Environmental Engineering / Çevre Mühendisliği

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11147/4321

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    Türkiye İklimlendirme Sektörü Uluslararası Okullarda ve Öğrenci Yaşam Alanlarında İç Hava Kalitesi Zirvesi Sonuç Raporu
    (Türkiye Odalar ve Borsalar Birliği, 2023) Toksoy, Macit; Sofuoğlu, Sait Cemil; Sofuoğlu, Sait Cemil; Toksoy, Macit
    Rapor, TOBB İklimlendirme Meclisi İç Hava Kalitesi Komitesi tarafından, 19-21 Eylül 2023 tarihinde Kızılcahamam Ankara'da düzenlenen "Türkiye İklimlendirme Sektörü Uluslararası Okullarda ve Öğrenci Yaşam Alanlarında İç Hava Kalitesi Zirvesi"nde yapılan sunumlar ve katılımcıların görüşleri göz önüne alınarak hazırlanmıştır.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 1
    Citation - Scopus: 1
    Exposure To Fumes of a Vegetable Margarine for Frying: Respiratory Effects in an Experimental Model
    (American Chemical Society, 2023) Cimrin, Arif H.; Alpaydin, Aylin Ozgen; Ozbal, Seda; Toprak, Melis; Yılmaz, Osman; Uluorman, Funda; Ergur, Bekir Uğur; Gürel, Duygu; Sofuoğlu, Sait Cemil
    Deep frying is one of the strongest emission sources into indoor air. A vegetable margarine has recently been used in commercial kitchens. This study investigated the respiratory effects of exposure to its fumes in an experimental model. A setup with glass chambers was constructed. A chamber housed a fryer. The fumes were transported to the other chamber where 24 Wistar albino rats were placed in four randomized groups: acute, subacute, chronic, and control for the exposure durations. PM10 concentration in the exposure chamber was monitored to ensure occupational levels were obtained. Sacrification was performed 24 h after exposure. Lung, trachea, and nasal concha specimens were evaluated by two blinded histologists under a light microscope with hematoxylin–eosin. Mild mononuclear cell infiltration, alveolar capillary membrane thickening, alveolar edema, and diffuse alveolar damage, along with diffuse hemorrhage, edema, and vascular congestion in the interstitium were observed in the acute and subacute groups, and were overexpressed in the chronic group, whereas normal lung histology was observed in the control group. The results indicate that exposure to fumes of vegetable margarine for frying in commercial kitchens may cause pulmonary inflammation that becomes severe as the duration of the exposure increases.
  • Article
    Occurrence of Bromide and Bromate in Chlorinated Indoor Swimming Pools, And Associated Health Risks
    (Yildiz Technical University, 2023) Dumanoğlu, Y.; Genisoglu, M.; Sofuoglu, S.C.
    Swimming is a physical activity that is accessible to people of all ages in all seasons. However, continuous organic and inorganic precursor load and disinfectant dosing make pool water chemistry much more complex than other disinfected waters. Carcinogenic bromate compound is one of the hundreds of disinfection by-products in pool water. The occurrence of bromate in pool waters depends on the precursor content of filling water, the disinfection process, operating parameters, and the purity of disinfectants. While the average filling water bromide concentrations of University Campus indoor swimming pool in Gülbahçe –Urla (SP1) and Buca public indoor swimming pool (SP2) were determined to be 182 μg/L and 11.0 μg/L, respectively, the average bromate concentrations of SP1 and SP2 were 59.4 μg/L and 68.3 μg/L. Estimated chronic-toxic health risks of accidental ingestion of pool water during swimming (between 10-3 and 10-1) were lower than the threshold level (‘1’). Although the carcinogenic risks in central tendency scenario (<10-6) indicate negligible risks for swimmers, worst case scenario indicates carcinogenic risks (medians were ranged from 1.61×10-6 to 9.42×10-6) for highly exposed specific swimmer groups. Bromate accumulation in swimming pools needs attention for mitigating the health risks for swimmers. © 2021, Yıldız Technical University.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 6
