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Background & aim:In recent years, the pollution of the environment with all kinds of biological, chemical, poisons, pesticides and other compounds has accelerated and are considered as one of the most important challenges of the present age. Different pollutants can be measured with the use of physical, chemical or biological methods. However, a lot of information has been provided in the field of the ability of biological indicators to detect different pollutants in recent years. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to determine and examine the characteristics and capabilities of biomarkers in environmental applications. Methods: In the present review study conducted in 2023, different methods of using living organisms as an indicator in determining environmental changes were investigated. Biomonitoring by searching in PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science and Scopus databases using keywords "biological control", "bioindicator", "biomonitoring", "monitoring by microorganism", "bio detection", "biological index" and "biological indicator" in published articles until 2023. Results: : The results show that many living organisms are used as bioindicators in environments. The use of various living organisms such as macrophytes, crustaceans, phytoplankton's, protozoa and larger living organisms such as fish, canaries and insects has been common in the detection and monitoring of pollutants in the environment. These organisms with different methods can help to detect or continuously monitor the presence of pollutants and determine their concentration levels in the environment such as aquatic environments. Conclusion: In the biological monitoring by using of living organisms such as mosses to measure heavy metals, killer trout in mountain streams to assess water temperature, canaries in coal mines to assess the amount of carbon monoxide and methane gas and many other organisms known as bioindicators, are used to detect the effects of disturbances and stresses. With mechanisms such as bioaccumulation, biochemical changes, behavioral and morphological changes, and population changes, these living organisms enable the ability to detect and determine the amount of pollutants.

The filtration rate is one of the physiological indices in bivalves that indicates the degree of the effectiveness of the filtration function in exposure to contaminants. In this study, the changes in filtration rate of Dressina poly morpha were investigated after 7 and 14 days of exposure to silver nanoparticles. Bivalves were removed from the natural environment and transferred to the laboratory. The distribution of nanoparticles in water tanks was tested with the DLS device. Bivalves were exposed to concentrations of 0.25, 2.5 and 25 ppm of nanoparticles for 14 days. The results showed the highest filtration rate for the control group (96 ± 47.74 ml min-1 g-1DW). On day 7, the highest filtration rate was observed in the first treatment (88.58 ± 64.38 ml min-1 g-1DW) and the lowest filtration rate was observed in treatment 3 (47.67 ± 11.81) ml min-1 g-1DW), no significant difference was observed in the filtration rate betwen first treatment and control (P >0.05), but the filtration rate in the third treatment was significantly (P

The filtration rate is one of the physiological indices in bivalves that indicates the degree of the effectiveness of the filtration function in exposure to contaminants. In this study, the changes in filtration rate of Dressina poly morpha were investigated after 7 and 14 days of exposure to silver nanoparticles. Bivalves were removed from the natural environment and transferred to the laboratory. The distribution of nanoparticles in water tanks was tested with the DLS device. Bivalves were exposed to concentrations of 0.25, 2.5 and 25 ppm of nanoparticles for 14 days. The results showed the highest filtration rate for the control group (96 ± 47.74 ml min-1 g-1DW). On day 7, the highest filtration rate was observed in the first treatment (88.58 ± 64.38 ml min-1 g-1DW) and the lowest filtration rate was observed in treatment 3 (47.67 ± 11.81) ml min-1 g-1DW), no significant difference was observed in the filtration rate betwen first treatment and control (P >0.05), but the filtration rate in the third treatment was significantly (P <0.05) lower than that of the other treatments and the control group. Moreover, the filtration rate on day 14 showed similar differences to day 7, but more significant. Therefore, it can be concluded that filtration rate changes are a good indicator for nanoparticles contamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of heavy metals in plants is done with two objectives of studying food safety and application in biological monitoring and elimination of heavy metals from the environment. The aim of this study was to investigate the concentration of heavy metals zinc, copper and lead in the bark of poplar and walnut trees and surrounding soil samples from road of Heidareh Balashahr village in Hamadan. A total of 40 topsoils and tree barks samples were collected from this area. After initial preparation, the samples were prepared using wet digestion method to analyze the heavy metals and the concentration of heavy metals were determined by using an atomic absorption spectrometer (ASS). In order to data analysis, statistical methods, pollution indices and ratio of indices were used. According to the results the Degree of Contamination (CD), Modified Degree of Contamination (mCD), Potential Ecological Risk (PER), Potential acute Toxicity (∑TU) and Integrated Pollution Index (IPI) indices showed low pollution and Pollution Load Index (PLI) and PINemerow indices showed moderate pollution and precautionary zone, respectively. The highest contribution to potential toxicity was 43.8 and 38.05 percent in the soil around walnut and poplar was related to copper. Also, the highest potential environmental risk was related to lead with 52.3 and 58.08 percent, respectively for the surrounding soil of walnut and poplar. Based on these results, there was only a statistically significant difference between zinc concentrations in the two species (p

