What competencies do environmental health graduates need to manage social determinants of health?

BACKGROUND@#Graduates of environmental health engineering should be able to manage Social Determinants of Health (SDH) and acquire the essential competencies during their studies at university. This study was performed to determine the expected competencies of environmental health graduates in a way to be able to manage environmental and Social Determinants of Health according to their job description.@*METHODS@#This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed using Delphi technique. First, the literature review was done and the Delphi technique was performed in three rounds. The purposeful sampling was used and 50 people were selected among the specialists in the field of environmental health engineering and SDH. Participants answered an open-ended question, for the first round. Then, a questionnaire with 8 areas was designed based on the results of the first round and distributed for the second round. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics. The third round was done to reach the agreement on final items.@*RESULTS@#The agreement on the items of the third round of Delphi was more than 70%. The final results showed eight competency areas under which 29 competencies were defined. Competency areas included expert knowledge, reasoning and planning, advocacy, system-based practice, professionalism, instructional expertise, social and personal skills and, research and self-development. The first three priorities of the required competency areas were expert knowledge (4.46 ± 0.55), professionalism (4.42 ± 0.64), and advocacy (4.32 ± 0.77).@*CONCLUSIONS@#It is necessary that environmental health engineers achieve necessary competencies regarding managing SDH, upon their graduation. It is suggested to integrate these competencies into the curriculum of environmental and health engineering in Iran universities.

Study of isotherms and adsorption kinetic of DI [2-Ethylhexyl] phthalate by nano cellulose from aqueous solutions

Introduction: Di [2-ethylhexyl] phthalate is one of the most abundant phthalate esters and it is widely used as softeners in plastic products. Malformation, carcinogenicity, the poisoning of the reproductive system, and also the disruption of the human endocrine system are the harmful effects of these substances

Materials and Methods: In this research, the removal of di [2-ethylhexyl] phthalate from aqueous solutions by cellulose nanofiber non-continuous was studied. The effects of some variables such as the initial concentration of the di [2-ethylhexyl] phthalate, the adsorbent dosage, the contact time, and the pH at room temperature were tested. The pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models were used to describe the kinetic data, furthermore, the Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption models were tested based on the optimum conditions

Results: The results indicated that the adsorption of DI [2-ethylhexyl] phthalate follows the pseudo-second-order kinetic model [R[2] = 0.9674] and the Langmuir isotherm [R[2] = 0.9573]

Conclusion: Due to the high adsorption capacity of the cellulose nano fiber , [312.5 mg/gr], it can be concluded that it is an appropriate adsorbent for removal of di [2-ethylhexyl] phthalate from aqueous solutions. Diethylhexyl Phthalate, Nano Cellulose, Aqueous Solutions, Adsorption Kinetic