The aim of this study was to review the prevalence of rice contamination to heavy metals in Iranian grown and imported rice brands by conducting a systematic review and assess the related human health risk. Multiple keywords such as "rice, heavy metals, and Iran" were used to search in related databases. The average concentration of Cd, Pb, As, Cu, Zn, Cr, Ni and Co for Iranian grown/imported rice were calculated as 0.16±0.08/0.13±0.05, 0.196±0.16/0.55±0.56, 0.046±0.002/0.057±0.0035,0.29±0.05/0.61±0.31, 26.13±10.3/3.46±2.49, 0.22±0.04/0.76±0.101, 16±7.3/2.08±0.34 and 0.29±0.047/0.29±0.07 mg kg−1, respectively. Except Co, there were significant differences between Iranian and imported rice brands. Estimated weekly intake for none of the metals exceeds the provisional tolerable weekly intake value. Accordingly, the rice types consumed in Iran have no health hazard for consumers.

Ciprofloxacin (CIP) antibiotic is considered as an emerging and biological resistant pollutant. This study aimed to improve of the removal of CIP from synthetic aqueous solutions in photocatalytic process through copper oxide nanoparticles as catalyst (CuO/UV). The effect of CIP concentration (10–200 mg/l), catalyst dosage included CuO (0.01–0.1 g/l) and pH (3–11) as independent variables on the COD removal efficiency as response in photocatalytic process using UV-C lamps with three different powers of 8, 15 and 30-W were optimized through the central composite design in response surface method using design-expert software. A second order model was selected as the best model with R2 values and lack of fit as 0.85 and 0.06 for lamp 8-W, 0.89 and 0.11 for lamp 15-W, and 0.86 and 0.19 for lamp 30-W, respectively. Optimum conditions were obtained in CIP concentration of 11.2 (mg/l), CuO dosage of 0.08 (g/l), and pH value of 8.17. In this condition, predicted maximum COD removal was respectively found 83.79, 93.18, and 98.90% for lamps 8, 15 and 30-W. According to the results, photocatalytic process using copper oxide nanoparticles can effectively compose CIP in aqueous solutions.

Background and purpose:The World Health Organization (WHO) has specified the tolerance limit of fluoride content of drinking water to be 1.5 mg/L, since excessive intake of fluoride leads to various detrimental diseases. The present study assessed the adsorption effectiveness of HCl-modified eucalyptus leaves in fluoride removal from synthetic solutions. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, pseudo-first and pseudo-second order kinetics, Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models, as well as pH (2-12), initial concentration (5-30 mg/L), adsorbent dose (0.1-1 g/L), and temperature (25-45 0 C) were investigated on defluoridation. Results:The results with the maximum removal efficiency of 90% was obtained in pH = 10, initial concentration = 5 mg/L, and adsorbent dose = 0.1 g/L. In the investigation of the effect of temperature on removal rates, the maximum removal of fluoride was observed to be in 45 0 C. The removal efficiency also decreased while the adsorbent dose increased, the initial concentration of fluoride increased, and the temperature in the studied ranges decreased. It was also found that the adsorption equilibrium and kinetic data were in good agreement with Langmuir Model (R2=0.994) with qmax= 61.35 mg/g and pseudo-second order reaction (R2=0.999). Conclusion: On the basis of the obtained results, HCl-modified eucalyptus leaves were found to be able to remove fluoride from aqueous environments with good removal efficiency and adsorption capacity. Citation: Faraji M, Bazrafshan E, Almasian M, Khoshnamvand N. Investigation of fluoride adsorption from aqueous solutions by modified eucalyptus leaves: isotherm and kinetic and thermodynamic studies. 2017; 5 (3):65-77. Original Article Fluoride adsorption onto modified eucalyptus leaves M. Faraji. et al Iran J Health Sci 2017; 5(3): 66

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