Solid waste disposal could be a major environmental problem in in Kurdistan region of Iraq because it is not managed properly. The main purpose of this study was to assess the influence of long term solid waste disposal on water and soil physicochemical properties. Soil and water samples were collected in and around the solid waste disposal area. The samples were analyzed for physicochemical characteristics and potentially toxic elements using ICPMS. The results revealed that some water parameters analysed well below WHO and EU standards for drinking water. Therefore, the surface and ground water samples in this study are good for drinking purposes. However, the application of   water quality index (WQI) suggests that the ground and surface water around the open dumpsite are marked as good and poor water in quality respectively. High concentration of Ca in all soil samples is expected because the regional geology is calcareous.  The concentrations of PTEs were found in order of Mn> Fe> Ni> Zn> Cr> Cu> Pb> Se> Cd. Although relatively high concentrations of Ni and Cr were found at all sampling points, mean concentrations of trace elements in the soil samples in the studied area were all below the soil guideline values (SGV). Enrichment factors (EFs), calculated using typical carbonate bedrock geologies, confirmed that there was typically significant enrichment in trace elements above expected background concentrations. Whereas concentrations of toxic elements were within the ‘safe’ limits in the studied agricultural areas, care should be taken because prolonged disposing of wastes in the outskirt of the city could lead to PTE accumulation in   surrounding water soils.

Every laboratory needs to establish its own community-based reference intervals for the achievement of the optimal and true diagnosis in the clinical practice. However, such vital experimentations are not been conducted sufficiently in Halabja city and Kurdistan region of Iraq as a whole. This study is an attempt to introduce for the first time a set of reference intervals of lipid profile variables that are based on the healthy and asymptomatic adult population of Halabja using international standards. The methodology recruited for this purpose is based on the IFCC, CLSI, and WHO’s standards, in which the study population was subjected to strict exclusion criteria for the sake of higher accuracy in the results.  The reference intervals are computed as the 95th percentile of the lipid profile variable values. The results are broken down based on the gender and age groups. All of the estimated intervals fall perfectly in the internationally known reference intervals. Even so, the outcome values are similar and sometimes higher than the currently used intervals by the laboratories and physicians for the diagnosis purposes. The out-turns from the study encourage us to demand the healthcare providers to reconsider the currently approved reference intervals for the lipid profile test (TC, TG, HDL-C, LDL-C, and VLDL-C) in the clinical practice and consider the results of this study for further diagnostic purposes.

Handling and disposal of solid waste can be a major environmental problem in developing countries. In Kurdistan region of Iraq solid waste is not treated and managed properly. It is only collected from the households and disposed on the outskirts of the cities as a pile of garbage nearby the agricultural areas, sometime it is burnt or partially dumped. The samples were collected monthly starting from May to December 2012 including ground and surface water, soil and wheat around the solid waste disposal area. Heavy metal and metalloid concentrations measured for Zn, As, Cd, Fe, Pb and Ni were ( 0.002 – 0.012 ) mg.l-1, ( 0.01 – 0.097 ) mg.l-1, ( 0.002 – 0.003 ) mg.l-1, ( 0.011- 0.079 ) mg.l-1, ( 0.035 – 0.051 ) mg.l-1and ( 0.004 -0.015 ) mg.l-1 for ground water respectively, while (0.003 - 0.009 ) mg.l-1, ( 0.05 – 0.16 ) mg.l-1, ( 0.002 – 0.004 ) mg.l-1, ( 0.051 – 0.171 ) mg.l-1, ( 0.04 – 0.044 ) mg.l-1, ( 0.021 – 0.022 ) mg.l-1 for surface water respectively. However, As and Pb concentration were found to be higher than the permissible values recommended by WHO for drinking water quality while the rest were below the safe limits. The concentrations of heavy metals and metalloids were found in order of Mn> Zn>Cu >Ni> Pb>Cr>As> Cd ( 987 - 1187 mg.kg-1, 225.03 – 915.3mg.kg-1 , 232.8- 301.1 mg.kg-1, 150.4 – 192.2 mg.kg-1, 76.71 - 193.1 mg.kg-1, 142.2 – 173.1 mg.kg-1, 14.23 – 20.15 mg.kg-1and 2.317 – 5.712 mg.kg-1 ) which exceed the European union standard for Ni, Zn, Cr, Cd, Mn, Cu, while Pb and As were found to be within the range of all trace elements for agricultural soils. The range for trace elements for wheat samples were 115 mg.kg-1 for Zn, 0.0313 mg.kg-1 for As, 1.2 mg.kg-1 for Cd, 2.1 mg.kg-1 for Pb, 1.19 mg.kg-1 for Ni and 0.058 mg.kg-1 for Cr.

Obesity and overweight are extensive phenomena that reached epidemics extent worldwide, including the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The aim of this study is to evaluate the values of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), body mass index (BMI), and the state of physical activity in Halabja’s public employees. Overall 355 adults aged from 19 to 63 including 246 males and 109 females contributed to the study. The lipid profiles were tested in all subjects after over-night fasting. In addition, anthropometry measurements were taken; the mean height for males is 1.7129 m and 1.5732 m for females. The mean weights of males and females are 80.4813 and 69.9459 kg, respectively. The mean BMI value for males and females is 27.4258 and 28.3274, respectively. Some of the cases were diagnosed with diabetes, renal diseases, hypertension, and other relevant diseases. 246 of participants adopted sedentary lifestyles while 109 of them lived an active lifestyle. 65, 162, 98, and 206 of participants had TC, TG, LDL-C, and HDL-C off-limits, respectively. Pearson’s correlation between BMI with TC, TG, and LDL-C showed a significant relationship at 0.01 level as 0.156**, 0.140**, and 0.144**, respectively. HDL-C was negatively correlated to BMI at −0.062 level. The analysis of variance showed statistically significant p-values between TC, TG, and HDL-C according to BMI at 0.027, 0.000, and 0.000, respectively. The sedentary group of participants showed a higher Mean range of TC, TG, LDL-C, and HDL-C than an active group of participants.