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.

Predicting the quality of water and air is a particular challenge for forecasting systems that support them. In order to represent the small-scale phenomena, a high-resolution model needs accurate capture of air and sea circulations, significant for forecasting environmental pollution. Data assimilation is one of the state of the art methods to be used for this purpose. Due to the importance of thermal structure in monitoring the variations of environmental phenomena, the present study has used Sea Surface Temperature (SST) in data assimilation method to optimize this parameter. SST is one of the most important factors to conduct researches on the ocean, the atmosphere, and their interaction, not to mention monitoring and forecasting air and ocean phenomena as well as commercial and fishing communities and weather forecasts. This study has aimed to present a satellite-derived SST based on pathfinder advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) data assimilating in FVCOM (finite volume community ocean model) on the Persian Gulf to examine the effect of data assimilation by using the Cressman scheme. The performance of this method has been compared to the optimal interpolation SST (OISST) data, via both visual comparisons and statistical parameters. Applying assimilation method improves correlation coefficient of the model from 0.92 to 0.99. Results demonstrate that the modeled SST has been completely reconstructed by the data assimilated experiment via the Cressman scheme for this region. The spatial and temporal pattern of SST reveals a significant improvement in the entire domain during the investigated period in the gulf.

Owing to environmentally-destructive impact of aromatic hydrocarbons, such as benzene, benzene ethyl, toluene, and xylenes or BTEXs, these materials are classified as hazardous pollutants in the air. This study studies cancer and non-cancer risk in District 12 of Tehran Municipality, through these components for two groups of employees or storekeepers and gas station customers. By measuring pollutant concentrations along with doing related calculations, the areas and gas stations of the study area with the highest risk have been found. Results show that Station 7, located in Zone 4, is one of the most dangerous spots in terms of cancer and non-cancer risk to employees or storekeepers in the area. Additionally, there is no risk of non-cancerous disease for the customers, using these stations, during their lifetime. Finally, the study proposes some solutions for making appropriate decisions, concerning the sustainable management plan.

The management of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in Nigeria and most developing countries has remained a major public health challenge, thus creating the need for reliable and environmentally-acceptable alternatives. This study focuses on composting assessment as a viable recovery alternative for MSW in six States of Southwest Nigeria, namely: Ekiti, Osun, Ondo, Ogun, Oyo, and Lagos. Extensive literature review has been carried out to understand the waste generation patterns in these states. Reported literature data has been assessed for sustainability of composting strategy in terms of organic waste streams, amenable of biotransformation as well as in terms of return through energy saving and material recovery. A life-cycle framework has been used to estimate GHG emissions, available nutrients, and potential compost production, instead of landfill in each region. Results show significant potential compost production of 895,659-, 255,267-, 153,423-, 117,468-, 113,094- and 112, 397-m3/yr for Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, and Ekiti, respectively. It has been deduced from the study that composting would be very beneficial to the economy as its product would boost agriculture production while reducing the budget spent on fertilizer annually.

In Nigeria irrigated agriculture is an important tool for economic growth, food security, and poverty reduction during dry periods of rain-fed agriculture. The concentration and composition of dissolved constituents in water determines its quality for irrigation use. Water quality studies strongly suggest that agriculture is a leading source of water quality problems, due to pesticides and other agro-inputs, widely used by farmers to improve agricultural productivity. Poor quality irrigation water would therefore obviously affect soil quality and crop productivity. This study was carried out in 2015 to assess the presence of metals and physical properties of water, used for irrigation in Kwara state, Nigeria. Samples were randomly collected from thirty irrigation sources in three senatorial zones of Kwara State. The samples were analyzed for the presence of metals and water quality parameters, using standard procedures. Results showed that the highest concentration of Sulphate (7.0mg/L), Nitrate (8.9mg/L), Sodium (31.6mg/L), Calcium (3.1mg/L), and Magnesium (0.7) ions were within acceptable limits. The Sodium Adsorption Ratio, an indicator for water suitability in agricultural irrigation as well as a standard diagnostic parameter for the sodicity hazard of a soil, was significantly the highest (22.7) in Kwara North. Results of the study point to the need for an effective irrigation water quality assessment to curb nonpoint source pollution that could be caused by improper use of chemicals and pesticides by farmers.

The present study attempts to introduce a method of statistical downscaling with a synoptic view. The precipitation data of Golestan Province has been used for the years 1971 to 2010. Employing multivariable regression, this study models the precipitation gauges in the station scale, by making use of 26 predicting components of model HadCM3, on the basis of two A2 and B2 scenarios. However, the minimum predicting components for precipitation in station scale included 26 components for one grid to 390 atmosphere circulation components for the 15 suggested grids. Nevertheless, results indicate minimum error, related to the precipitation models, based on projecting components of the studies of 15 grids. By applying this selected method, the precipitation gauges for 2020 to 2040 has been simulated. General results of the precipitation changes for the yearly decennial average of Golestan Province indicates additive stream of this component, based on both A2 and B2 scenarios. Yet this yearly decennial addition of precipitation go with seasonal and annual changes, i.e. getting drier in summer as well as its subsequent increase in draught issue on one hand, and increased centralization of precipitations in the winter and lack of its proper distribution during year on the other. As a result, changes in local patterns of precipitations throughout the province is promising for maximum increase of precipitation for the farthest southwest area of Golestan, greatly potential for decreasing precipitation of sub eastern area.

