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This study has systematically reviewed all of the research articles about the photocatalytic degradation of pesticides using titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanoparticles (NPs) and ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. Online databases were searched for peer-reviewed research articles and conference proceedings published during 2009–2019, and ultimately 112 eligible articles were included in the review. Fifty-three active ingredients of pesticides and one mixture had been investigated, most of them were organophosphorus (22%), followed by triazine derivatives (11%), chloropyridines (9%), and organochlorines (9%). Sixteen types of TiO 2 with an average photodegradation efficiency of 71% were determined. Based on the type of pesticide and experimental conditions such as irradiation time, the complete photodegradation had been observed. The removal of each group of pesticides has been sufficiently discussed in the article. Effect of experimental conditions on photocatalytic activity has been investigated using linear and polynomial regressions. The strategies to reduce the required energy for this process, doping TiO 2 with metal and non-metal agents, innovative reactor designs, etc., were also discussed. In conclusion, TiO 2 NPs have been successful for degradation of pesticides. Future direction for research incorporates developing and application of heterogeneous doped and immobilized titania having optimized characteristics such as surface area, reactive centers, recombination rate, and phase, and capable to photo-degrade low levels of pesticides residues under solar light in an efficient full-scale size.

Climate change has significantly altered water resources globally. This study examines the effects of climate change on Iran’s water resources using twelve climate indices developed by the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI) from 1992 to 2022. Daily climate data were obtained from the Global Surface Summary of the Day (GSOD) database, which includes quality-controlled data from Iran’s Meteorological Organization. The GSOD data undergo extensive automated quality control processes to eliminate random errors and ensure data reliability. Long-term trends were analyzed using linear regression, and spatial patterns were identified using K-means and hierarchical clustering methods. Analysis of 29 provincial capitals revealed significant trends in precipitation and temperature patterns. Temperature indices showed widespread increases, with 75.86% of cities experiencing significant rises in Mean daily mean temperature (TMm) ( p  < 0.05, up to 0.16 °C/year) and 96.55% showing increases in Mean daily maximum temperature (TXm). Heavy precipitation indices showed significant decreases ( p  < 0.05): 11.11% of cities for Annual Total Precipitation from Very Wet Days (R95pTOT) and 22.22% for Extremely Wet Days (R99pTOT). Annual Total Wet-Day Precipitation (PRCPTOT) showed spatial variation, with Rasht showing a significant increase (19.07 mm/year, p  < 0.05), while Bojnourd exhibited a decrease (− 4.28 mm/year, p  > 0.05). The Consecutive Dry Days (CDD) index showed a significant increase in 14.81% of the cities, with Khorramabad experiencing the highest increase of 4.4 days/year ( p  < 0.05). Fraction of days with above average temperature (TXgt50p) increased significantly in over 70% of the cities. Study limitations include incomplete data for Karaj and Qom, and missing precipitation records for Kermanshah and Sari. These findings reflect significant impact of climate change on Iran’s climate patterns, indicating increased water scarcity. Effective water resource management and climate adaptation are crucial.

