Plastics, one of the most abundant materials in the world today, are one of the main sources of pollution. People’s perception of using and disposing plastic bags is primordial as they tend to be a major part of household solid waste. This study aims to determine community’s perception of usage and disposal of plastic bags in Eastern Ethiopia. A quantitative cross-sectional study has been conducted in Harar city of Eastern Ethiopia, using a multi-stage statistical sampling technique. The data concerning all variables have been collected via pretested questionnaire and observational checklist with a response rate of 91% which has then been into SPSS and analyzed by STATA 11.0. About 51% open dump their plastic bag wastes. It has been shown that the majority (88.7%) of the responders perceived plastic bags as having environmental impacts, with 82.8% feeling a growth in their plastic bags utilization and about 54% thinking that plastic bags should be banned. It has also been illustrated that perception of plastic bags' environmental impacts and the willingness to pay for solid waste collection service has an association with plastic bag utilization. This study has found that utilization and open dumping of plastic bags rests at a significantly higher level. Community’s perceptions regarding environmental impacts of plastic bags have been at a higher level, which still requires consideration. A considerably high number of residents believe that utilization of plastic bag should be continued; therefore, a great emphasis should be given to bringing the desired attitudinal change.

During the last decade, the expansion of urbanization and industrial activities caused serious environmental problems such as soil pollution. Novel technologies are required to remediate soil contamination with toxic contaminants, including heavy metals and organic pollutants. In recent years, there have been increasing attempts to improve soil remediation efficiency. Electrokinetic (EK) is an emerging remediation technology for mixed contaminants, especially in low hydraulic conductivity soils. During EK remediation process, an electric field is applied to the specimen to remove the contaminants from soil by means of electro-osmotic (EO), electro-migration (EM), and electrophoresis (EP) processes. The usual EK technique may have no suitable removal efficiency or contaminants migration. Thus, enhancement techniques or their combination with other technologies are required to overcome EK limitations, increasing its efficiency. The present study reviews seven main enhancement techniques combined with EK; they include using surfactant, chelants, complexing agents, soil pH control, bioremediation, permeable reactive barriers, and ultrasonication. It should be mentioned that, selecting the suitable combination technique highly depends on the soil type and the kind of contaminant.

Precipitation patterns are influenced by many factors, such as global atmospheric circulations to name but one. Precipitation patterns in Iran have always had great fluctuations even in a smaller scale like the Alburz Mountain Range. The present research has tried to find the relationship between global atmospheric patterns and the pervasive precipitation ones in Alburz. For doing so, 17 climate indices have been chosen with the correlation between these indices and the precipitation data calculated in different lag times, using a backward correlation method (from the present time to 3 months earlier). Based on the obtained correlation results, a regression modeling has been conducted that employs a backward method. As for each lag time, one equation has been offered to estimate the amount of precipitation for every single region. Results have shown that the Bivariate ENSO Time Series (BEST) and the East Pacific Oscillation (EPO) provide the highest correlation with the pervasive precipitation time series. Also, it has been demonstrated that in multivariate correlation, the efficient index to model the relation among these indices as well as precipitation in southern Alburz alters in each lag time. Both MBE and RMSE, employed to evaluate the modeling, show relatively acceptable values, implying that the equations are acceptably capable of predicting the amount of precipitation in both northern and southern Alburz.

The present study aims to analyze the existing indoor environmental conditions of Firozabad City along with its impact on people’s health by going through the correlative index of indoor environment’s determinant and different diseases, faced by the people. In order to measure spatial disparities, the statistical technique, i.e. the standard score additive model (Z- score), has been applied to develop a composite score for each set of indicators in order to arrive at the general environmental and health condition of the study area as a whole. The analysis reveals that high intensity of indoor pollution and disease are reported in peripheral and old parts of the city. Preventive measures, likely to have deleterious health effects and improve such harmful environmental conditions, should be adopted. Enhanced use of clean fuel and national uniform housing codes or guidelines that address factors, affecting indoor air quality, makes up the current need.

The present paper has determined the radioactivity concentrations, which are due to natural occurrence of radionuclides along with heavy metal concentration in water, sediment, and fish from 2 reservoirs in Ghana. Heavy metal concentrations in all samples were generally within the WHO safe limits with the average activity concentrations of 238U, 232Th, and 40K in water being respectively 0.42±0.20, 0.33±0.31, and 1.59±1.07 Bq/L in case of Lake Bosomtwe and 0.26±0.14, 0.67±0.34 and 1.47±0.62 Bq/L for Bui Dam in Ghana. The average annual effective dose due to ingestion of radionuclides in water ranged from 20.5 to 156 for Lake Bosomtwe and 26.5 to 162 μSv/year for Bui dam and the absorbed dose rate and annual effective dose, measured for Lake Bosomtwe, was 15.45±2.00 nGy/year and 18.95±2.95 mS/year respectively while in case of Bui dam it accounted to 10.44±4.11 nGy/year and 12.88±5.01 mS/year respectively, found to be within the UNSCEAR recommended limits of 59 nGy/year and 100 mS/year respectively. The observed metal concentrations, within safety limits, imply that metal-associated diseases cannot be expected among patrons of these reservoirs. Therefore, radionuclides and heavy metals levels in the reservoirs are not expected to cause any significant health problem for humans.

