Evaluation of microbial contamination of ready-to-eat foods (pizza, frankfurters, sausages) in the city of Ilam

Background: Today in the world, disease resulting from food is considered one of the most important problems in public health. This study aimed to determine the bacterial contamination of ready-to-eat foods, i.e. fast food, in Ilam city. Methods: In this cross-sectional, analytical study, 270 samples of ready-to-eat food, including pizza, frankfurters, and sausages, were randomly collected and tested for contamination with Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Shigella sonnei, Salmonella arizonae, and Enterococcus faecalis. After examination, the collected data was analyzed using SPSS 20 software and logistic regression. Results: From a total of 270 samples of ready-to-eat food, 27.77% was contaminated with E. coli, 21.48% with S. aureus, 13.33% with S. sonnei, 14.44% with S. arizonae, and 5.9% with E. faecalis. The results showed higher rates of E. coli and S. aureus contamination in pizza, frankfurters, and sausages. Also, a higher percentage of frankfurters were contaminated with microbial species than pizza or sausages. There were significant differences in microbial contamination rates (P < 0.05) among the three groups of food. In addition, factors such as indicators (health, sanitation, and lack of hygiene), age, gender, and education level of the operating staff had no effect on the results. Conclusion: Based on the results, it can be concluded that bacterial contamination of ready-to-eat foods is significantly high in the city of Ilam; therefore, it is suggested that the examination of food in various stages of production and distribution can help reduce bacterial contamination, and training for the operators of shopping centers’ ready-to-eat food shops and controlling pathogens are essential

Assessment of the microbiological safety of salad vegetables from different Restaurants in Ilam

Vegetables, used in preparing salads, are most important part of the diet. These materials are often irrigated by untreated urban wastewater. Wastewater, contaminated with ova of parasites, bacteria and protozoa, are used as fertilizers and it can cause a variety of infectious diseases. The purpose of this study is detection of microbial contamination of salad used in Ilam’s restaurants.In this study, 42 samples were collected from all restaurants placed in Ilam city and transferred to the laboratory. Brilliant Green Medium, Trypton water and Coax reagent used for detection of Escherichia coli. Water broth, Selenit systein, Tetrationat, Salmonella-shigella agar and Briliant green was used for identification of salmonella. For detection of Enterococcus, KF agar medium containing a diphenyl Tetrazolium chloride was used. Sabro dextrose agar medium (SDA) was used for detection of mold and yeast and wet mount and concentration methods used for parasitology investigations. The results of this study indicate that about 66.66% of samples were infected with Enterococcus, 69% had E. coli contamination and 83.33% of samples were contaminated with yeast. Samples were negative for presence of Salmonella and mold (mold not more than 103). Parasites contamination of samples was (4 cases) 9.5% for Giardia lamblia, (10 cases) 23.8% for Taenia eggs, 31% (13 cases) for Hymenolepis nana 16.6% (7 cases) for Entamoeba coli. The results of this study showed that salads are contaminated with infectious agent and the use of appropriate disinfectants and washing the vegetables used in salad preparation is essential for controlling infectious diseases

A Novel and Sensitive Method for the Determination of Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) in Urine and Pharmaceutical Samples Using an Aqueous Two-Phase Extraction

A novel, simple, and more sensitive spectrophotometric procedure has been developed for the determination of vitamin B2 (riboflavin) by an aqueous two-phase extraction (ATPE). An ATPE is formed mostly by water and does not require an organic solvent. Other ATPE components used in this study were the polymer, polyethylene glycol (PEG), and some salts such as Na2SO4 and Na2CO3. The method is based on the interaction between vitamin B2 (riboflavin) and sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) in an acidic medium (pH 6.4). The influences of effective parameters such as salt (type and concentration), polyethylene glycol (molecular weight and concentration), temperature, centrifuging time, and pH of the sample solution were studied and optimized. The linear range was 1.3–320 ng/mL (R2=0.9991; n=10) with the relative standard deviation (RSD) for 60 ng/mL 3.68%. The limit of detection (LOD) calculated from three times of standard deviation of blank were 0.2 ng/mL and recoveries from analysis of real samples between 94.82% and 103.98% were obtained for the determination of vitamin B2 (riboflavin) in urine and pharmaceutical samples

