Agricultural advancement and population growth have prompted increases in food supplies, and higher crop yields have been made possible through the application of fertilizers. Large quantities of livestock and poultry on farms, along with the accumulation of biomass and agricultural residues, can cause contamination of ground water resources and other water sanitation concerns in both developing and developed countries. Nitrate is mainly used as a fertilizer in agriculture, and because of its high solubility in water, it can create biological problems in the environment. High usage of nitrite in the food industry as a preservative, flavor enhancer, antioxidant, and color stabilizing agent can cause human exposure to this toxic compound. Nitrite is 10 times as toxic as nitrate in humans. Nitrate is converted to nitrite and nitrosamine compounds in the human stomach, which can lead to bladder cancer. In this review, sources of nitrate and nitrite exposure were investigated. Furthermore, the review evaluates standard levels of nitrate and nitrite in different foods, and acceptable daily doses of these compounds in various countries. Finally, we discuss valid methods of nitrate and nitrite identification and removal in foods.

Background: Dyes can cause many problems in environment. Therefore, removal of these contaminants before discharging wastewater to environment can reduce the environmental hazards. Adsorption is one of the usual processes for decolorizing from wastewater. Nanotubes are new adsorbents that can adsorb different compounds. This work aimed to investigate Acid violet 17 dye removal by adsorption using multi-walled carbon nanotubes as adsorbent from aqueous solution. Methods: This experimental study was conducted in the batch mode and to investigate effects of parameters such as contact time, initial concentration of dye, pH and Multi-walled carbon Nanotubes dose on decolorization process. Results: Results showed that the maximum dye decolorization was achieved in 3 hours. With increasing adsorbent dose, the removal efficiency was increased up to 95.9%. It was found that the maximum adsorption capacity of multi-walled carbon nanotubes occurred in acidic pH conditions. With decreasing the initial concentration of dye, removal efficiency increase up to 83.4%. Adsorption equations were described by Freundlich isotherm and Pseudo-Second order kinetic. Conclusion: The optimal conditions for decolorization efficiency ware equilibrium time of 3 hours, pH of 4, and nanotube dose of 0.4 g /L. The high R2 value of greater than 0.90 obtained showed that the experimental data agreed well with Freundlich isotherm and Pseudo-second order kinetic models.

Background: Reproduction is an important population concept throughout the world, and demographists consider it among four main life events. Given Iranchr(39)s population growth policy, this study was conducted to assess the tendency to pregnancy in women in Zanjan. Method: From among health centers in five geographical districts in Zanjan (North, South, East, West, and Center), one was randomly selected from each district, and the study was conducted on a total of 400 people. Data were analyzed in SPSS-16 using descriptive and inferential tests including Chi-square, t-test (mean test) and variance analysis. Results: A total of 186 women (46.5%) desired pregnancy after marriage and 212 (53%) did not. Also, 209 husbands (52.2%) agreed with childbearing after marriage, and 186 (45.5%) disagreed. Conclusion: Childbearing can be encouraged among husbands agreeing with pregnancy of their spouse (more than half) and women attending pregnancy counseling and family planning centers.

Meat and meat products are highly prone to microbial deterioration since they are rich in essential nutrients and perishable in nature and if they are not properly preserved, public health problems may occur. Recently, in order to increase the microbial quality of meat and meat products, novel ingredient systems that are associated with natural and organic foods, are applied. Many studies have demonstrated the antimicrobial activity of plant-origin natural antimicrobials in meat and meat products. Nevertheless, advanced technologies can improve the microbial stability and the sensory quality of meat products containing natural extracts and essential oils through different techniques. This paper first reviews the microbial deterioration of meat and meat products and their traditional storage techniques and then discusses the manner and extent of the use of herbal extracts and essential oils in these products.

