Mehdi Fazlzadeh

This case-control study aimed to investigate the health risks faced by university professors as a result of using whiteboard markers. The study included 30 professors who used the whiteboard markers for teaching and 20 professors who used other teaching aids. Samples of urine and breathing air were collected from the participants, and then analyzed in the laboratory using gas chromatography (GC) to measure the concentrations of BTEX compounds. The carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks of these compounds were assessed using a probabilistic method. The mean concentrations (ug/L) of compounds in the urine differed significantly (p < 0.05) between the case and control groups for benzene (82.59 vs. 65.36), toluene (128.47 vs. 85.65), and ethylbenzene (9.09 vs. 25.16). The mean lifetime cancer risk (LTCR) for benzene (8.27 × 10^-8) and ethylbenzene (9.38 × 10^-8) as well as the non-carcinogenic risk of all compounds in the control group were below the acceptable limit. Due to the higher concentration of compounds in the urine of the case group compared to the control group, it is essential to utilize alternative teaching methods in educational settings instead of traditional whiteboards and chemical markers.

Beauty salons are establishments that provide hair, face, and body treatments for consumers. In this research, type of bacteriological pollution and the associated bacteriological human health risks were evaluated using Monte Carlo Simulation. A cross-sectional study design was carried out in 50 randomly selected beauty salons in Ardabil, during April-June, 2022. Pseudomonas (74 ± 42 CFU/m³) was found frequently in almost all (98%) of the salons. Staphylococcus (9 ± 25 CFU/m³) and Escherichia coli (5 ± 13 CFU/m³) were found in 20%, and Acinetobacter (2 ± 7 CFU/m³) was found in 10% of the salons. Salons with makeup and hair dressing had higher concentrations of Staphylococcus. The concentrations of bacteria fairly decreased with relative humidity and increased with the temperature. Furthermore, higher concentrations of the bioaerosols were observed in larger salons and more crowded salons. There was no significant correlation between the type of heating system, building material of the walls, type of ventilation system, as well as bride’s makeup in the salons with concentration of the bioaerosols. The average annual infection risk of Escherichia coli 7.27 (10^− 4) per person per year (pppy), which was higher than the acceptable limit (10^–4 pppy) suggested by WHO. The results of health risk were above the safe limit of EPA and WHO, indicating possible adverse effects to exposed individuals.

Background: Waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS) is associated with several deleterious health outcomes. We sought to estimate the prevalence of WTS and explore socioeconomic inequalities associated with this culturally-rooted tobacco smoking practice among Iranian adults. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted among 20,460 adults (ages 18 and older) enrolled in the PERSIAN cohort study during 2020. Data were collected on socioeconomic status (SES), lifestyle, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, and several risk factors related to non-communicable diseases. The concentration curve and relative concentration index (RCI) were administered to assess and quantify the SES-based inequality in WTS. Results: Overall age-adjusted prevalence of past-month WTS was 5.1% (95%CI:4.6–5.8), with about 1% for women and 10.6 for men. Age-adjusted prevalence of WTS was higher among younger adults, men, cigarette smokers, obese adults, and those with higher SES. The RCI estimation showed that WTS is more popular among adults with high income and education. WTS was higher among younger adults, cigarette smokers, obese adults, and those with higher SES. Conclusion: There is a clear socioeconomic inequality in WTS, with a higher prevalence among adults with higher income and education. The findings suggest the need for targeted interventions to address this inequality and reduce the prevalence of WTS among high-income communities.

Today, many health problems related to work have overshadowed workers and their families. In the meantime, chemicals are among the risk factors that have created many problems due to para-occupational exposure. In para-occupational exposures, family members are exposed to work pollutants transferred to the home environment. This study was conducted to investigate para-occupational exposure to chemicals. To conduct this systematic review, databases such as “Web of Science”, “Google Scholar”, “Scopus”, and “SID” were used. Relevant articles in these databases were extracted by searching keywords such as “take-home exposure”, “para-occupational exposure”, and “chemicals” from 2000 to 2022. To extract the required data, all parts of the articles were reviewed following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA 2020). Among the 44 identified articles, 23 were selected as final articles, of which 10 were related to agriculture workers and their families, and 13 were related to other occupations. These studies mainly investigated para-occupational exposure to pesticides (14 studies) and metals (four studies). Also, contaminated work clothes, the washing place of contaminated clothes, and storage of working clothes, equipment, and chemicals were proposed as the main routes of contamination transmission. As a result of these para-occupational exposures, problems like neuro-behavioral disorders in children, end-stage renal disease, black gingival borders, and autism spectrum disorder were created or aggravated. Limiting the transmission routes and taking measures such as training and providing facilities like devoting places for washing and storing clothes in the workplaces can decrease this type of exposure.