Heavy metal (HM) pollution has long been a significant source of environmental deterioration and a problem for the safety of food. Iraqis prefer rice over any other food, and since heavy metals have a direct impact on health, their traces in rice have drawn particular attention. Before cooking rice, it is usual in Iraq to wash and soak it. Some 55 varieties of imported and local rice were sampled from Erbil city markets in 2022 with the aim of determining the concentration of As, Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb before and after soaking. Standard procedure of acid digestions was applied on the raw and soaked samples. The solutions were analyzed using ICPE-9820 Shimadzu. The mean concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb (in mg/kg) in the rice samples before soaking was 0.655, 0.170, 0.160, 0.387, 0.489, respectively and after soaking 0.421, 0.109, 0.115, 0.124 and 0.336, respectively. The concentration of As and Pb was found to be beyond the optimum level of 0.2 mg/kg codex standards for rice; whereas Cd and Cr were within the proposed level of codex standards. Moreover, local rice showed higher concentration of (Cd and Cr), whereas (AS and Pb) concentration in imported rice was higher. Further, results validated that rice soaking can decrease levels of As, Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb (32.5%, 40.2%, 27.9%, 61.6% and 31.3%, respectively). These findings suggest that soaking as a kitchen practice has efficiency to evaporate metals and has a great influence on the reduction of toxic heavy metals and thus reduces exposure to toxic metals in rice
Soil is a crucial component of environment. Total soil analysis may give information about possible enrichment of the soil with heavy metals. Heavy metals, potentially contaminate soils, may have been dumped on the ground. The concentrations of soil heavy metals (Cd, As, Pb, Cr, Ni, Zn and Cu) were measured in three zones thought to be deeply contaminated at different depths (5, 25, 50 cm) at Ibn Al-Haitham College. The highest concentration of heavy metals Pb (63.3ppm), Cr (90.7ppm), Ni (124ppm) and Cu (75.7ppm) were found in zone (A) location-1, where the highest concentration of Zn (111.7ppm) was found in zone (C). Cd and As were detected in small amounts in all zones. PH value, organic matters, carbonat
... Show MoreBackground: This study aimed to determine the amount of fluoride in commercially available bottled drinking water in Al-Basra city, Iraq Materials and Methods: Eleven brands of bottled drinking water were obtained from supermarkets in Al-Basra city, Iraq. Five samples of 10 ml. were taking from each one of brands and the fluoride was determined by using fluoride ion selective electrode. Results: The highest fluoride concentration was present in BADIOT brand (1.174 mg/L) while the lowest was in Barakat brand (0.038 mg/L). One way ANOVA test showed a highley significant difference among different commercially branded types. Coclusions: Bottled water available in Al-Basra city contains less concentration of fluoride ion than normal values
... Show MoreIn this study, the results of the uranium concentrations and specific activity in 10 rice samples are described using a solid-state track detector (CR-39). Samples were collected from various local Iraqi markets with different origins (Iraq, India, America, and Thailand). Our findings found that the results of uranium concentration in all studied samples are ranging from (0.55 ± 0.28 to 1.74 ± 0.31) ppm with a weighted average of (1.24 ± 0.99) ppm. Also, results demonstrate that the specific activity values of the studied samples swing between values of (6.88 ± 3.52 and 21.49 ± 3.85) Bq/Kg. The obtained results of the studied rice samples are indicated that it is less than the acceptable limit of those studies established by ma
... Show MoreVariation order plays an important role in calculating the final cost and time. The paper aims to determine the causes of variation orders in projects performed between 2007-2014 in Erbil governorate projects. Data was collected from contract documents. Performed in the Erbil governorate projects from 2007-2014. The study seeks to identify the most significant causes of delays by assessing the common causes of delays in terms of frequency, severity and
important indices of owners, consultants and contractors related to&n
... Show MoreObjective: To assess knowledge and skills level regarding oxygen administration methods at p
ediatric teaching hospitals in Mosul City.
Methodology: A descriptive study was applied at pediatric teaching hospitals (Al-Kansaa, and Ibn Al-Atheer) in Mosul City from 8 of October / 2018 till 29 of May / 2019. The selection of the sample was non- probability (Purposive). This sample involved of (52) nurses. The questionnaire was constructed which consists of three parts and provided for nurses. The questionnaire validity was carried out through a panel of experts. To evaluate statistically the reliability of instruments, the pilot study was applied through period from 20– till –31 of January / 2019. Non-randomly (6) nurses from Ibn S
Objective: The study aimed to identify the adolescents' fast foods and snacks, and find out the relationship between fast
food, snacks and adolescents' demographic data (gender and Body Mass Index). Methodology: A descriptive study
was conducted on impact of fast foods and snacks upon adolescents' Body Mass Index in secondary schools at Baghdad
city, starting from 20
th of April 2013 to the end of October 2014. Non- probability (purposive) sample of 1254
adolescents were chosen from secondary schools of both sides of Al-Karkh and Al-Russafa sectors. Data was collected
through a specially constructed questionnaire format include (12) items multiple choice questions. The validity of the
questionnaire was determined thr
The trade balance is considered as a way to join the national economy with the world, So it is the mirror that reflect the economic center of the country and it is point to competitive ability of it, The tariff and the exchange rate perform a great role to motivate the domestic production and improve the trade balance if we direct them to achieve the same purpose. The Iraqi economic has trade balance which achieve overabundant during the years of studying because of the oil exports, while the other exports represent a small percentage it is hardly remember, and expansion in imports from other side causes exhaustion in oil revenues, and this make the trade balance in permanent
... Show MoreDespite the significant increase in public spending in Iraq, it was not directed toward the important sectors that have an important role in correcting the productive structure. Rather, most of the public expenditure was going to cover the required imports, or to face shocks, whether security or health, and this caused a continuous decrease in the volume of Iraq's exports of goods and services, as the aim of the study was to review the importance of public debt and its impact on the trade balance, as well as to know the economic policies that can contribute to strengthening the trade balance, as the study proved through the (ARDL) model that there is a direct relationship between the domestic debt and the net trade balance, and an invers
... Show MoreThe aim of this work is to study reverse osmosis characteristics for copper sulfate hexahydrate (CuSO4.6H2O), nickel sulfate hexahydrate (NiSO4.6H2O) and zinc sulfate hexahydrate (ZnSO4.6H2O) removal from aqueous solution which discharge from some Iraqi factories such as Alnasser Company for mechanical industries. The mode of operation of reverse osmosis was permeate is removed and the concentrate of metals solution is recycled back to the feed vessel. Spiral-wound membrane is thin film composite membrane (TFC) was used to conduct this study on reverse osmosis. The variables studied are metals concentrations (50 – 150 ppm) and time (15 – 90 min). It was found that increasing the time results in an increase in concentration of metal in p
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