    Citation - Scopus: 9
    The Effect of Military Conflict Zone in the Middle East on Atmospheric Persistent Organic Pollutant Contamination in Its North
    (Elsevier, 2023) Ayrı, İlknur; Genişoğlu, Mesut; Sofuoğlu, Aysun; Kurt Karakuş, Perihan B.; Birgül, Askın; Sofuoğlu, Sait Cemil
    This study aimed to investigate long-range atmospheric transport of selected POPs released due to the effects of mili-tary conflicts in regions to the south of Turkey's borders. Ten locations were selected to deploy passive air samplers at varying distances to the border on a southeast-west transect of the country, proximity-grouped as close, middle, and far. Sampling campaign included winter and transition months when desert dust transport events occur. Hypothesis of the study was that a decreasing trend would be observed with increasing distance to the border. Group comparisons based on statistical testing showed that PBDE-183, E45PCB, and dieldrin in winter; PBDE-28, PBDE-99, PBDE-154, p,p '-DDE, E14PBDE, and E25OCP in the transition period; and PBDE-28, PBDE-85, PBDE-99, PBDE-154, PBDE-190, PCB-52, E45PCB, p,p '-DDE, and E25OCP over the whole campaign had a decreasing trend on the transect. An analysis of concen-tration ratio to the background showed that long-range atmospheric transport impacted the study sites, especially those of close group in comparison to the local sources. Back-trajectory analyses indicated that there was transport from the conflict areas to sites in the close-proximity group, while farther sampling locations mostly received air masses from Europe, Russia, and former Soviet Union countries, followed by North Africa, rather than the military con-flict areas. In consequence, decrease in concentrations with distance and its relation to molecular weight through pro-portions, diagnostic ratios, analysis of concentration ratio to the background, and back-trajectory analyses support the effect of transport from the military-conflict area to its north.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 3
    Citation - Scopus: 6
    Halogenated By-Products in Chlorinated Indoor Swimming Pools: a Long-Term Monitoring and Empirical Modeling Study
    (Amer Chemical Soc, 2023) Genişoğlu, Mesut; Minaz, Mert; Tanacan, Ertaç; Sofuoğlu, Sait Cemil; Kaplan-Bekaroğlu, Şehnaz Şule; Kanan, Amer; Ateş, Nuray
    Monitoring the disinfection process and swimming pool water quality is essential for the prevention of microbial infections and associated diseases. However, carcinogenic and chronic-toxic disinfection by-products (DBPs) are formed with reactions between disinfectants and organic/inorganic matters. DBP precursors in swimming pools originate from anthropogenic sources (body secretions, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, etc.) or chemicals used in pools. Temporal (48 weeks) water quality trends of trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs), haloacetonitriles (HANs), and halonitromethanes (HNMs) in two swimming pools (SP-A and SP-B) and precursor-DBP relationships were investigated in this study. Weekly samples were taken from swimming pools, and several physical/chemical water quality parameters, absorbable organic halides (AOX), and DBPs were determined. THMs and HAAs were the most detected DBP groups in pool water. While chloroform was determined to be the dominant THM compound, dichloroacetic acid and trichloroacetic acid were the dominant HAA compounds. The average AOX concentrations were measured to be 304 and 746 mu g/L as Cl- in SP-A and SP-B, respectively. Although the amount of AOX from unknown chlorinated by-products in SP-A did not vary temporally, a significant increase in unknown DBP concentrations in SP-B was observed over time. AOX concentrations of chlorinated pool waters were determined to be an important parameter that can be used to estimate DBP concentrations.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 5