Benthic macroinvertebrate-based indices are suitable tools for assessment of stream health and human impacts on its biological integrity. Since Ghale Rudkhan River is an attractive tourist destination and its surrounding population is growing, its water quality was examined usning biological indicators. Macroinvertebrate samples were taken monthly by a Surber sampler (mesh = 300 µ and area = 900 cm2) at five stations from May to December 2017. Samples were preserved in ethanol 96% and transported to laboratory for analysis. Total abundance, EPT index, EPT richness and percentage,EPT/CHIR ratios were determined. In total 5134 macroinvertebrates that belong to 35 genera, 30 families, 10 orders, 4 classes and 3 phyla were identified. The highest EPT richness was observed at the station no. 4 in May (607 ind.m-1) and the lowest was at the station no. 5 in October (7 ind.m-1). The presence of pollution sensitive species such as Epeorus sp. Rithrogena sp., Rhyacophila sp., Isopela sp., Gomphus sp., Cordulegaster sp., Coenagrion sp., Oligoneuriella sp., Heptagenia sp., Philorus sp. in Ghale Rudkhan River indicated the optimal quality of the river water.

Background and Objective: Environmental pollution emitted from industrial areas while enter the food chain can cause serious adverse health effects. Therefore, this study was conducted to use Ziziphus spina-christi and Prosopis cineraria leaves as bio-indicators of environmental pollution emitted from the complex of Steel Company. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, a total of 90 surface soil samples and also 90 leave samples were collected. After acid digestion of samples, the heavy metal contents were measured using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Also, the Bioconcentration Factor (BCF) of metals were computed. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS statistical package. Results: The highest content of the metals (mg/kg) with an average of 2180.3 ± 202.3 and 2237.9 ± 315.1 for Fe, 76.6 ± 9.6 and 114.3 ± 4.5 for Pb and 69.2 ± 16.8 and 107.2 ± 6.8 for Cd were found to be in Z. spina-christi and P. cineraria unwashed leaves respectively. Also, the BCF of all studied metals were higher than 1. Conclusion: Based on the values of BCF, it can be concluded that Z. spina-christi and P. cineraria can be considered as a suitable species for phytoextraction of heavy metals in the most polluted regions including industrial and urban areas.

In this research, the potential use of five hard parts (otolith, scale, eye lens, dorsal spine, vertebral bone) of Rutilus kutum for populations discrimination and biomonitoring as well as their usability as biological archive in the southern Caspian Sea was investigated. Two soft tissues (muscle and liver) were also analyzed for assessment of the possible risk of consumption and use as biomonitoring tool, respectively. A total of 60 specimens were collected using beach seine from three sampling sites (adjacent to the estuaries of the rivers Sefidrud, Tajan and Grorganrud, respectively) in the Southern Caspian Sea in May 2016. In total, the levels of 13 major and trace elements in the samples (the seven soft and hard tissues) was measured using PIXE (Proton Induced X-ray Emission) and µ-PIXE methods. Minor similarities among the tissues were observed in the case of eye lens (for P, S and Zn) and liver (for Cl, Fe and K). There were no significant relationships between the elements and biological characteristics (weight, total length and standard length). Based on the results, it seems that all the studied hard parts, except for eye lens, may offer alternatives for biomonitoring of Ca, Cl, Fe, K and S in the southern Caspian Sea. Considering Sr level in otolith, no significant differences could be found between the sampling sites 2 and 3. So it can be concluded that the specimens collected from the two sites are probably from the same population. Similar results were also obtained based on the results concerning K accumulation in scale. It can be concluded that scales may provide an alternative structure to otolith for stock discrimination of R. kutum in the southern Caspian Sea. Among the 10 elements that were detectable in the muscle using the PIXE method, only in the case of four of them (i.e. Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn) maximum allowable concentrations for human consumption have been defined, which in all the cases the mean concentrations in the present study were far below the recommended limits.