Our study aims at identifying and quantifying the relationship between the cold and heat exposure and the risk of cardiovascular mortality through a systematic review and meta-analysis. A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline. Peer-reviewed studies about the temperature and cardiovascular mortality were retrieved in the MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Scopus databases from January 2000 up to the end of 2015. The pooled effect sizes of short-term effect were calculated for the heat exposure and cold exposure separately. Also, we assessed the dose-response relationship of temperature-cardiovascular mortality by a change in units of latitudes, longitude, lag days and annual mean temperature by meta-regression. After screening the titles, abstracts and full texts, a total of 26 articles were included in the meta-analysis. The risk of cardiovascular mortality increased by 5% (RR, 1.055; 95% CI [1.050-1.060]) for the cold exposure and 1.3% (RR, 1.013; 95% CI [1.011-1.015]) for the heat exposure. The short-term effects of cold and heat exposure on the risk of cardiovascular mortality in males were 3.8% (RR, 1.038; 95% CI [1.034-1.043]) and 1.1%( RR, 1.011; 95% CI [1.009-1.013]) respectively. Moreover, the effects of cold and heat exposure on risk of cardiovascular mortality in females were 4.1% (RR, 1.041; 95% CI [1.037-1.045]) and 1.4% (RR, 1.014; 95% CI [1.011-1.017]) respectively. In the elderly, it was at an 8.1% increase and a 6% increase in the heat and cold exposure, respectively. The greatest risk of cardiovascular mortality in cold temperature was in the 14 lag days (RR, 1.09; 95% CI [1.07-1.010]) and in hot temperatures in the seven lag days (RR, 1.14; 95% CI [1.09-1.17]). The significant dose-response relationship of latitude and longitude in cold exposure with cardiovascular mortality was found. The results showed that the risk of cardiovascular mortality increased with each degree increased significantly in latitude and longitude in cold exposure (0.2%, 95% CI [0.006-0.035]) and (0.07%, 95% CI [0.0003-0.014]) respectively. The risk of cardiovascular mortality increased with each degree increase in latitude in heat exposure (0.07%, 95% CI [0.0008-0.124]). Our findings indicate that the increase and decrease in ambient temperature had a relationship with the cardiovascular mortality. To prevent the temperature- related mortality, persons with cardiovascular disease and the elderly should be targeted. The review has been registered with PROSPERO (registration number CRD42016037673).

Background Ensuring public health is crucial in any policy debate on climate change. Paris Agreement on Climate Change is a global contract through which countries have committed themselves to a public health treaty. This study was conducted to identify the challenges that lie ahead for policymakers and provide an evidence-informed framework for policymaking to increase the resilience of Iran’s health system to health consequences of climate change. Methods A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was conducted with 25 experts. Purposeful and snowball sampling techniques were used for data gathering. Thematic content analysis was conducted with a deductive-inductive approach. Leichter’s model, the stage’s heuristic framework, and Kingdon’s models were used for analyzing the context and process analysis respectively. MAXQDA 20 software was used. Results A total of four main themes and twelve sub-themes were identified concerning various contextual factors, including political, economic, international, and cultural/social challenges. The primary obstacles to implementing adaptation measures were found to be political considerations, economic sanctions, and the low-risk perception held by both the public and policymakers. Additionally, fifteen themes and forty-eight sub-themes related to the process were identified across several areas: agenda setting, which includes the problem stream, policy stream, and politics stream; policy formulation, encompassing governmental and managerial aspects, research, evidence-informed policymaking, and the role of Non-Governmental Organizations; policy implementation, which covers early warning systems, education, inter-sectoral coordination, architecture and engineering, and integrated databases; and policy evaluation, focusing on inadequate evaluation methods. Conclusions The study identifies key challenges in implementing the Paris Agreement within Iran’s health system, categorized into four main themes: political, economic, international, and cultural/social. Political issues stem from the politicization of climate change and national security concerns. Economically, reliance on oil and sanctions hinder progress, while high technology costs strain resources. Internationally, a lack of binding commitments and technological sanctions impede efforts. Culturally, low public awareness and inadequate inter-organizational collaboration limit engagement. The study emphasizes the need for cohesive policies, enhanced public education, and improved coordination among sectors to effectively address climate change impacts on health.

