam and silt clay loam) amended with compost from the municipal solid waste. Material andMethod:First, the selected soils were repacked into columns (with an inner diameter of 100mm and a height of 600mm). Treatments included(a) low metal content compost (LMCC), (b) enriched metal content compost (EMCC) and (c) control. Then soil columns were incubated at room temperature for 9 days and were irrigated daily with deionized water to make a total of a 250 mm. Leachates were collected and analyzed for pH, EC, Pb, Cr, and Cd concentration. Results: It was found that the application ofEMCCwas significant (p≤0/05) on reducing pH, increasing electrical conductivity and leakage of metalscompared withcontrolin all three soils. But application of LMCC was not significant (p≥0/05) on the metals leaching compared withcontrolin all three soils. The overall quantities of metals leached followed the sandy loam> sandy clay loam> silt clay loam. Conclusion: The concentration of metals in the leachates depended on the soil characteristics and on the type of compost added to the soil. Therefore,application of enriched metal content compost on the soils containinga high percentage ofsandmay pose a risk in terms of groundwater contamination with heavy metals.

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Background and objectives: Because of problems dealing with bioremediation including being time consuming, low efficiency and toxicity to biota, application of advanced oxidation processes with higher efficiency and shorter remediation time have been considered for removal of hydrophobic hydrocarbons from contaminated soils. A great interest has been directed to Fenton oxidation because of its simplicity and high oxidation potential. The objective of this study was to determine the Fenton-like oxidation efficiency for pyrene removal from soil using iron nano oxides and Fe²⁺. Material and Methods: The H₂O₂/Fe molar ratios of unadjusted with native Fe content of soil, 10, and 20 H2O2 concentrations of 0 – 500 mM pH 3, 5, and 7 and soil samples containing Fe²⁺, native iron and iron nano oxides were investigated for removal of 100 mg/kg pyrene according to Taguchi experimental design. Results: Fe²⁺, H₂O₂/Fe molar ratio of 20, pH 3 and H₂O₂ concentration of 500 mM were determined as optimum conditions. Under optimum conditions, S/N ratio increased to 39.322 and the pyrne removal reached to 86 % for Fe²⁺ and 83 % for Fe³⁺ respectively, after 2 hours of reaction time and pH 3. Conclusion: Fenton oxidation using iron nano oxides under defined optimum conditions and neutral pH, can be a suitable alternative to conventional Fenton for remediation of soils contaminated with pyrene.

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Background and Objective: Petroleum hydrocarbons are a bunch of pollutants hazardous to the environment. Nowadays, biodegradation of petroleum contaminants is considered as one of the most efficient and most cost effective methods of removing oil contamination from the environment. The main objective of this study is to investigate the potential of cyanobacterium Schizothrix vaginata ISC108 in the biodegradation of crude oil and to evaluate oil effects on growth rates, dry weight, and chlorophyll content. Material and Methods: In this experimental study, the cyanobacterium Schizothrix vaginata ISC108 was obtained from the algal culture collection of Research Institute of Applied Science, ACECR, Tehran, Iran. First, purification of the cyanobacterium was performed using agar plate method on solid medium of BG11. Growth rate, chlorophyll content and dry weight of cyanobacteriaum was measured using spectrophotometry method. The biodegradation rate of crude oil was calculated using gas chromatography (GC) analysis. Results: Measuring the growth rate of cyanobacterium Schizothrix vaginata at 1% treatment of crude oil and control samples showed that the growth of cyanobacterium in the presence of crude oil as the sole carbon source increases at the same rate as the control sample. Moreover, it was found that increasing the concentration of crude oil will result in increasing dry weight of Schizothrix vaginata however, and the chlorophyll content reduced in various crude oil treatments. The average biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbon after 14 and 28 days of treatment was 54.78 and 93.98% respectively. Conclusions: It was found that cyanobacterium Schizothrix vaginata ISC108 has great potential in biodegradation of crude oil. Therefore, since oil is a product toxic to biological systems and is one of the main pollutants of bioecosystem, it has a great potential to be used as an indicator to eliminate pollution in contaminated areas.

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Background & Objectives: Remaining crude oil in storage tanks lead to accumulation of oily sludge at the bottom of the tank, which should be treated and disposed of in a suitable manner. The aim of the present study was to investigate the efficiency of chemical oxidation using H₂O₂ and Fenton’s reagent in removal of Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) from bottom sludge of crude oil storage tanks. Materials & methods: In this experimental study, hydrogen peroxide and Fenton’s reagent were added to the sludge in six concentrations including 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30% (w w^-1) and TPH was measured for a period of 24 and 48 h of reaction time. The oxidants were added in a single and stepwise addition way, both to the pristine and saturated sludge. The elemental analysis of sludge and TPH measurement were carried out using ICP and TNRCC methods respectively. Results: The mean TPH removal of 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30% oxidant concentrations were 1.55, 9.03, 23.85, 33.97, 41.23, and 53.03%, respectively. The highest removal efficiency was achieved in stepwise addition to the saturated sludge. Increasing oxidation time from 24 to 48 h had a little effect on increase in TPH removal. Moreover, the removal efficiency of H₂O₂ and Fenton was nearly similar. Conclusions: Mere application of chemical oxidation is not capable of complete treatment of the sludge but it is an effective process as a pre-treatment step for decreasing toxicity and increasing its biodegradability.