    Citation - Scopus: 10
    Removal of Pesticide Residues From Apple and Tomato Cuticle
    (Springer, 2023) Tari, Vinaya; Yalçın, Melis; Turgut, Nalan; Gökbulut, Cengiz; Mermer, Serhan; Sofuoğlu, Sait Cemil; Turgut, Cafer
    Pesticide residues are always an unsolved problem in the world despite all kinds of prevention measures. The present research work is based on a scientific hypothesis, i.e., The removal of average pesticide residue is inversely proportional to the thickness of cuticle. The effects of boron-containing products and plant-based surfactants were tested for the removal of five pesticides (lambda-cyhalothrin, chlorpyrifos, diflubenzuron, metaflumizone, acetamiprid) on tomatoes and apples. Boron-containing products were able to remove the pesticide residues on average between 58.0 and 72.6% in tomatoes and 33.2-58.8% in an apple. While plant-based surfactants removed residues on average between 58.5 and 66.6% in tomatoes and 41.0-53.2% in an apple. The highest removal rate was 72% with etidot at 1%. The solution of 1% C8-C10 provided 66.6% average removal for tomatoes. Less removal was achieved in apples. For an apple, Log K-ow and molecular mass (independent variables) were significant with p < 0.01, and the coefficient of determination (R-2) was > 0.87. However, the multiple linear regression analysis for ground colemanite was significant with R-2 of 0.96. In tomatoes, neither Log K-ow nor molecular mass as significant. The correlation was found between the physical and chemical properties of pesticides, but it is estimated that the thickness of the cuticle is effective in removing pesticides.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 10
    Citation - Scopus: 14
    Indoor Environmental Quality in Naturally Ventilated Schools of a Dusty Region: Excess Health Risks and Effect of Heating and Desert Dust Transport
    (Wiley, 2022) Şahin, Çağrı; Rastgeldi Doğan, Tuba; Yıldız, Melek; Sofuoğlu, Sait Cemil
    Indoor air quality (IAQ) is impacted by polluted outdoor air in naturally ventilated schools, especially in places where both anthropogenic and natural sources of ambient air pollution exist. CO2, PM2.5, PM10, temperature, relative humidity (RH), and noise were measured in five naturally ventilated primary schools in City of Sanliurfa, in a dusty region of Turkey, Southeast Anatolia. Excess risk levels were estimated for particulate matter. Investigation was conducted through an educational year including two seasons in terms of anthropogenic effect, that is, heating/non-heating, and natural effect, that is, desert dust transport/non-dust transport. The median CO2 concentration was measured to be >1000 ppm in all seasons/schools. Temperature and RH fell out of the comfort zone in October-December, during which pollutant concentrations were considerably increased, specifically in November, that heating and dust transport periods coincide. The overall mean indoor PM10 and PM2.5 levels were 58 and 31.8 mu g/m(3), respectively. Risk assessment indicate that both short (incidence of asthma symptoms in asthmatic children) and long-term (prevalence of bronchitis) effects are considerable with 10.9 (2.4-19.6)% and 19.5 (2.2-38.8)%, respectively. The findings suggest that mechanical ventilation retrofitting with particle filtration is needed to mitigate potential negative health consequences on children.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 21
    Citation - Scopus: 24
    Phytoremediation of Olive Mill Wastewater With Vetiveria Zizanioides (l.) Nash and Cyperus Alternifolius L.