Respirator face masks (RFMs) as a personal-level intervention is increasingly being utilized to reduce ambient particulate matter (PM) exposure, globally. We tested the effectiveness of 50 commercially available ones in reducing the exposure of ambient particle number concentrations (PNC), PM10, PM2.5, and PM1 (PM ≤ 10, 2.5, and 1 μm in diameter, respectively) in a traffic-affected urban site in Tehran. To examine the efficiency of RFMs, we applied a specific experimental setup including vacuum pumps, dummy heads, connecting tubes, glass chambers, and GRIMM Aerosol Spectrometer to measure all metrics after dummy heads. The average effectiveness of RFMs was in the range of 0.7–83.5%, 3.5–68.1%, 0.8–46.1%, and 0.4–32.2% in reducing ambient PNC, PM10, PM2.5, and PM1, respectively. Considering all metrics, the highest effectiveness was observed always for Biomask, followed by 3 M 9332, due to their well-designed physical characteristics (e.g., adjustable nose clip for any face/nose shape, and size, soft inner material in the nose panel to provide a secure seal against leakage, adjustable or elasticated straps/ear loops to better adjust on any face). Biomask reduced ambient PM10 with a mean value of 94.6 μg m−3 (minimum–maximum: 51.7–100.3 μg m−3), whereas it filtered on average just 29.0 μg m−3 (25.7–43.5 μg m−3) of ambient PM2.5 and 18.2 μg m−3 (14.7–21.8 μg m−3) of PM1. A fuzzy analytical hierarchy process to find the most important design-related factors of RFMs affecting their effectiveness, which showed the exhalation valve and its diaphragm (20.4%), nose clip (19.7%), and cheek flaps (18.6%) are ranked as the main design-related variables. The fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution indicated that Biomask and 3M 9332 had scores of 1 and 0.97, the highest scores compared with other RFMs. This study provides crucial evidence-based results to elucidate the effectiveness and design-related factors of RFMs in real-environmental circumstances.

We estimated mortality and economic loss attributable to PM 2·5 air pollution exposure in 429 counties of Iran in 2018. Ambient PM 2.5 -related deaths were estimated using the Global Exposure Mortality Model (GEMM). According to the ground-monitored and satellite-based PM 2.5 data, the annual mean population-weighted PM 2·5 concentrations for Iran were 30.1 and 38.6 μg m −3 , respectively. We estimated that long-term exposure to ambient PM 2.5 contributed to 49,303 (95% confidence interval (CI) 40,914–57,379) deaths in adults ≥ 25 yr. from all-natural causes based on ground monitored data and 58,873 (95% CI 49,024–68,287) deaths using satellite-based models for PM 2.5 . The crude death rate and the age-standardized death rate per 100,000 population for age group ≥ 25 year due to ground-monitored PM 2.5 data versus satellite-based exposure estimates was 97 (95% CI 81–113) versus 116 (95% CI 97–135) and 125 (95% CI 104–145) versus 149 (95% CI 124–173), respectively. For ground-monitored and satellite-based PM 2.5 data, the economic loss attributable to ambient PM 2.5 -total mortality was approximately 10,713 (95% CI 8890–12,467) and 12,792.1 (95% CI 10,652.0–14,837.6) million USD, equivalent to nearly 3.7% (95% CI 3.06–4.29) and 4.3% (95% CI 3.6–4.5.0) of the total gross domestic product in Iran in 2018.

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has indirectly produced both positive and negative effects on the environment, particularly in terms of air quality. Our study aimed to determine these effects in the city of Tehran by comparing the ambient PM 2.5 and PM 10 levels recorded at 22 air quality monitoring stations during the outbreak (20 February–2 April 2020) with those from the corresponding period last year (20 February–3 April 2019). Contrary to expectation, the average concentrations of both the PM 2.5 and the PM 10 were markedly higher during the former, increasing by 20.5% and 15.7%, respectively, for the first month of the outbreak (20 February–19 March 2020) and by 23.5% and 20.0% for the subsequent Nowruz New Year holidays (from late March till early April), which resulted in overall increases of 20.5% and 16.5% for the entire period. The non-integrated responses to the pandemic, including the failure to close administrative centers and, in particular, the recommendation to maintain social distancing by reducing public transportation use (prompting citizens to travel by private vehicle), have worsened the ambient air quality in Tehran, providing an exceptional opportunity to evaluate the direct/indirect influence of air quality policies and emission control measures on PM 2.5 and PM 10 . Because of the significant association between the lethality of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and exposure to ambient air pollution, the rise in airborne PM 2.5 during this outbreak may increase the mortality rate of SARS-CoV-2.