Background: Various industries produce and discharge wastes containing different heavy metals into the environment. Apart from using living biomass, dead and dried biomasses have been introduced as a new field of biotreatment technology. Method: The cadmium (Cd) (II) removal characteristics of live (growing), dead (autoclaved), and oven-dried biomasses of Aspergillus versicolor were examined as a function of initial pH, contact time, and initial Cd concentration. Result: Maximum bioaccumulation of Cd for live biomass [11.63 (mg g-¹)] occurred at an optimal pH of 4 and incubation time of 4 days. Themaximum biosorption of 27.56 (mg g-¹) for dead biomass occurred at 1.5 h and at a pH of 4. The maximum biosorption [18.08 (mg g-¹)] with dried biomass was reached at an equilibrium time of 3 h at a pH of 6. Conclusion: The present study confirmed that heat treatment promoted the removal capacity of fungi. Cd removal was increased by decreasing the pH in live and dead-mode experiments. Inversely, Cd removal was increased with increasing pH for the dried biomass of A. versicolor. Varying responses to environmental conditions (pH and contact time) clearly proved the different removal mechanisms used by three biomasses of A. versicolor. Higher Cd concentration increased the removal ability of three types of biomasses. The results indicated that all biomasses of A. versicolor used in this study, particularly dead biomass, are a suitable biosorbent for the removal of Cd (II) ions from aqueous solution.

Background: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) may involve all parts of the body, and have been a worldwide problem. Employed women are two to five times more likely to report such problems, and assembly lines suspected to induce more WMSDs because of high rate of repetitive motions. Methods: The aim of this study to determine the prevalence of WMSDs in women workers of an automobile manufacturing assembly line. In this cross-sectional survey, 50 women workers in an automobile manufacturing assembly line were studied. Data was collected based on Nordic questionnaire. The statistical analysis was performed by the SPSS 11 software. Results: The MSDs prevalence rate was 98%. The most reported complaint was related to the back (68%) and there was a significant relationship between prevalence and pain severity with age and working years. Moreover, the duration of feeling pain per day, and pain severity had a significant relationship with the capability of the person to continue working. Conclusion: Workstations ergonomically improvement and employing men instead of women would be effective to reduce the problems.

Background: Turbidity removal using inorganic coagulants such as iron and aluminum salts in water treatment processes causes environmental and human health concern. Historically, the use of natural coagulant to purify turbid water has been practiced for a long time. Recent research indicates that Descurainia Sophia seed can be effectively used as a natural coagulant to remove water turbidity. Method: In this work, turbidity removal efficiency of Descurainia Sophia seed extract was compared with Ferric chloride. Experiments were performed in laboratory scale. The coagulation experiments were done with kaolin as a model soil to produce turbidity in distilled water. The turbidity removal efficiency of Descurainia Sophia seed extract and Ferric chloride were conducted with jar test apparatus. In all experiments, initial turbidity was kept constant 100(NTU). Optimum combination of independent variables was used to compare two different types of coagulants. Result: The obtained results showed that Ferric chloride could remove 89.75% of the initial turbidity, while in case of Descurainia Sophia this value was 43.13%. The total organic carbon (TOC) analysis of the treated water using seed extract showed an increased concentration of TOC equal to 0.99 mg/L. Conclusions:This research has shown that Descurainia Sophia seed extract has an acceptable potential in the coagulation/flocculation process to treat turbid water.

Background: Dithiocarbamates, the main group of fungicides, are used to control about 400 pathogens in more than 70 crops. These pesticides are widely applied to crops including potato, cereal, apple, pear and leafy vegetables throughout the world since 1960. From the late 1980s, using these fungicides has caused much debate among regulators about their long-term effects on consumers and occupational users. Method: In this study the residues of Dithiocarbamates in cucumber and tomato using the colorimetric method (Keppel method) was measured. Respectively 80 and 45 samples of greenhouse cucumber and tomato were collected from Zanjan vegetables center in autumns and winter 2013. The samples were analyzed in 4 treatments of: unwashed, washing with water, washing whit detergent and peeling. Result: The results showed that the average concentration of Dithiocarbamates residues in unwashed greenhouse cucumber and tomatoes were 384.5 µg/kg and 65 µg/kg respectively. 35% and 5% of unwashed and water washed cucumber and tomato samples (respectively) had higher Dithiocarbamates residue than MRL recommended by Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran (0.5mg/kg). Conclusion: The treatments of washing and peeling had significant effect on the reduction of Dithiocarbamates residues in the all samples.