Organisms in aquatic environments are exposed to a number of pollutants such as pharmaceutical residues. As such, the aim of the present study is to achieve the Lethal Concentration (LC50) of Povidone-iodine (Betadine) for Cyprinus carpio. To do so, the study employs samples, weighing 4±1 [mean±SD] gr, and carries out an experiment in static condition. Based on OECD instructions, after a period of 4 days under controlled water, the physicochemical factors give the following results: pH= 8-8.3, BOD= 690 mg/l, total hardness= 210 mg, and CaCo3 and temperature= 17±0.1 °C. All fish are acclimatized for 10 days in an aquarium, 60×55×30 cm in size, which included the control group (no toxic concentration) as well as the treated aquariums, with Betadine concentration of 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, 140, 160, 180, 200, 400, and 600 mg/l. LC10, LC20, LC30, LC40, LC50, LC60, LC70, LC80, LC90, and LC95 have been measured for 6, 12, 18, and 24 hours. LC50 24h Betadine for C. carpio has been 158.273 ml/l, showing no mortality after 24 hours (i.e. 48h, 72h, and 96h). Results of the present study suggest that Betadine is practically nontoxic and not irritant at low concentrations for this species and it has a short half-life in aquatic environments.

The quick growth of vehicles is due to fast urbanization in mega cities during last decades. This phenomenon has serious impacts on air quality, as emission from mobile vehicles is the major source of air pollution. As a result, any attempt to reduce the emitted air pollutants is needed. This study aims at improving the fuel quality in transporting system with particular emphasis on taxis in Tehran in 2014. As a clean fuel, Euro IV is being used to reduce the emission of pollution, toxic substances, and greenhouse gases. A bottom-up approach to evaluate vehicular emission, using IVE (International Vehicle Emission) model in Tehran, has been presented, which employs the local vehicle technology and its distributions, vehicle soak distributions, power based driving factors, and meteorological parameters to evaluate the emission, itself.  Results show that the most abundant air pollutant (CO) has been reduced by 87.6% due to the clean fuel consumption (Euro IV). Also, the emission rates of the predominant toxic pollutant (Benzene) decreased by 98.7%. As a clean fuel, Euro IV managed to increase the emitted amount of CO2 and NH3. It can be concluded that upgrading transportation system with updated fuel quality is an essential step to improve air quality in Tehran.

The current study assesses critical condition of oil dispassion, considering the unsaturated soil condition dispersity behavior for oil dispersion. The numerical model is used as a finite element method to model the oil spill pollution with two different saturated and unsaturated soil conditions chosen and their pollution dispersion results compared. Extracted results from numerical model show that considering the form of unsaturated soil, by changing the matric suction its soil conductivity ratio will differ. Regarding the current study analysis, it has been observed that the pattern of oil dispersion in case of unsaturated soil can be changed, in comparison to saturated soil condition. The vertical penetration of oil pollution in both cases of saturated and unsaturated soil condition will be more than horizontal dispersion pollution speed.  As for oil pollution control in soil domain, the condition of unsaturated soil may be controllable, compared to the saturated one. Extracted results show that oil dispersion velocity, considering saturated soil, is more than 10 times greater than unsaturated one.

A four year long research programme divided into four phases has been designed for the first time to assess the combined Noise-Air quality and combined exposure to Noise-Air pollution at the curbside open-air microenvironment of Kolkata city, India. The results and the findings of the different phases of study had already been published. The objective of the review work is to fuse the findings of the different phases of studies; to identify the factor(s) influences the degree of correlation between concentration of the air pollutant(s) and traffic noise level at the microenvironment of the city. Incidence of moderate to very strong positive Pearson’s correlation coefficients between concentration of the air pollutant(s) and traffic noise level indicated chances of correlated exposure to these environmental stressors at the microenvironment of the city. Average combined Noise-Air quality and combined exposure to Noise-Air pollution of the microenvironment of the city was very poor (0.17) to fair (0.50) and poor (-0.06) to excellent (3.33) respectively. The best combined Noise-Air quality and the best level of combined exposure to Noise-Air pollution at the microenvironment of the city was prominently evidenced in after-noon, in summer and under variable road geometry. However, the worst combined Noise-Air quality and the worst level of combined exposure to Noise-Air pollution at the microenvironment of the city was prominently evidenced in evening, in winter and under constant road geometry. A principal component analysis revealed that intensity of wind determines the degree of correlation between the environmental stressors at the microenvironment.