Emerging and hazardous environmental pollutants like phthalic acid esters (PAEs) are one of the recent concerns worldwide. PAEs are considered to have diverse endocrine disrupting effects on human health. Industrial wastewater has been reported as an important environment with high concentrations of PAEs. In the present study, four short-chain PAEs including diallyl phthalate (DAP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), dimethyl phthalate (DMP), and phthalic acid (PA) were selected as a substrate for anaerobic fixed film fixed bed reactor (AnFFFBR). The process performances of AnFFFBR, and also its kinetic behavior, were evaluated to find the best eco-friendly phthalate from the biodegradability point of view. According to the results and kinetic coefficients, removing and mineralizing of DMP occurred at a higher rate than other phthalates. In optimum conditions 92.5, 84.41, and 80.39% of DMP, COD, and TOC were removed. DAP was found as the most bio-refractory phthalate. The second-order (Grau) model was selected as the best model for describing phthalates removal.

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The aim of this study is to investigate the copper (Cu), nickel (Ni) and chromium (Cr) levels in cultivated black tea in north of Iran. The infusions of Cu, Cr and Ni in tea after 5, 15 and 60 min brewing time were measured. Results showed that the highest (2.32±2.63 mg/kg) and the lowest (2.16±1.84 mg/kg) mean levels of Cu were observed after 15 and 60 min, respectively. The mean levels of Ni and Cr at 60 min were the highest (13.72±8.09 mg/kg and 1.30±1.03 mg/kg, respectively) and at 5 min were the lowest (6.80±4.95 mg/kg and 0.88±0.79 mg/kg, respectively).