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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A rapidly increasing human population has resulted in the expansion of urban areas and an associated increase in the demand for food. Consequently, urban and peri-urban agriculture, using waste water as a source for irrigation, is increasingly common around the world, particularly in developing countries. In the Kurdistan region of Iraq, the soils within Agriculture areas have the potential to accumulate trace elements originating from various sources of contamination like municipal waste disposal and the use of wastewater for irrigation. The main aim of this study was to assess the levels and sources of trace elements in this specific region and to analyze the potential health hazards linked to toxic elements present in the soil. METHODS: Elemental analyses were conducted on soil samples using the total digestion method, involving the use of Hydrofluoric acid. Subsequently, 118 soil samples, each with a fraction size of less than 2 millimeters, were analyzed. These samples were collected from seven different urban and peri-urban agriculture areas in Sulaimani province. The analysis was carried out using Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrophotometry, which operated in collision cell mode with 7 percent hydrogen in helium to minimize polyatomic interferences. FINDINGS: The study findings indicated that the soils, with a potential hydrogen range of 7.5 to 8.18, are mainly calcareous and have textures that vary from silty loam to sandy or silty clay. Additionally, the organic matter content of these soils ranges from 1.4 percent to 5.47 percent. It was noted that soils subjected to wastewater irrigation do not show significant contamination by trace elements, whereas those affected by waste disposal sites showed high levels of chromium (134 milligrams per kilogram), copper (263 milligrams per kilogram), zinc (773 milligrams per kilogram), cadmium (4.19 milligrams per kilogram) and lead (161 milligrams per kilogram). Evaluation of enrichment factors indicates that the concentrations of trace elements generally remain within the anticipated background levels, with the exception of the municipal waste disposal site. The hazard indices derived for the trace elements indicate that the potential health risks associated with exposure routes are minimal. These indices consistently remain below the internationally recognized threshold of one, which signifies that the health concerns are insignificant fall within acceptable boundaries. CONCLUSION: The concentrations of trace elements exhibited a notable increase in locations allocated for waste disposal, demonstrating a gradual decline in comparison to other agricultural regions. Throughout all the locations examined, the levels of nickel consistently remained elevated, suggesting that the geological attributes of the region have a significant impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES A rapidly increasing human population has resulted in the expansion of urban areas and an associated increase in the demand for food. Consequently, urban and peri-urban agriculture, using waste water as a source for irrigation, is increasingly common around the world, particularly in developing countries. In the Kurdistan region of Iraq, the soils within Agriculture areas have the potential to accumulate trace elements originating from various sources of contamination like municipal waste disposal and the use of wastewater for irrigation. The main aim of this study was to assess the levels and sources of trace elements in this specific region and to analyze the potential health hazards linked to toxic elements present in the soil.METHODS: Elemental analyses were conducted on soil samples using the total digestion method, involving the use of Hydrofluoric acid. Subsequently, 118 soil samples, each with a fraction size of less than 2 millimeters, were analyzed. These samples were collected from seven different urban and peri-urban agriculture areas in Sulaimani province. The analysis was carried out using Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrophotometry, which operated in collision cell mode with 7 percent hydrogen in helium to minimize polyatomic interferences.FINDINGS: The study findings indicated that the soils, with a potential hydrogen range of 7.5 to 8.18, are mainly calcareous and have textures that vary from silty loam to sandy or silty clay. Additionally, the organic matter content of these soils ranges from 1.4 percent to 5.47 percent. It was noted that soils subjected to wastewater irrigation do not show significant contamination by trace elements, whereas those affected by waste disposal sites showed high levels of chromium (134 milligrams per kilogram), copper (263 milligrams per kilogram), zinc (773 milligrams per kilogram), cadmium (4.19 milligrams per kilogram) and lead (161 milligrams per kilogram). Evaluation of enrichment factors indicates that the concentrations of trace elements generally remain within the anticipated background levels, with the exception of the municipal waste disposal site. The hazard indices derived for the trace elements indicate that the potential health risks associated with exposure routes are minimal. These indices consistently remain below the internationally recognized threshold of one, which signifies that the health concerns are insignificant fall within acceptable boundaries.CONCLUSION: The concentrations of trace elements exhibited a notable increase in locations allocated for waste disposal, demonstrating a gradual decline in comparison to other agricultural regions. Throughout all the locations examined, the levels of nickel consistently remained elevated, suggesting that the geological attributes of the region have a significant impact.

