Mesopotamia Environmental Journal

This study was conducted to find a new and cheap method to remove the malachite green dye from the aqueous solutions, the effects of four main factors on the adsorption process was studied, results show that the best contact time for adsorbing the malachite green dye was 150 min. which give removal efficiency more than R% = 76, we found that the increase in the initial dye concentration lead to the increase in R%, the highest R% reached was 79.8 at initial dye concentration 100 mg/L, the results also show that the R% was increased with the increase in the Adsorbent weight , the highest R% recorded was 82.7 when adding 2 gm of cardamom seed shells, the final factor studied was pH value the R% was increased with the increase of pH value from acidity to alkali media , the highest R% was 84.35 at pH=7.

On the way to accomplishing a supportable chemical and physical processes, Alhagi maurorum a low cost, natural waste and available material was explored to operate as an adsorbent for removal safranin-O in the industrial effluents. In addition to enter some of the enhancement such as acidic and thermal activation. The work was achieve in a batch with same dye concentration, adsorbent dosage, and contact time. Firstly, the removal of dye was very rapid, then step by step reduced representative diffusion into the inner of the adsorbent particles, increasment of the removal Sfranin-O dye percentages, taken the following sequences:Acidic or wet activation 97% > thermal or dry activation 90.4 > orginal or non activation adsrpent 84.6%.

The current investigation is an attempt to assess the situation of the fishery resources and fisheries in the freshwater of Basrah province during the period from 2005 to 2016. The declared catches by the fishermen and fish market were used to in the present study. Surface Gill, Drift, seine and Cast net's fishing method was employed mainly for catching the fish, The total of freshwater fishes landed in the province during the above mentioned period was about 11,094.940 Tons. The total landed peaked of the fishes in 2015 at 1978.395 ton which accounted about 18% of total catch. About fourteen freshwater fish species were caught and the total landed was dominated by the less economically fishes such as Silurus triostegus which accounted for 20 % of the total catch. On the other hand, the highly economically fishes were landed in a less quantity during the period studied. If present trends continue, much of the unique basrah inland fish fauna will disappear and will be replaced by alien fishes, such as Cyprinus carpio, Tilapia zillii, Carassius auratus, Hypophthalmiehthys molitrix and Ctenopharyngodon idella . Overfishing, market prices, weather patterns, and environmental conditions (natural or human-made) have an important effect on fish stock. The increase in water salinity, pollution level and declining water levels has also a major impact on fish stock.Therefore, the enforcement of the new standards for the environment pollution and for the water level control in the region are essential.

Exposure to the high levels of benzene and its metabolites are commonly reported to induce hematotoxicity. However, the effects of exposure to low levels are still obscure. In addition, these possible effects occurred in haemopoietic components could potentially lead to initiate harmful effects in different parts of the body later in the life course. This study was designed to assess the potential effects of benzene exposure on the hematological profile among workers at filling stations and compared them with office’s workers in Babil Province/Iraq. 24 blood samples (exposed group) and another 14 blood samples (non- exposed to benzene) were collected from public patrol stations. Full analysis of blood picture was performed using fully automated hematology analyzer. Results indicated that most of hematological biomarkers (14 out of 15 biomarkers) were not significantly changed in both groups. However, Hemoglobin (Hb) and Packed cell volume (PCV %) were significantly increased in smoker workers compared to non-smokers at patrol stations, while the total number of platelets PLT was significantly reduced. There are no significant associations between the duration of benzene, personal age and all measured hematological parameters. Conclusions: The findings of this study revealed that benzene exposure has a potential to induce hematological among smoking people working at filling stations in Babil province/ Iraq. The hematological changes include increased Hb and PCV% and decreased the number of PLT. However, our results did not find any significant changes in most of hematological biomarkers in workers at filling stations compared to the control group in Babil Province.

The otoliths (ear stones) of sparid species (Acanthopagrus berda (Forsskal,1775), A. latus (Houttuyn, 1782) and Sparidentex hasta (Valenciennes,1830)) sagittae were studied. Fifty specimens of each species with different sizes were collected from local markets since December 2014 to March 2015. The largest otolith pair of each specimen (sagitta) was extracted and used to differentiate among the three species. The results revealed that the sagittae of these three species differ from each other, especially from posterior, that it is almost straight in A. latus, whereas there is a notch in A. berda, in S. hasta the posterior of sagitta regularly pointed. A linear relationship between total length-otolith length and body weight-otolith weight are found for the three-studied species. The otolith weight correlated with fish body weight was stronger than the correlation of otolith length with fish total length. The form factor of A. latus is higher than the other two species so as to roundness, but S. hasta has the highest aspect ratio. The results suggest that otolith (sagitta) morphology of the three sparid species differs from each other, thus, sagitta can be adopted to discriminate among these species, because it is species specific.

copper ions removing from waste water was investigated. The sorption behavior of metal ions on spent tea papers, depending on contact time, pH, and initial metal concentration was studied in batch method. The adsorption process, which is PH dependent, shows maximum removal of copper ions at pH of 6; an initial copper ion concentration of 50-250 mg, dosage of 0.25 g, and the equilibrium was reached in 1 hr. The maximum efficiencies removed of Cu2+ (about 99.8%). The experimental data were analyzed using Langmuir, Freundlich, and Brauner, Emmett, and Teller (BET), isotherm models. The isotherm coefficients for all these models have been determined. Langmuir isotherm expressions were observed to give better fit to the experimental data compared to Freundlich and BET models. The kinetic data were assessed using Lagergren first order and pseudo second order kinetic models. Kinetic data correlated well with Lagergren first order kinetic model, showing that reversible reaction with an equilibrium being recognized between liquid and solid phase. The results indicate that spent tea papers can be used as an efficient adsorbent for removing copper ions from waste water.

In this study, 6 taxa from the Chlorophyta , Phaeophyta and Rhodophy collected from different stations at north – west of Arabian Gulf , Iraqi coast . A total of 120 samples from these seaweeds were used to measure the proteins, carbohydrates , lipids , vitamins , chlorophylls , total phenols and total carotenoids . In addition to lipid- soluble and water- soluble antioxidant . The red seaweeds B.fuscopurpura and E.carnea were showed high moisture content ( 85%and87%) ,lowash(18.88%and20.45%),lowcarbohydrate(22.12%and20.22%),lowlipids(2.55% and 2.48% ) and low vitamins E and C . E.carnea , showed the lowest pigments contents as well as phenolic content ( 2.5 ppm) , lipid – soluble antioxidant ( 78.34 μM BHT/g ) and total antioxidant capacities ( 33.5 μM AAE/g ) . While E. carnea contained more protein (7.26% ) than the other studied seaweeds . The highest ash contains ( 31.1%), vitamin E (20.12 IU) and phenolic content were recorded in the green seaweed E. Compressa, while Highest carbohydrate ( 38.77%), vitamin C ( 4.92 IU) and water soluble ( 52.12 μM AAE/g) were recorded by the brown seaweed G. mitchellae . The green seaweed C.glumerata showed highest lipid contents ( 7.63%) , chlorophyll a (0.721 mg/g), lipid soluble ( 1.25.66 μM AAE/g) and total antioxidant capacities ( 77.8 μM AAE/g), in the same time the highest carotenoides contents were found in the brown seaweed E. cofervoidex. There are no previous records on the chemical composition or nutritional values of Iraqi seaweeds so far, so this research focused on this side for the first time and open apportunities for further investigations of other seaweeds to evaluate their consumption as nutritional valuable food and medicinal products .