Introduction Reliable access to water is essential for hospitals to function effectively. Water shortage can disrupt critical hospital operations. This study aims to explore the challenges, and recommendations related to managing water outages in hospitals. Methods This qualitative study employed a content analysis methodology with an inductive approach. It was conducted in Iran between 2023 and 2024, utilizing purposeful and snowball sampling with maximum diversity. Participants were selected from scientific and executive experts with over five years of experience relevant to the research objectives. The inclusion criteria included having direct experience with water crisis management in hospitals and willingness to participate in in-depth interviews.Trustworthiness was ensured via the Guba and Lincoln criteria. Results A total of 20 interviews yielded 1250 codes, that were categorized into three main categories, 13 categories, and 49 subcategories. Categories included factors contributing to water crises (location, infrastructure-related factors and hazard characteristics), Challenges in managing water crises (planning deficiencies, Weakness in coordination, Weakness in Supervision and Monitoring, Weakness in Providing Resources, and lack of understanding and proactive action), and suggested Recommendations (Establishing a Coordination and Structure, Educating, Empowering, and Engaging All Stakeholders, Sustainable Management of Water Resources, Water Consumption Management, Setting Up Continuous Monitoring and Early Warning System). Conclusion Stakeholders involved in hospital management must proactively address the challenges associated with water crises and develop comprehensive water crisis management plans tailored to the specific conditions of each hospital and region. Active involvement of all relevant stakeholders is crucial for effective implementation.

In this study, atmospheric concentrations of particulate-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Tehran megacity were determined to investigate the concentration, distribution, and sources of PAHs in PM₁₀. The health risk from exposure to airborne BaPeq through inhalation pathway was also assessed. Toxic equivalency factors (TEFs) approach was used for quantitative risk estimate, and incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) was calculated. PM₁₀ samples were collected at ten sampling locations during the summer 2013 and winter 2014 by using two independent methods of field sampling. The PM₁₀ concentration in winter (89.55 ± 15.56 μg m⁻³) was 1.19 times higher than that in summer (75.42 ± 14.93 μg m⁻³). Sixteen PAHs were measured with the total average concentrations of PAHs ranged from 56.98 ± 15.91 to 110.35 ± 57.31 ng m⁻³ in summer and from 125.87 ± 79.02 to 171.25 ± 73.94 ng m⁻³ in winter which were much higher than concentrations measured in most similar studies conducted around the world. Molecular diagnostic ratios were used to identify PAH emission sources. The results indicated that gasoline-driven vehicles are the major sources of PAHs in the study area. Risk analysis showed that the mean and 90 % probability estimated inhalation ILCRs were 7.85 × 10⁻⁶ and 16.78 × 10⁻⁶, respectively. Results of a sensitivity analysis indicated that BaP concentration and cancer slope factor (CSF) contributed most to effect on ILCR mean.

Inflammatory biomarkers in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) are measured to estimate the effects of air pollution on humans. The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between particulate matter and inflammatory biomarkers in blood plasma and exhaled air in young adults. The obtained results were compared in two periods; i.e., winter and summer. GRIMM Dust Monitors were used to measure PM 10 , PM 2.5 , and PM 1 in indoor and outdoor air. A total of 40 healthy young adults exhaling air condensate were collected. Then, biomarkers of interleukin-6 (IL-6), Nitrosothiols (RS-NOs), and Tumor necrosis factor-soluble receptor-II (sTNFRII) were measured by 96 wells method ELISA and commercial kits (HS600B R&D Kit and ALX-850–037-KI01) in EBC while interleukin-6 (IL-6), sTNFRII and White Blood Cell (WBC) were measured in blood plasma in two periods of February 2013 (winter) and May 2013 (summer). Significant association was found between particulate matter and the white blood cell count (p < 0.001), as well as plasma sTNFRII levels (p-value = 0.001). No significant relationship was found between particulate matter with RS-NOs (p = 0.128), EBC RSNOs (p-value = 0.128), and plasma IL-6 (p-value = 0.167). In addition, there was no significant relationship between interleukin-6 of exhaled air with interleukin-6 of plasma (p-value < 0.792 in the first period and < 0.890 in the second period). sTNFRII was not detected in EBC. Considering the direct effect between increasing some biomarkers in blood and EBC and particulate matter, it is concluded that air pollution causes this increasing.