Benthic macroinvertebrate-based indices are suitable tools for assessment of stream health and human impacts on its biological integrity. Since Ghale Rudkhan River is an attractive tourist destination and its surrounding population is growing, its water quality was examined usning biological indicators. Macroinvertebrate samples were taken monthly by a Surber sampler (mesh = 300 μ and area = 900 cm2) at five stations from May to December 2017. Samples were preserved in ethanol 96% and transported to laboratory for analysis. Total abundance, EPT index, EPT richness and percentage, EPT/CHIR ratios were determined. In total 5134 macroinvertebrates that belong to 35 genera, 30 families, 10 orders, 4 classes and 3 phyla were identified. The highest EPT richness was observed at the station no. 4 in May (607 ind.m-1) and the lowest was at the station no. 5 in October (7 ind.m-1). The presence of pollution sensitive species such as Epeorus sp. Rithrogena sp., Rhyacophila sp., Isopela sp., Gomphus sp., Cordulegaster sp., Coenagrion sp., Oligoneuriella sp., Heptagenia sp., Philorus sp. in Ghale Rudkhan River indicated the optimal quality of the river water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing concerns about water pollution and its potentially harmful effects on human being have stimulated serious efforts to develop reliable biological monitoring techniques. The bioluminescent analysis is one of the most promising approaches for the biomonitoring of the environment, due to the sensitivity of the luminescent system to even micro quantities of the pollutants. The aim of the current study was to assess the petroleum compounds toxicity using Vibrio fischeri bacterium. The growth pattern of the bacterium was determined in photobacterium broth using the optical density measurement at 600 nm, which showed the optimum growth time of 16-18 hours after inoculation. In this research, the effects of environmental parameters such as temperature, pH and various concentrations of oil on the growth and luminescence of Vibrio fischeri were examined. The results revealed that the optimum growth conditions of the bacterium after 16 hours included the temperature of 25 °C and pH 7. Besides, the growth and luminescence intensity of Vibrio fischeri were a function of total petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations in the medium, which were significantly reduced in oil concentrations by more than 4% w/v. Therefore, the Vibrio fischeri could, have the potential for monitoring of petroleum pollutants in the aqueous media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Information about the history of exposed individuals to mercury and monitoring mercury levels in body can be obtained by analyzing the longitudinal section of hair. The aim of this study was to analyze changes of mercury concentrations in hair length and daily mercury intake in women living in Bandar Abbas, Bushehr and Mahshahr cities. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional and questionnaire study, 43 hair samples were randomly collected from women in fisher and non-fishermen families. Mercury concentrations were determined by LECO AMA 254, Advanced Mercury Analyzer (USA) according to ASTM standard NO.D-6722. Results: The mean mercury concentration in hair was 2.31 μg/g. ANOVA test showed that there is no significant difference among the mercury concentrations in the various parts of hairs. The mean daily mercury intake was 0.24 μg/kg/day. Age, fish consumption, city of residence, fishermen and non-fishermen family had a statistically significant effect on the daily mercury intake in the women but the number of dental amalgam filling variable had no significant effect on the daily mercury intake. Conclusion: During the 6 month period that the study was conducted, the methyl mercury uptake in the women was steady. The daily intake of mercury in 23% of the women was exceeded JECFA guidelines. Also, according to possible risks for mercury exposure, it is necessary to study on mercury risk assessment, considering all possible routes for mercury exposure in these cities.

Background and Objective: Environmental pollution emitted from industrial areas while enter the food chain can cause serious adverse health effects. Therefore, this study was conducted to use Ziziphus spina-christi and Prosopis cineraria leaves as bio-indicators of environmental pollution emitted from the complex of Steel Company. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, a total of 90 surface soil samples and also 90 leave samples were collected. After acid digestion of samples, the heavy metal contents were measured using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Also, the Bioconcentration Factor (BCF) of metals were computed. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS statistical package. Results: The highest content of the metals (mg/kg) with an average of 2180.3 ± 202.3 and 2237.9 ± 315.1 for Fe, 76.6 ± 9.6 and 114.3 ± 4.5 for Pb and 69.2 ± 16.8 and 107.2 ± 6.8 for Cd were found to be in Z. spina-christi and P. cineraria unwashed leaves respectively. Also, the BCF of all studied metals were higher than 1. Conclusion: Based on the values of BCF, it can be concluded that Z. spinachristi and P. cineraria can be considered as a suitable species for phytoextraction of heavy metals in the most polluted regions including industrial and urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accumulation of the heavy metals Cd, Zn, Cu, and Pb were surveyed in the samples of mantle tissues, crusts and so the habitat sediments of C. fluminalis to reveal the probable biomonitoring rule of the bivalve in the ecosystem. The warm-cold seasonally samplings were carried out over the stations of Zayandeh-Roud River in Safi'eh, Isfahan province, during 2014. The warm and cold seasonal average results from the initially acidic digested prepared samples of the bivalves (mantle and crust) and the sediments were recorded by furnace atomic absorption spectrometry methods. The results illustrated that the average of Zn accumulation has the maximum value in the sediment samples of warm-season samples (28.8±3.80 µg.g dry w.-1) as well the cold-season (16.9±1.23 µg.g dry w.-1). Furthermore, the accumulation values of zinc in the warm-season and the cold-season samples had the maximum values in the tissue samples with values 206.2±33.77 and 89.1 ± 19.02 µg.g dry w.-1 and the crust samples with values 35.6 ± 3.06 and 33.1 ± 3.10 µg.g dry w.-1 , respectively. Except for heavy metal Cd, the similarity values of the metals Zn, Pb and Cd in both sediment samples and the crusts of C. fluminalis demonstrates the relative extents of the heavy metals in the habitat of the bivalves with no seasonal effect on the values fluctuation. The levels of measured samples of mantles revealed the tissues of living C. fluminalis rule as the bioaccumulation of the metals Zn, Pb, Cu and Cd in the river ecosystem.