Ultraviolet-A (UVA) radiation comprises more than 90% of the solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation reaching the earth. Exposure to UVA has been associated with dermatological disorders including skin cancer. Despite their preponderance amongst the UV range received on earth, the biological impacts of long wave UVA rays (340-400 nm) upon human skin have not been investigated so thoroughly. Nevertheless, recent studies have proven their harmful effects and involvement in carcinogenesis and immunosuppression. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the UVA radiation on the skin tissue of a living organism. Among this study the trace elements concentration using the Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) technique, blood counts have been deduced. Forty male wistar albino rats (180-200) gm. are included in the study and divided into four groups, each containing ten rats. Group I was formed to be the control group, which was not exposed to UV radiation. Other groups were formed to observe the effects of UVA with different exposure doses on the skin. For all studied groups the trace elements and Complete blood counts after 17, 27 and 59 days exposure in continue form (24 hr./dy) were examined. Statistical analyzed using IBM SPSS software package version 20.0 was used, (Armonk, NY: IBM Corp). The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to verify the normality of distribution Quantitative data was described using mean and standard deviation. Significance of the obtained results was judged at the 5% level. All groups exposed to UVA radiation showed a statistically sig-nificant variation in trace elements concentration and complete blood counts. However, a comparison between the control groups and the different other groups, shows the effects of UV exposure on the skin and blood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trace elements contamination and accumulation in bottom sediment represents a risk to environment and aquatic biota. Their anthropogenic or natural discharge, extension and cumulation can cause large scale of ecological destructions. Bioaccumulation and biomagnification is capable of leading to toxic level of these chemical substances in fish and other fresh water organisms (benthos, zooplankton), even when the exposure is low. The fish contamination through trophic structure can cause serious consequences to human health. The aim of the manuscript was to assemble and summarize the latest literature on the environmental and the aquatic biota effects of trace element contamination of bottom sediments. The article is also a review of new methods for trace elements elimination and their assessment to impact on aquatic organisms. Based on collected scientific publications in last 20 years the most common and important trace elements in aquatic ecosystem are Chromium, Arsenic, Mercury, Cadmium and Copper. These compounds are dangerous for living organisms and can disrupt their homeostasis as well as a cardiovascular, nervous and digestive system. Nowadays exist many instrumental methods, which are available to determine the trace element concentration such as PMF, INNA, BCR, XRF and bioassay. In searched studies the most preferred and used analyse of trace element concentration in aquatic bottom sediments is bioassay. This biological method is good complement to physical and chemical analyses in procedures of sediment quality assessment. Bioassay method can indicate sensitive response of planktonic organisms to various trace elements and provide information about the real risk to aquatic life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of the present study is to characterize the mineralogy and geochemistry of the bulk fly ashes (FA) and some separated fly ash fractions sampled from each row of electrostatic precipitators (ESP) of two Bulgarian thermoelectric power plants (TPP), namely Maritza 3 and Varna, and to reveal the influence of the mineral matter and chemical composition on the FAs mercury capture behaviour. A separation procedure was conducted on three selected fly ash samples as follows: (1) FAs from the Maritza 3 1st-row ESP; (2) FAs from the Maritza 3 3rd-row ESP; and (3) FA from the Varna 5th-row ESP. Following the sequential separation procedure, five fractions were obtained from each bulk FA sample including water leachate of FA, water-washed FA (FAW), char concentrate (FAC), magnetic fraction (FAM), and FA residue (FAR). Phase-mineralogical composition, the concentration of 30 trace elements, and mercury content of bulk FA samples and separated FA fractions were determinded. The data obtained reveal that the phase-mineral composition of the char-rich fly ash fractions isolated from the FAs of the Maritza 3 1st-row ESP consists mainly of char and quartz with lesser contents of anhydrite and hematite; while the FAC fraction derived from the FAs of the 3rd-row ESP in Maritza 3 is highly enriched in char and anhydrite with insignificant amounts of magnetite-hematite and quartz. The results indicate that there is a synergetic effect between char and Ca sulphate, and anhydrite could play a significant role in the Hg capture in the fly ashes from Maritza 3. In contrast to the FAC fraction from Maritza 3, the FAC fraction isolated from the FAs of the Varna 5th-row ESP contains almost pure char with insignificant amount of magnetite and quartz. Mercury capture in the FA from the Varna 5th-row ESP is strongly dependent on the bituminous-derived FA char and the mineral matter does not have significant influence on the Hg capture behaviour. It was established that very high enrichment of trace elements in the studied FAs does not occur, excluding the concentrations of Cd, Mo, As, Mn, and Ag in Maritza 3 FAs, and the contents of Be, Cd, Cs, Rb, Se, and Ag in Varna FAs. The high capture behaviour of Hg by char and sulphates in the Maritza 3 3rd-row ESP is accompanied by simultaneous capture behaviour of hazardous and volatile elements such as Cd, Mo, and As, and probably others when compared with FAs from the 1st-row ESP in the same TPP. This observation indicates that the capture mechanism of such elements tend to be similar to that of mercury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]