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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 Objectives: one of the most important environmental concerns is heavy metals emissions from human activities to natural ecosystems, particularly transfer to soil. The aims of this study were measured the concentrations of Cu, Zn and Cr in landfill soil and hospital waste ash of Shahrekord municipal solid waste landfill. Materials and Methods: Soil samples were collected from three sites: out of the landfill, municipal landfill and hospital landfill. In each site 2, 1, and 1 stations ware selected respectively and each sample was replicated in three times. Results: We found that there was a significant difference between concentrations of Cu, Zn and Cr in the landfills soil (95% confidence, P <0.05). Furthermore, the highest levels of Zn and Cu were detected in the hospital landfill and also for Cr in the municipal landfills. However, the concentration levels of heavy metals in all of the sites were in order as follows: Zn>Cu>Cr. Conclusion: High concentrations of metals determined in the present study represents the high application of these metals in the structure of municipal and hospital solid wastes and also their inaccurate separation. Thus, awareness about physical and chemical characteristics of municipal and hospital wastes and also the landfill soil is necessary for evaluating their effects on the soil quality and surrounding environments.

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Background and Objectives: Over the past few decades, the entry of pollutants, especially PAHs compounds in natural ecosystems such as lakes and open water for aquatic organisms has created potential environmental hazards. This study aimed to investigate the extent and pattern of bioaccumulation of pyrene oil pollution in muscle, gill, and liver of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) cultured in vitro. Materials and Methods: thirty fishes with mean weight of 140±10g were exposed to 10, 50, and 100 µg/l pyrene. At the end of the 35 days trial period, fish were sampled in order to study the pyrene accumulation in different tissues. Preparing process of samples include soaping, extracting, and two-phase chromatography and finally injecting samples to the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Results: Comparison between bioaccumulation of pyrene in muscle, gill, and liver tissues of cyprinus carpio in 10, 50, and 100 µg/l doses showed significant differences. Maximum average accumulation was in liver (dose100) with 685.67 ± 78.5 and the minimum was in muscle in dose 10 with 0.52 ±. 0.13 pyrene’s accumulation trend was the same in all studied doses: liver>gill>muscle. Conclusion: In the present study, pyrene accumulated in fatty tissue, especially liver-acceptor of all of the oil pollutants- was far more than of gills and muscle.

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Background & Objectives: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are considered as important organic contaminants due to their high toxicity and carcinogenic properties. Among PAHs, phenanthrene is found in most contaminated sites. Sorption and desorption of phenanthrene in soil affect the fate of the contaminant in soil-water system. Presence of organic matter (OM) in the soil matrix can also affect sorption and desorption of phenantherene. In this research, effect of soil organic matter on sorption of phenanthrene in kaolin soil was studied. Materials & Methods: The sorption of sorption of phenanthrene in kaolin clay was assessed in the presence and absence of organic matter. These two soil types were used in batch sorption experiments of Phenanthrene to determine the sorption properties. Results: It was found that organic matter increases the cation exchange capacity, water content, and pH of the soil. Sorption of phenantherene in both kaolin and OM-added kaolin was better fitted with Freundlich linear model. Moreover. soil organic matter increased phenanthrene sorption in soil. Conclusion: It was observed that with 41.04% increase in OM, distribution coefficient of phenanthrene sorption in soil increased by 36.69%.

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Background and Objectives: Remaining of crude oil in storage tanks usually results in accumulating oily sludge at the bottom of the tank, which should be treated and disposed of in a suitable manner. The efficiency of in-vessel composting process in removing total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) from bottom sludge of crude oil storage tanks was investigated in the present study.

Material and methods: The sludge was mixed with immature compost at the ratios of 1:0 (as control), 1:2, 1:4, 1:6, 1:8, and 1:10 (as dry basis) with the initial C:N:P and moisture content of 100:5:1 and 55% respectively for a period of 10 weeks. The moisture adjustment and mixing process were done 3 times a day during the composting period. Sampling and analysis of TPH and pH were done every week and every two days, respectively.

Results: TPH removal in the 1:2, 1:4, 1:6, 1:8, and 1:10 composting reactors was 66.59, 73.19, 74.81, 80.20, and 79.91%, respectively. Thus, initial adjustment of sludge to immature compost ratios plays a great role in reduction of TPH. The results of the control reactors indicated that the main mechanism of TPH removal in the composting reactors was biological process.

Conclusions: In-vessel composting by addition of immature compost as amendment is a viable choice for bioremediation of the bottom sludge of crude oil storage tanks.

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Background and purpose: Soil contamination resulted from either natural or anthropogenic factors reduces environmental quality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the geoaccumulation, contamination factor, and principal component analysis indices to estimate topsoil contamination in Aran-Bidgol town.