Urban horticulture is of growing importance in developing and developed countries around the world; however, contamination of urban horticultural products can exceed the precautionary values, posing significant human health risks due to dietary exposure to high levels of the pollutants. In this study, samples of rhizosphere soil and corresponding vegetables have been collected from an urban garden in Ilorin, Nigeria, to assess the contamination level of trace metals as well as the health risk, associated with dietary intake of contaminated vegetables, in adult sub-population. The range of Cu, Pb, and Cd in garden topsoil was 14.0-52.50, 33.00-121.40, and 1.00-4.50 mg/kg, respectively. The metals sources were both anthropogenic and lithogenous, though the long-term accumulation of trace metals in the soil led to significant soil-plant transfer as evident in the levels of metals in some of the vegetables. The estimated daily intakes (EDI) of Cu and Pb through vegetable consumption were far below the recommended tolerable daily intakes (TDI) and the hazard quotient (HQ) values were within the safe zone for the adult population. In contrast, the EDI of Cd for the vegetables was several folds greater than the TDI, thus greatly contributing to a high hazard index (HI>1.0), observed in all vegetables. Therefore, risk assessment of trace metal ingestion through consumption of the vegetables in the adult sub-population depicts serious health hazards with Cd, mainly contributing to vegetable contamination in the studied area.

The present study investigates the accumulation of vanadium, iron, and nickel in different depths of soil in collection sites of oil sludge, in Masjed Soleyman Oil and Gas Exploitation Company, located in Choob Sorkh Region. To conduct the research, four sampling points have been selected at the mentioned site, with one sampling point chosen outside the site, as the clean area. Soil sampling has been carried out at depths of 50 and 100 cm, using an auger. All samples are measured to evaluate heavy metals, according to the standard method of Inductive Coupled Plasma (ICP) spectroscopy. The parameters of pH, EC, density, and organic compounds have also been measured. Results have shown that EC, TOM, and density of the soil in the collection site of oil sludge were relatively higher than the reference site. In addition, statistical analysis has shown that electrical conductivity and organic compounds were influenced by the discharge of oil sludge. The mean concentrations of Ni, V, and Fe in both depths (50 cm and 100 cm) of the four studied plots were 68.8 mg/kg, 46.3 mg/kg, and 53565 mg/kg, respectively, indicating that Ni concentration is more than the acceptable limits in the soil. Although, the amounts of V (36.3 mg/kg), Ni (62 mg/kg), and Fe (19416 mg/kg) in the reference site were lower than the studied oil sludge accumulation site. Thus the study area is a place for the accumulation of oil sludge, since the high concentration of heavy metals can be attributed to human interference.

With a mean precipitation rate, much lower than that of the world, Iran is among the countries that face severe water challenges. The present study has dealt with the evaluation of hydrochemistry of Faryab spring water in Hormozgan Province, Iran. Four different composite water samples have been analyzed to detect major anions, cations, total dissolved solids, electrical conductivity, pH, and sodium absorption ratio. The dominant water type was detected as sodium-chloride, with remarkable high concentration of sodium and chloride ions that makes it unfit for drinking purposes. Regarding irrigation use, high values of electrical conductivity (29989 to 31983 µS/cm) and sodium absorption ratio (SAR) (58.1 to 61) indicate a very high risk level for salinity and sodium alkali hazards, respectively. Abundance of secondary minerals such as halite and gypsum is considered to be the main reason for remarkably-high TDS values. Intensity of salt domes within the area would also facilitate solution/dissolution process of Na+ and Cl- into water column.

Dust particles have dangerous impacts on human health, the environment, and the economy. Recently dust storms, originating from Arabian countries, have increased remarkably, affecting western and central parts of Iran.HYSPLIT model and the mean monthly maps of AAI (Absorbing Aerosol Index), surface skin temperature, and top soil layer moisture from OMI (Ozone Measurement Instrument) have been used to study the origins and trajectories of suspended particles of dust storms from wind erosion during the warm period in 2010.According to HYSPLIT Model, during their move from their source areas to the downwind ones, dust particles could arrive at city of Ahvaz in different directions: (a) NW-SE (the dust particles are transported from north western region of Iraq and eastern Syria), (b) W-E (the dust particles are transported from central parts of Iraq to the south western and western parts of Iran). Also, inspecting dust emission potential with the aerosol index data from Ozone Measurement Instrument (OMI) shows a persistent intense dust activity in north western parts of Iraq and eastern Syria, hitting South-West of Iran, especially the city of Ahvaz. As a result, the main origins of dust particles in the city of Ahvaz include north west Iraq as well as east Syria.

The present study investigates an NF process for removal of copper and hexavalent chromium, studying the effect of pH (5, 7, 9) as well as contaminants' concentration (50, 500, 5000 µg/L) at a constant pressure of 8 bar; with the recovery rate, regulated at 75±2%. To determine the main factors, affecting the system performance, and evaluate the interaction effects among the factors, the experiment is designed via RSM Method. The chrome shows a higher rejection, compared with Copper, all over the range of investigated factors. As Copper concentration grows, Cu removal efficiency drops while, the Cr (VI) removal efficiency ascends. Also by increasing chrome concentration, the Cu removal efficiency decreases, while Cr (VI) removal efficiency increases. Results show that with an increase in pH, the Cu removal drops and Cr removal is increased. The pH is the main parameter, influencing the removal rate. It has been found that the maximum removal efficiency is up to 99% and 73% for Cr (VI) and Cu, respectively. There is an adequate agreement between real data and that obtained from the models (R2 was found to be 0.9889 and 0.9664, for Cu and Cr (VI) rejection, respectively).