Journal of Behdasht dar Arseh (i.e., Health in the Field)

Background and Aims: Waste management is one of the ways to reduce the environmental and health effects of human activities, however sometimes it causes environmental and health problems. Therefore, knowing the quality and quantity of pollutants released from waste management facilities will make its remedial solutions more effective. In this study, the air concentration of particulate matter (PM) in Aradkooh waste management facility of Tehran and its surrounding area was investigated.

Methods and material: In this cross-sectional study, PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ were measured with a portable analyzer and samples were taken from 5 points inside and 3 points outside the waste management facility. The sampling was in the summer of 2020 in two consecutive weeks. Ethical considerations were observed in all stages of the study.

Results: The mean values of PM_2.5 were significantly different by sampling site (p value <0.05). The mean values of PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ in processing unit were higher than other points and were 405 and 1048 µg/m³, respectively. The mean values of PM_2.5 in Shurabad and Mahdiabad were 25 and 35 µg/m³, respectively. The mean values of PM in most cases violated the standard of ambient air quality in Iran.

Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it was not possible to determine the specific origin of PM, but it seemed that in addition to waste management operations, other factors such as traffic, local dust and unknown sources affected the concentration of PM. The results showed that the environmental protection measures inside and around the waste management facility is essential to reduce air pollution, especially PM.

Background and Aims: Bioterrorism is an important health issue all over the world. Rapid identification and preparation in dealing with bioterrorism attacks are the best methods of defense against bioterrorism. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the knowledge and organizational readiness of health care providers in dealing with bioterrorist attacks.

Materials and Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study conducted by census and with the informed participation of all health care providers of Bukan health center with 105 people. In order to do the work, a researcher-made questionnaire was used in three sections: demographic, knowledge (16 questions) and organizational readiness (14 questions). The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by the faculty members Shahid Beheshti University, School of Public Health and Safety. Cronbach's alpha test was used to determine the reliability of the questionnaire in two areas of knowledge and organizational readiness for 20 samples. Cronbach's alpha of the questionnaire was (70.9% and 76.4%), respectively, and SPSS v. 21 software was used for data analysis.

Results Organizational readiness of health care providers in dealing with bioterrorism attacks was 23.6%. In addition, awareness of bioterrorism and biological defense was 89.5% with maximum score in fighting bioterrorism equal to 89.5% and minimum score in recognizing bioterrorism equal to 67.6%. There was a direct and statistically significant relationship between awareness and work experience (p=0.022).

Conclusion: The results of the present study can be helpful in managing health policy makers in order to do educational interventions to promote participation in health management, performance and integration of front-line forces against bioterrorism in the community.

Background and Aims: Today, the widespread use of antibiotics in the treatment of various infections leads to the accumulation of these substances in water and wastewater which in turn causes numerous environmental and health issues. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of TiO₂/SiO₂/rGO photocatalyst in removing erythromycin as a representative antibiotic from aqueous solutions.

Materials and Methods: The present study is an experimental-applied research. TiO₂/SiO₂/rGO nanoparticles were synthesized as a photocatalyst by sol-gel method and were characterized using different techniques such as FE-SEM, XRD, FT-IR, EDS and TEM. The effects of pH, photocatalyst dose, H₂O₂ concentration and reaction time on the photochemical removal process of erythromycin were studied. The removal efficiency was determined by UV-Vis spectroscopy at 298 nm.

Results: The characterization results well confirmed the synthesis of TiO₂ and SiO₂ nanoparticles in the range of 20 to 25 nm on the surface of reduced graphene oxide nanoparticles. The results of optimization showed that the process of photocatalytic degradation of 25 mg/L erythromycin at pH = 7.4, 30 mg nanocomposite, 5 mg/L H₂O₂ for 140 min irradiation was complete. In comparison, in the presence of TiO₂ nano photocalyst less than 4% of the pollutant degradation was achieved in the above conditions.

Conclusion: The results showed that the synthesized TiO₂/SiO₂/rGO nanocomposite is an effective catalyst in the process of photocatalytic degradation of erythromycin from aqueous solutions and the proposed method are more cost-effective than similar methods.