The prevalence of Legionella pneumophila in different water systems: A global systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract The presence of Legionella pneumophila (LP) in aquatic habitat is a global concern. The current study was undertaken to estimate the prevalence of LP in water systems with the aid of a systematic review and meta-analysis. The searching was performed among some international databases, including Scopus, PubMed, and Embase to retrieve the related articles between 1/January/1983 and 25/July/ 2017. Therefore, thirty-six articles (with 43 studies) out of 1,541 articles collected, were included in the meta-analysis. The overall prevalence of LP in water systems was determined as 20% (95%CI: 15-25). Also, the lowest and highest pooled prevalence of LP was observed in Poland (4% (95%CI: 0-13%)) and Kuwait (98% (95%CI: 90-100%)), respectively. The lowest and highest prevalence of LP-based on water resources subgroups was a water reservoir (15% (95%CI: 2-37%) and well (40% (95%CI: 26-50%), respectively. The number of studies that used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of LP was 16/43 (37.3%) while the culture method was 27/43 (62.7%). Generally speaking, the relatively high prevalence of LP among the investigated water systems was demonstrated, which should be reduced by performing appropriate control actions.</jats:p

Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risks of metal(oid)s in tap water from Ilam city, Iran

One of the most important pathways for exposure to metals is drinking water ingestion. Chronic or acute exposure to metals can endanger the health of the exposed population, and hence, estimation of human health risks is crucial. In the current study for the first time, the concentrations of Mercury (Hg), Arsenic (As), Zinc (Zn), Lead (Pb) and Cobalt (Co) in 120 collected tap water samples (2015, July–November) from Ilam city, Iran were investigated using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Also, the metal-induced carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic risks for consumers exposed to tap drinking water were calculated. The average (range) concentrations of Hg, Zn, As, Pb and Co were defined as 0.40 ± 0.10 μg/L (ND-0.9 μg/L), 5014 ± 5707 μg/L (2900.00–5668.33 μg/L), 21.008 ± 2.876 μg/L (3.5–62 μg/L), 30.38 ± 5.56 μg/L (6–87 μg/L), and 11.34 ± 1.61 μg/L (0.1–50 μg/L), respectively. Average concentrations of all examined metals were significantly higher than WHO and national standard recommended limits. The ranking order of metals concentrations in the tap drinking water was Zn > Pb > As > Co > Hg. Except for Hg and Co, at least one age group consumers were at considerable non-carcinogenic risks induced by Zn, As and Pb [Target Hazard Quotient (THQ > 1)]. The rank order of age groups consumers based on THQ and Incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) was1–9 years > 20 + years > 10–19 years. The calculated ILCR for As in all age groups were higher than 10−3 value. All age groups of consumers in Ilam city, especially infants (< 1 years) and children (1–10 years), are at considerable non-carcinogenic and carcinogenesis risk

Association between Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene in the Serum and Adipose Tissue with Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

&lt;p&gt;The number of diabetics is growing every day. In addition to the main risk factors of type 2 diabetes (obesity, age and etc.) other environmental risk factors such as persistent organic pollutants are also considered. Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene is one of the persistent organic pollutants which are produced by the pesticide DDT metabolized and its effects of type 2 diabetes are taken into consideration of many investigators. Inconsistency in the results caused to try to achieve a detailed assessment of the effect of dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene on type 2 diabetes by systematic review and meta-analysis. In this review study after a systematic review, finally 6 prospective and 7 cross-sectional studies were obtained. After approving the heterogeneity of the studies based on random effect model, it was calculate the mean of odds ratio. Meta-analysis of the pooled random effects of Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene was done with type 2 diabetes in prospective and cross-sectional studies. In prospective studies, the highest and lowest odds ratio was 6.1(95%CI: 1.36-27.27) and 1.01(95%CI: 0.59-1.70) and cross-sectional studies was 5.5(95%CI: 1.2-25.10) and 0.61(95%CI: 0.32-1.15), respectively. In the all studies (sum of prospective and cross-sectional), in the random effect model odds ratio was 1.52 (95%CI: 1.26-1.84) and heterogeneity was 52.1% (ρ&lt;sub&gt;heterogeneity&lt;/sub&gt;=0.009). Increasing concentration of Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene in the serum and adipose tissue increased the risk of type 2 diabetes significantly (P&amp;lt;0.001). The results of this review study support the role of dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene as an environmental risk factor for type 2 diabetes.&lt;/p&gt;</jats:p