Materials and methods: 135 topsoil samples were collected from Aran-Bidgol town and the metal concentrations of Cd, Pb, Ni, Cu, and Zn in each sample were determined. The index of geoaccumulation (Igeo), contamination factor (CF), and principal component analysis (PCA) techniques were applied to determine  the status and trends of soil contamination in this region. The inverse distance weighting (IDW) was then used to map these soil contamination indices.

Results: The research found that the means concentrations of Cd, Pb, Ni, Zn, and Cu were 0.72, 11.41, 29.87, 48.59, and 14.82 mg/kg respectively all exceeded the background values. Mean Igeo and CF of elements followed the order: Cu> Cd> Ni> Zn≈ Pb. The Igeo and CF maps showed higher values of Cd, Pb, and Zn in areas near industrial estates, brick kilns, and urban areas whereas higher levels of Cu and Ni occurred in urban and agricultural areas. According to the PCA index, two principal components were identified that Cu, Ni and Zn were highly loaded in PC1 and Cd and Pb occurred in PC2.

Conclusion: Results indicated that the concentration of Pb and Cd are mostly affected by human activities, whereas Ni, Zn, and Cu contents are controlled by both anthropogenic and natural sources.

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Background and Objective: Considering the environmental problems raised from current plastic packaging, edible and biodegradable films could be developed and also be effective in controlling the chemical and microbial properties of food especially if their effect be strengthened by adding natural antioxidant and antimicrobial agents like herbal essential oils. This study aimed at assessing the effect of packaging with chitosan film containing garlic essential oil on the chemical changes of chicken fillet during storage at refrigeration temperature.

Materials and Methods: Different levels of garlic essential oil (0, 0.5, 1 and 2%) were used in chitosan film preparation. Through casting method and using glycerol as plasticizer and tween 80 as emulsifier, different films were prepared after homogenization and molding. Chemical tests were conducted in days 0, 2, 4, 7, 10, and 14 on chicken fillets covered with different films and stored at 4 °C. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software.

Results: Samples covered with different films showed lower values for pH, total volatile nitrogen (TVN), Thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARs), and peroxide index (P.V) compared with controls during the study (p ≤ 0.05). Generally, a dose-dependent trend was observed by essential oil addition.

Conclusion: Chicken packaging with chitosan film especially by adding various levels of garlic essential oil could had a preventive effect on major chemical spoilage factors. Considering the relatively similar preventive effect of 1 and 2 % essential oil levels and also economic aspects, optimum dose for essential oil could be 1 % in the film.

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Background and Objectives: Perchlorate, as an emerging contaminant, has attracted notice of the most individuals and organizations. Presence of perchlorate in the human body can lead to inappropriate regulation of metabolism in adults. Moreover, due to inhibition of iodide uptake in the thyroid gland, it causes neurological and behavioral problems in infants and children. United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has enacted 15 µg/L perchlorate in drinking water as a guideline value. Regarding the possible sources and potential presence of perchlorate in the environment of the study area, and the unique characteristics of this pollutant, such as extreme water solubility, high mobility in soils and stability in the environment, the status of its contamination was assessed in soil, surface water and drinking water in the study area (Khorramshahr County).

Materials and Methods:  Soil and water samples were taken during February to April, 2013. Combined sampling was used for soil sample collection and the random sampling was used for water (surface and drinking water) samples. Each sample was analyzed using ion chromatography. In this study, 15 samples of surface soil and 22 samples of surface and drink water were tested for perchlorate analysis.

Results: It was found that all surface soil and water samples collected from the study area were contaminated with perchlorate and exceed the standard level. Concentration of perchlorate in surface water and drinking water was 1400-5800 and 700-5900 µg/L respectively and in surface soils was 3.3-107.9 mg/kg.

Conclusion: The assessment of perchlorate in soil, surface water, and drinking water in the study area is extremely higher than recommended standards and therefore is a threat to the health of consumers.

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Background and Objective: The contamination of soils and plants with heavy metals is a serious and growing problem. The present study aimed to determine the concentration of heavy metals in soil and some agricultural products and the probability of risks due to their consumption.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was performed using random sampling at harvest time in 2014 on 205 samples of vegetable crops (Leek, chard, parsley, watermelon, melon, tomatoes, cucumber, potatoes, onion, garlic, radish, green peas, and broad bean) and 129 samples of soils under cultivation. Concentrations of Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb in soil and plant samples were determined by an atomic absorption instrument and the data was analyzed using SPSS software.

Results: There were significant differences between the mean concentrations of Pb, Cu, and Zn for different vegetables (P<0.001), but no significant difference was observed for Cd. The highest mean levels of Pb, Cd, Cu, and Zn were detected in parsley, chard, broad bean, and leek respectively. However, there was no heavy metal pollution in the remainder of the vegetables and soil samples (with the exception of agricultural soils adjacent to the lead mine of Mahneshan area) studied. Hazard probability (HQ) of each element for cancerous diseases was less than unit and the intake of heavy metals was lower than the Provisional Tolerable Daily Intake (PTDI).

Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that major accumulation of heavy metals was obtained in leafy vegetables. Therefore, much attention should be paid to consumption of leafy vegetables, especially vegetables grown in the surrounding industrial areas.