This study was conducted to estimate some heavy metals cadmium, lead, nickel and iron in 15 samples of Iraqi honey with 3 replicates for each sample which were collected from apiaries near potential contamination areas in five Iraqi governorates, including Baghdad, Karbala, Babylon, Diyala and Salah al-Din. The atomic absorption technique was used to estimate the concentrations of heavy metals, the results showed that there were significant differences at (P≤0.05) between the concentrations of these elements in the honey samples, the highest concentrations of cadmium 0.123 mg/kg were recorded in Baghdad, near the petrochemical production complex, lead 4.657 mg/kg and nickel 0.023 mg/kg in Babylon near the power plant, iron was 1.863 mg/kg in Karbala near the waste collection and incineration plant, and all the concentrations of cadmium and lead in the studied honey samples were higher than the acceptable limits set by the European Commission Regulation.
Thirty individuals of Bellamya bengalensis and Physella acuta were collected and identified from the Tigris River in Baghdad during the period between October to November 2017. The efficiency of bioaccumulation of the two species as bioindicators for aquatic heavy metal pollution with Cd, Ni, Pb and Cu was investigated. Both snail species had the ability to accumulate heavy metals. The mean of Ni concentration in soft tissues of both snails was 1.53 ppm while the mean concentration of other heavy metals was significantly lower; they reached 0.51 ppm, 0.36 ppm and 0.29 ppm, respectively. While no significant differences between B. bengalensis and P.acuta were noticed in th
... Show MoreThis study was achieved to investigate the accumulation of some heavy metals included: Cadmium, Lead and Nickel in the tissues (gill, intestine, liver, muscles and skin) of Silurus triostegus Heckel, 1843 (Siluriformes, Siluridae) and its larval stage of the nematode Contracaecum sp. (Rhabditida, Anisakidae). As well as to assess the infection patterns of Contracaecum among S. triostegus specimens which were purchased fresh from the local market in Baghdad. One hundred and nine nematodes specimens in larval stage were recovered from the fish host; the overall prevalence of Contracaecum sp. was 38.6%. The sex of the host was not significantly (P ˃ 0.05) associated with the infection of this nematode. Results showed that the ov
... Show MoreThis study aimed to assess the efficiency of Nerium oleander in removing three different metals (Cd, Cu, and Ni) from simulated wastewater using horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland (HSSF-CW) system. The HSSF-CW pilot scale was operated at two hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of 4 and 7 days, filled with a substrate layer of sand and gravel. The results indicated that the HSSF-CW had high removal efficiency of Cd and Cu. A higher HRT (7 days) resulted in greater removal efficiency reaching up to (99.3% Cd, 99.5% Cu, 86.3% Ni) compared to 4 days. The substrate played a significant role in removal of metals due to adsorption and precipitation. The N. oleander plant also showed a good tolerance to the uptake of Cd, Cu, and Ni ions fr
... Show MoreThis study aimed to assess the efficiency of Nerium oleander in removing three different metals (Cd, Cu, and Ni) from simulated wastewater using horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland (HSSF-CW) system. The HSSF-CW pilot scale was operated at two hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of 4 and 7 days, filled with a substrate layer of sand and gravel. The results indicated that the HSSF-CW had high removal efficiency of Cd and Cu. A higher HRT (7 days) resulted in greater removal efficiency reaching up to (99.3% Cd, 99.5% Cu, 86.3% Ni) compared to 4 days. The substrate played a significant role in removal of metals due to adsorption and precipitation. The N. oleander plant also showed a good tolerance to the uptake of Cd, Cu, and Ni ions fr
... Show MoreSixteen water samples were collected from the operation units of the Al-Quds
power plant, north Baghdad city and the surrounding trocars, surface and
groundwater, and analyzed to assess the resulting pollution. The samples were
analyzed for heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, U and Zn) by
using inductively coupled plasma- mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The results were
compared with local and international and standard limits. Heavy metals analysis of
the water samples shows that water of operation units and trocars have mean
concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mo, Pb, Sb, Se, U and Zn were within or lower
than the national and world limits, while Mn and Ni were higher than these limits.
Concentrat
Background: Manuka honey (MH) is a mono-floral honey derived from the Manuka tree (Leptospermum scoparium). MH is a highly recognized for its non-peroxide antibacterial activities, which are mostly related to its unique methylglyoxal content (MGO) in MH. The beneficial phytochemicals in MH is directly related to their favorable health effects, which include wound healing, anticancer, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. Aims: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of MH on pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-8 and TNF-α) in patients with gingivitis and compare it with chlorhexidine (CHX) and distilled water (DW). Materials and Methods: This study was a randomized, double blinded, and parallel clinical trial. Forty-fiv
... Show MoreTo explore the durability of some local species of wood to fungal deterioration among the
storage period, this research has conducted on three species Eufcalyptus cammaldulensis,
Juglans regia, presence of some genus of fungi; Aspergillus, Penicillium,Botryoderma,
Chaetomium, Phoma, Cladosporium and Pacilomyces in different intensities.
The two fungi Aspergillus and Penicillium appeared more dominants than others, therefore
they were chosen for the pathogenicity test. The results showed that the two species of fungi
preferred Juglans wood firstly were the size of infection was more than 10 times of any of the
other two woods. Eucalyptus showed similar response to that of Morus, but with Aspergillus
it was few bett
The current study was conducted to determine the effect of crude oil on the pigments and protein content of Hydrilla verticillata plant from December 2018 to February 2019. Hydrilla verticillata was exposed to different concentrations of treatments (0.01,0.05,0.10,0.20) % of crude oil for 24 days. The pigments content was evaluated as total chlorophyll, a, b, carotene and protein content within plant tissues during the days (1, 8, 16 and 24).
The results of this study showed an increment in the total chlorophyll values of plant, which is exposed to different concentrations of crude oil compared to the control treatment during the first day of the experiment and decreased compared to cont
... Show MoreThe experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of prey type (Artemia nauplii, mosquito larvae and paramecium) on some reproductive aspects in crustacean zooplankton M. albidus which included reproductive period, post reproductive period, period spend to egg appearance and the period from appearance of egg to nauplii releasing. Results revealed that females fed on mosquito larvae had the highest mean of postreproductive period and lowest mean of the period spend to egg appearance, which differed significantly (P < 0.05) compared with the means of females who fed on Artemia nauplii and paramecium on the other hand the differences were not significant in reproductive period and the period from appearance of egg to nauplii releasing.