Background and Aims: Breakfast plays an important role in maintaining adolescent health. Health literacy is one of the biggest determinants of health, and is always on the path between education and health.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between health literacy and the effect of educational intervention on breakfast consumption in students.

Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was performed on 440 high and low health literate students by observing ethical criteria (approval of the ethics committee of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, permission of the Ministry of Education and written consent of the participants). Six schools were selected that were socially and economically similar and not located in the same neighborhood. After assessing the level of health literacy of students with HELMA questionnaire, three schools sub-group of intervention and three schools of control sub-group (high health literacy-intervention, high health literacy-control, low health literacy-intervention, low health literacy-control) were randomly considered. The TPB breakfast questionnaire was distributed before, immediately, and two months after the educational intervention among four subgroups. The educational intervention was performed through lectures, group discussions, questions and answers.

Results: The mean score of TPB constructs in the intervention subgroups compared to the control subgroups increased significantly after the intervention, so that this ratio was significant. The effect of educational intervention in the subgroup of high health literacy intervention was higher than the subgroup of low literacy health intervention.

Conclusion: The results of this study showed that educational intervention in people with excellent health literacy is more effective than people with limited health literacy.

Background and Aims: Lifestyle and standards of living, consumption of goods and services, and economy are the most important factors in the rate and amount of household waste production. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in the pattern of household waste production before and after the corona outbreak in Mazandaran province.

Materials and Methods: In the present cross-sectional descriptive study, a multi-stage online electronic questionnaire was sent and completed by the authors' accounts to people who had access to social networks and Internet from December 22, 2020 to Janurary 17, 2021. To evaluate the reliability of the questionnaire, test-retest and Cronbach's alpha coefficient were used and the data were analyzed using SPSS software version 33. Ethics in research and confidentiality of answers were given on the first page of questionnaire.

Results: There was a significant difference between the living environment and production of waste before and after the pandemic. Furthermore, there was no statistically significant difference between the amount of waste production among households and the frequency and volume of purchases (p <0.05). One-way analysis of ANOVA showed that there was no significant difference between the frequency of waste production before and after quarantine for the parameters of gender and level of education and occupation of participants and the volume of generated waste.

Conclusion: The results showed that the amount of household waste production during the corona outbreak in the study area had increased between 20 to 80% in contrast to different countries. Nevertheless, no significant difference was observed in the amount of household waste production after the pandemic which could be assigned to the inflation effects and consumer price index with regard to the food.

Background and Aims: Electrochemical technology is an advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) in water treatment. Electrochemical efficiency is calculated based on consumed energy per kilogram of parameter removed that is the most important factor in electrochemical economics. The aim of this applied-analytical study is to choose the most suitable electrode for drinking water treatment by a batch electrochemical reactor with aluminum, copper, iron, and steel electrodes. 

Materials and Methods: Samples of urban drinking water were introduced into an electrochemical reactor and the removal efficiency was studied as a function of time (5, 10, 20, and 40 min), electrode material (steel-iron, aluminium-aluminium, and copper-copper), and current density (0.01, 0.015, 0.02, and 0.03 mA/cm²). Electrochemical efficiency was calculated as consumed energy per Kilogram of removed parameter according to Faraday law. The concentration of sulfate, nitrate and calcium was determined according to 4500-SO₄^2- E, 4500NO₃^- B and 3500Ca B methods. Water samples were tested with ethical considerations according to the Helsinki guidelines

Results:  Removal percentages of alkalinity, sulphate, nitrate, and calcium  in 2 cm distance, current density 0.03 mA/cm², and contact time 20 min using steel-iron, aluminium-aluminium, and copper-copper electrodes were 44.3%, 35%, 26.3%, and 50.6%; 26%, 18%, 36.8%, and 40.7%; 32.8%, 33%, 32.6%, and 34/5%, respectively. The highest removal efficiencies of sulfate, nitrate and calcium were obtained by copper-copper (61.2%), aluminum-aluminum (66.3%) and steel-iron electrodes (58%), respectively.

Conclusion: The findings indicate that removal efficiency of calcium, nitrate, and sulphate is increased with increasing voltage and time. The best conditions for removal in three pair electrodes are obtained to be electrolysis time 40 min and voltage 30 volt.