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
Iraq is a developing country with a high population. In Iraq, heavy metal and metalloid contamination has resulted from both industrialisation and environmental sources, providing serious health risks to the local population. We conducted one of the most comprehensive analyses on the current state of Iraq's heavy metal and metalloid pollution in this paper, which included water, soil, paddy, and rice. A study was carried out to determine the concentration of heavy metals including Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), Iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), Cobalt (Co), Magnesium (Mg), Aluminum (Al), and Copper (Cu) of 39 irrigation water samples, 75 soil samples, 75 paddy samples, and 75 rice samples in two Iraqi governorates (Diyala , and Salah al-
... Show MoreThe aims of this study are to explore the commercial artifacts in the following three kinds of vegetables oils, Nigella Sativa, Trigonella foenum-graecum Linn,and Zingiber officinale. These oils have been very popular medicinal plants which are commonly used in traditional medicine .These commercial oils have been compared with the extracts of these plants.
The physical properties of extracts and commercial oils of these plants have been stuied. We observed that the refractive index of the plants matches and non-significant, while specific gravity of Nigella Sativa has similar specific gravity in both extracts and commercial oil in contrast with Trigonella foenum Linn,and Zingiber officinale and we found significant difference (P<
Concentrations of heavy metals (Copper Cu, Iron Fe, Manganese Mn, Cadmium Cd, and Lead Pb) have been studied in river crab Sesarma boulengeri (Outer part of the shield and interior tissues) which caught from two stations in Shatt Al – Arab river (Salhia and Aldeir areas). Elements concentrations were measured by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer, concentration of heavy metals in the internal tissues was higher than in the outer shield in both of the stations with the highest value of the elements was to iron 95.21 mg\ kg during the spring as well as copper was 55 mg\kg and manganese was 39.09 mg\kg. The study showed the presence of seasonal changes in the studied heavy metals concentrations values in the tissues of river crab;
... Show MoreUntreated municipal solid waste (MSW) release onto land is prevalent in developing countries. To reduce the high levels of harmful components in polluted soils, a proper evaluation of heavy metal concentrations in Erbil's Kani Qrzhala dump between August 2021 and February 2022 is required. The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of improper solid waste disposal on soil properties within a landfill by assessing the risks of contamination for eight heavy elements in two separate layers of the soil by using geoaccumulation index (I-geo) and pollution load index (PLI) supported. The ArcGIS software was employed to map the spatial distribution of heavy element pollution and potential ecological risks. The I-geo values in summe
... Show MoreIn this study, the preparation and characterization of hyacinth plant /chitosan composite, as a heavy metal removal, were done. Water hyacinth plant (Eichhorniacrasspes) was collected from Tigris river in Baghdad. The root and shoot parts of plant were ground to powder. Composite materials were prepared at different ratios of plant part (from 2.9% to 30.3%, wt /wt) which corresponds to (30-500mg) of hyacinth plant (root and shoot) and chitosan. The results showed that all examined ratios of plant parts have an excellent absorption to copper (Cu (II)). Moreover, it was observed that 2.9% corresponds (30mg) of plant root revealed highest removal (82.7%) of Pb (II), while 20.23% of shoot removed 61% of Cd (II) within 24 hr
... Show MoreWasit Governorate is characterized by industrials activities such as groups of asphalts and bricks factories, oil fields and thermal power plant, in addition to the agricultural activity that is widely separated, which leads to pollution of the surface soils with heavy metals. The main objective in this research is to assess heavy metals pollution and understand the distribution in the surface soils in the studied area. Twenty two surface soils samples were collected from 6 districts and 4 subdistricts within Wasit Governorate during April 2017. The results obtained showed that grain size analyzes are classified as sandy mud (sand 9.5%, silt 50.8 % and clays 39.8%). In the term of geochemic
... Show MoreThe aim of this novel native study was to determine the microbial contamination of broken and cracked imported commercial table egg in Baghdad markets and its economic effect. A total of 21510 commercial chicken table eggs were checked and surveyed from retail markets in different popular regions of Baghdad city during a year period from January 3rd to December 28th of 2018 and its microbial contamination were studied. Results revealed that significant differences (P<0.01) were appeared in the studied microbial counts during months of the study and significant differences (P<0.01) in the average counts between broken and cracked eggs and sound (not bro
... Show MoreAeromonas salmonicida is a fish pathogen and recognized to cause a variety of diseases in humans. There are a few information about A.salmonicida in Iraq and there is no any previous molecular study on it. During the period of December 2017 to May 2018; Sixteen isolates of the A. salmonicida were isolated and identified from 300 common carp (Cyprinus carpio) fishes stomach in aquarium of Erbil city/ Iraq by using manual, automated Vitek 2 compact system, and confirmed by PCR using gene TonB-dependent siderophore (364bp). Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by disk diffusion method and the results found that all isolates 100% susceptible to imipenem, 100% resistant to nalidixic acid and variable resistan
... Show MoreThe interleukin-1 family has multifaceted roles in men٫s reproductive syste. Out of these is interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RN) which exists in men gonads, and in case of infection and inflammatory process, its activity is increased. The current study aims to verify a possible linkage of Variable Number Tandem Repeat (VNTR) polymorphism of the IL-1RN gene with human men infertility. The study groups enrolled included 100 infertile men and 100 fertile and healthy men. Their seminal fluids were subjected to analysis. Also peripheral blood samples were collected for the assessment or detection of polymorphic Variable Number Tandem Repeats (VNTR) polymorphism of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist gene (IL-1RN). Two a
... Show MoreThe concentrations of Pb, Zn, Hg and Cu were determined in twenty sample of canned fish, samples were collected with different origin with two meals from local markets at Baghdad city for the period (October 2012-February 2013),results of study were appeared variation in mercury concentration of canned fish between November and February .The highest concentration of mercury (0.1 mg/kg) was observed in “Hawesta” brand and “Ocean wave” ” brand , the lowest average concentration for mercury 0.01ppm in “Habar”,”Durra” and ”Sayad” brand during( Nov.2012-Feb.2013 ) and have not recorded any concentration for mercury in “Yasmine” brand during (Nov. 2012-Feb. 2013).The maximum level of zinc reached in November. rather t
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