Background: Rice is one of the most important agricultural products and main food for more than %25 people in the world. Due to increasing consumption of this product, evaluation of quality and characteristics of cultivated rice in different regions of country is of great importance. Additionally, over the past decades, heavy metals contamination in rice cause to be public concern, thus assessment of heavy metal pollution of rice is necessary. Evaluation the characteristics of rice varieties will allow consumers and producers to prepare rice according to their taste and need. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the amount of lead and cadmium, physicochemical properties and cooking quality of champa rice in different regions of Baghmalek, Khuzestan.Materials and Methods: In this study, rice cultivated in different regions of Baghmalek was sampled in three replications and transferred to the laboratory for testing. Physicochemical tests including protein, moisture content, ash, total solid, amylose content and thousand grain weight were evaluated based on national standard of Iran. Cadmium and lead content of rice cultivated in different region of Baghmalek were evaluated. Cooking properties of studied rice including cooking time, water absorption, leakage, gelatinization grade and Elongation of rice were evaluated. The tests were performed in a completely randomized design with SAS software and analyzed by Duncan test at a probability level of 5%.Results: The results of proximate test including (carbohydrate, protein, total solid, ash and moisture) showed that significant difference was between samples cultivated in different region of Baghmalek. In all samples, except for one samples, amylose content were 20-21%. The results of heavy metal evaluation indicated Cd in all samples were in permissible limit but lead content in imported rice and cultivated rice in Sidon and Meydavoud was more than permissible limit. Studied samples with regard to lenght were in medium category and Elongation of rice was in the range of 1.39-1.74. The gelatinization grade of studied samples was in the range of 3.25-4.17. Evaluation of cooking properties including cooking time, water absorption and leakage indicated it was significant difference between studied samples. Thousand grain weight of studied samples had been significant difference and was in the range of 13.07-18.86.Conclusion: In general, selected rice samples from different regions of Baghmalek exhibited a significant difference in physicochemical properties. With regard to cooking properties and quality, rice samples had desirable status and were comparable to imported rice. Evaluation of the safety status of studied rice samples suggests that control of cultivated regions is necessary.

Now a days, the contamination by heavy metals has become one of the most important environmental problems. Among heavy metal ions, lead can be very harmful to human health and ecosystem. It has been known that lead can be accumulated inside microorganisms very easily. In other words, lead enters human body through food, water and and then it is accumulated inside the bones instead of calcium, causing hemoglobinolysis to happen. Biological absorption is a suitable method of removing accumulated lead from environment. The yeast, saccharomyces is a suitable microorganism to remove it. 4 strain of Saccharomyces were isolated from industrial waste water saples. In order to study the amount of absorption qualitatively and the best strain in terms of metallic absorptivity was selected. After that, some effective factors in relation to biological absorption such as the initial concentration of metal, pH and et, al., were considered. The maximum amount of absorption was determined in the following conditions duration of contact time, 2 hours, initial concentration, 500 ppm, pH; 4.5, 65.1 mg g-1 dw. Also, Entrapment method was used to immobilize the yeast cells and then the results showed that The adsorption rate of Pb (II) by the immobilized cells was higher compared to their counterparts, free cells.

Some heavy metals are nutritionally essential elements playing key roles in different physiological and biological processes, like: iron, cobalt, zinc, copper, chromium, molybdenum, selenium and manganese, while some others are considered as the potentially toxic elements in high amounts or certain chemical forms. Nowadays, various usage of heavy metals in industry, agriculture, medicine and technology has led to a widespread distribution in nature raising concerns about their effects on human health and environment. Metallic ions may interact with cellular components such as DNA and nuclear proteins leading to apoptosis and carcinogenesis arising from DNA damage and structural changes. As a result, exposure to heavy metals through ingestion, inhalation and dermal contact causes several health problems such as, cardiovascular diseases, neurological and neurobehavioral abnormalities, diabetes, blood abnormalities and various types of cancer. Due to extensive damage caused by heavy metal poisoning on various organs of the body, the investigation and identification of therapeutic methods for poisoning with heavy metals is very important. The most common method for the removal of heavy metals from the body is administration of chemical chelators. Recently, medicinal herbs have attracted the attention of researchers as the potential treatments for the heavy metals poisoning because of their fewer side effects. In the present study, we review the potential of medicinal herbs such as: Allium sativum (garlic), Silybum marianum (milk thistle), Coriandrum sativum (cilantro), Ginkgo biloba (gingko), Curcuma longa (turmeric), phytochelatins, triphala, herbal fibers and Chlorophyta (green algae) to treat heavy metal poisoning.

Background and Objective: Research has shown that assessing the toxicity and ecological risk of various types of pollutants, including heavy metals, using specific indicators, is indispensable in the ecological risk assessment of the ecosystem. Accordingly, the aim of this study was the assessment of the ecological effect of heavy metals presence (Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd and, As) in Anzali wetland using Heavy Metals Pollution Index (HPI). Materials and Methods: 43 water samples were collected from the eastern, western and central parts of Anzali wetland. The samples were transferred to the laboratory, and the preparation steps were carried out using the ASTM method. Concentration of the elements was determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES). According to the concentration of heavy metals in the water samples, the index (HPI) was calculated. The results of the HPI index were classified into three classes: low risk (<15), moderate (15-30), and high risk (> 30). Results: The numerical value of the HPI index was 3. 59-23. 3 with an average of 27. 97, indicating the average level of heavy metals pollution in Anzali wetland. Indicator (HPI) in the eastern part of Anzali wetland and the Pirbazar area showed a severe contamination and ecological hazard of the heavy metals and in the Abkenar region showed an acceptable ecological status. Conclusion: Although the average of HPI in the whole Anzali wetland was modest, but at some stations, especially in the east of the wetland, the HPI indicates the occurrence of ecological hazards in the wetland in the event of uncontrolled entry of pollutants in future. Therefore, monitoring the sources of these pollutants entering to the wetland and controlling the ecological risks is necessary.