Background and Objective: Information about the history of exposed individuals to mercury and monitoring mercury levels in body can be obtained by analyzing the longitudinal section of hair. The aim of this study was to analyze changes of mercury concentrations in hair length and daily mercury intake in women living in Bandar Abbas, Bushehr and Mahshahr cities. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional and questionnaire study, 43 hair samples were randomly collected from women in fisher and nonfishermen families. Mercury concentrations were determined by LECO AMA 254, Advanced Mercury Analyzer (USA) according to ASTM standard NO.D-6722. Results: The mean mercury concentration in hair was 2.31 μg/g. ANOVA test showed that there is no significant difference among the mercury concentrations in the various parts of hairs. The mean daily mercury intake was 0.24 μg/kg/day. Age, fish consumption, city of residence, fishermen and non-fishermen family had a statistically significant effect on the daily mercury intake in the women but the number of dental amalgam filling variable had no significant effect on the daily mercury intake. Conclusion: During the 6 month period that the study was conducted, the methyl mercury uptake in the women was steady. The daily intake of mercury in 23% of the women was exceeded JECFA guidelines. Also, according to possible risks for mercury exposure, it is necessary to study on mercury risk assessment, considering all possible routes for mercury exposure in these cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the best practical methods to understand ecological status of a water body and determine impacts of human intervention in reducing water quality is using benthic macroinvertebrates as assessment tools for monitoring their biological integrity and health. The Tajan River is one of the rivers of Caspian Southernsub-basin that drains the Caspian Sea. Macroinvertebrate samples were taken using Surber’s sampler (40 x 40 cm and 100µ mesh size) in 45 day intervals with 3 replicates in each sampling site for a period of one year (May 2010 to May 2011). The collected organisms were preserved in 4% formalin solution and transferred to the laboratory for identification and counting. Six different functional feeding groups of macroinvertebrate e.g. Collector-gathering, Collector-filtering, Predator, Collector-gathering /Scraper, Predator/Collector-gathering and Scraper were determined. Feeding groups of Collector-gathering, Collector-filtering and Collector-gathering /Scraper were relatively dominant in comparison to other groups. Groups of Collector-filtering and Collector-gathering were dominant in slightly and heavily polluted stations, respectively. In this study population structure measures including abundance, EPT percent and the EPT and EPT/CHIR indics were mearsured. Species diversity, species richness were also determined using Shannon- Weiner, Margalef and Jacardindics. The minimum and maximum values of Hilsenhoff biotic index were observedin stations 1 (4.29) and 5 (5.57), respectively. Moreover, the highest and lowest values of BMWP/ASPT were observed in station 1 (4.51) and 5 (3.25), respectively. Evaluation of indicators revealed less water quality at stations 2, 3 and 5 which located at the lowermost of fish farms and effluent of factory. This reduction might be implicated to the effluents of water damps from fish farms running into the stream as diversity and total abundance (%) of sociable macroinvertebrates decreased and that of resistant macrofauna increased due to water pollution. Hence, from the obtained results, this can be concluded that the use of benthic macroinvertebrates as bioindicator for the assessment of water quality of the stream is desirable.

Introduction: Toluene is an organic solvent that it is one of the byproducts in the coke industry. Exposure to toluene causes central nervous system dysfunction and others disorders. Many workers are exposed to toluene due to leakage from tracks. Therefore the aim of this study was to determine the levels of exposure through environmental and biological monitoring of toluene Methods: Air toluene sampling of air inhaled by 36 coke oven workers was done by using activated charcoal tubes and personal sampling pumps. At the end of the shift, urine samples of workers and control group were collected by urine samplers. Air toluene was determined by GC, urinary hippuric acid by HPLC and urine creatinine level was determined by auto analyzer. Results: The mean of air toluene and urinary hippuric acid levels in exposed and control samples were 14.34 ppm, 0.33 and 0.28 g/g creatinine. Air toluene and urinary hippuric acid showed a correlation of r = 0.8. Conclusion: Toluene TWA was lower than the TLV-TWA (p=0.000). Urinary hippuric acid concentration was also lower than the BEI (p=0.008). Difference between exposed and unexposed group was not significant. This study showed that hippuric acid because of its interaction with background factors can not be used as a sensitive biomarker for biomonitoring.