    (Elsevier, 2021) Gören, Ayşegül Yağmur; Yücel, Arzu; Sofuoğlu, Sait Cemil; Sofuoğlu, Aysun
    Olive Mill Wastewater (OMW) contains high concentrations of contaminants, including organic, nitrogen, and phenolic compounds that are extremely harmful to the environment and human health. The key purpose of this study was to remove total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), and phenolic compounds (TP) from OMW using floating wetland planted with Vetiveria zizanioides (L.) Nash (vetiver) and Cyperus alternifolius L. (umbrella palm) species. A total of eighteen floating wetlands were constructed. Twelve tanks were planted with vetiver and umbrella palm while another six tanks were maintained as unplanted controls. Experiments were conducted with wastewater volume of 56 L for 67 days using 5% (OMW-5) and 15% (OMW-15) treatments of OMW in a greenhouse. The highest TOC, TN, and TP removal efficiencies were found to be 95.3 ± 0.01, 82.7 ± 2.55, and 98.8 ± 0.07% in umbrella palm planted OMW-5, while the removal efficiencies were 84.9 ± 0.38, 92.7 ± 0.37, and 38.9 ± 1.97% in vetiver planted OMW-5. Similarly, the TOC, TN, and TP removal efficiencies in OMW-15 were 89.3 ± 0.28, 40.86 ± 1.73, and 96.8 ± 0.18% with umbrella palm and 89.1 ± 0.70, 23.7 ± 1.27, and 92.1 ± 0.41% with vetiver. The plants accumulated trace elements, especially in the roots, with the order of Fe > Mn > Cu > Zn > B > Pb > Cr > Ni > Co > Cd for umbrella palm. The umbrella palm shoot phenol content was found to be 2358 ± 201 and 1421 ± 198 mg/kg in OMW-5 and OMW-15, respectively. Overall, this study revealed that floating wetlands planted with vetiver and umbrella palm species have the potential to be used as a green treatment method to treat diluted high strength OMW.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 18
    Citation - Scopus: 21
    Fine and Coarse Particulate Matter, Trace Element Content, and Associated Health Risks Considering Respiratory Deposition for Ergene Basin, Thrace
    (Elsevier, 2021) Can Terzi, Begüm; Fıçıcı, Merve; Tecer, Lokman Hakan; Sofuoğlu, Sait Cemil
    Ergene Basin is located in Thrace, Turkey, where industries are densely populated. This study aimed to determine exposure of people living in Ergene Basin (Corlu and Cerkezkoy) to fine and coarse PM, and its potentially toxic element (PTE) content by considering variation in respiratory airway deposition rates with daily activities and PM particle size by employing deposition models of International Commission on Radiological Protection and Multiple Path Particle Dosimetry. Fine and coarse PM samples were collected daily for a year at points in Corlu and Cerkezkoy representing urban and industrial settings, respectively. A questionnaire survey was conducted in the study area to obtain time-activity budgets, and associated variation was included in the health risk assessment by considering time-activity-dependent inhalation rates. The studied PTEs were Al, As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Co, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Se. The mean fine and coarse PM concentrations were measured as 23 and 14 mu g/m(3) in Corlu, and 22 and 12 mu g/m(3) in Cerkezkoy, respectively. The only PTE that exceeded acceptable risk in terms of total carcinogenic risk was Cr. Non-carcinogenic risks of all the PTEs including Cr were below the threshold. The use of deposition fractions in the health risk assessment (HRA) calculations was found to prevent overestimation of health risks by at least 91% and 87% for fine and coarse PM, respectively, compared to the regular HRA. Minor differences in risk between Corlu and Cerkezkoy suggest that urban pollution sources could be at least as influential on human health as industrial sources. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
  • Article
    Citation - Scopus: 5
    Effect of Covid-19 Pandemic on Ambient Air Quality and Excess Risk of Particulate Matter in Turkey
    (2021) Gören, Ayşegül Yağmur; Genişoğlu, Mesut; Ökten, Hatice Eser; Sofuoğlu, Sait Cemil
    The COVID-19 pandemic, which has reached 4 million global cases as of March 10, 2020, has become a worldwide problem. Turkey is one of the most affected (9th in the world) country with 139 771 cases. An intermittent curfew policy that differ for three age groups, and an intercity travel ban varying within the country have been implemented. The effects of changes in social life and industrial activity in terms of environmental pollution are not yet known. The short-term effects on PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, NO, NOx, O3 and CO concentrations measured at 51 air quality measurement stations (AQMS) in 11 cities in March – April period of 2020 were statistically compared with that of the previous year. While PM2.5 (9/14 AQMS) and PM10 (29/35 AQMS) concentrations were not significantly affected, NO (12/24 AQMS), NO2 (20/29 AQMS), NOX (17/25 AQMS) concentrations were decreased, SO2 concentrations at half of the AQMSs (11/25) did not show a significant change. There were stations at which higher pollutant concentrations were measured in the study period in 2020 compared to that of 2019. Excess risks associated with PM2.5 and PM10 were estimated to be variable, albeit with a small difference. In conclusion, the heterogeneous actions taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in mixed effects on ambient air quality.