Intoxicant Use in Undergraduate Medical Students of Islamabad, Pakistan

Intoxicant use and subsequent substance abuse is the leading health problem in younger age groups in contemporary times, and across the globe. It contributes to morbidity, mortality and economic loss. It also disturbs the social system of a community and creates a serious threat to global health. The aim of this study was to determine the use of intoxicants among medical college students of Islamabad and to identify the associated factors with intoxicant use. A cross-sectional research design was used to gather survey data from two private medical colleges. Data from a final sample of 310 respondents was analyzed using descriptive statistics. It was found that smoking was the most prevalent intoxicant used amongst the participants (21.9%). The other most common prevalent use of intoxicants included alcohol (6.1%), Naswar (powdered tobacco dip) (6.8%) and Heroin (3.9%). The male gender and need for mental relaxation were found to be statistically significant with cigarette smoking. Most of the students indicated that they did not feel guilty about using intoxicants. It is important that medical college administration develops policies to control intoxicant use among students, including and not limited to awareness campaigns, counseling and support for stress relief.

Comparative Study of Various Decolorization Processes for Treatment of Synthetic Dyes

Azo dyes constitute the largest and most diverse group of dyes used in commercial applications. These dyes are carcinogenic and mutagenic in nature, as well as also create an aesthetic problem, so these must be removed before their disposal into water bodies. Various methods are in use for the decolorization of azo dyes. Every method has its own shortcomings and drawbacks. In this study, a comparative study was conducted to get the maximum decolorization of synthetic azo dyes and industrial effluents. Photo-Fenton’s process, biological and sequential methods were utilized for the decolorization of synthetic and real wastewater having azo dyes. In biological method, experiments was performed with five locally isolated indigenous white rot species, for the selection of two white rot fungal cultures based on their maximal decolorization potential. Different fermentation conditions (dye level, pH, inoculums size, temperature, mediators and metal ions) and nutritional factors (carbon and nitrogen sources) were optimized to enhance the efficiency of white rot fungal cultures for dye decolorization. In Photo-Fenton,s treatment method, the optimization of different experimental parameters (pH, FeSO4, H2O2, temperature and effects of salts) was done to get maximum decolorization (90%) of dye under study. Sequential methods were also studied) to investigate their effectiveness in the present study. The effectiveness of all treatment technologies was evaluated by water quality assurance parameters such as COD, BOD, TOC, TSS, phenolic contents ant toxicity assey, by following the standard methods of treatments. All treatments under study showed a good potential towards decolorization as well as mineralization, however, Sequential treatments showed best potential towards decolorization (up to 97%) as well as mineralization (up to 90%) of synthetic azo dyes. The uv-visible and FTIR spectral studies have shown decolorization as well as mineralization of dyes under study. An economic analysis has shown as the cost in the chemical treatment (Photo-Fenton treatment is considered mainly due to the chemicals, thus at lower doses (it is applied as a pre-treatment step), operating cost of the treatment can be saved. It was also found, that as the sequential carried out at lower dose of chemicals, so sludge production was almost negligible and the dye wastewater after sequential treatments fall within the safer limits, hence dispose off such treated water not be hazardous. Thus the overall treatment chain of Photo-Fenton oxidation followed by aerobic biological treatment could be quite effective and economical option for the treatment recalcitrant compounds like azo dyes in pilot plant scale.