As part of the cultural season of the Environmental Research Center,Lecturer Rana Riyad Khalil delivered a lecture entitled "The Fate and Effect of Detergents (Surfactants) in Tigris River within Baghdad City / Iraq" on Tuesday, 16/4/2019, where the lecture summarized the following:

The aim of this study is to determine the quantity and quality of surfactants (anionic (AS) and nonionic (NS)) in Tigris River and Al- Rustamiya wastewater treatment plant (RWWTP) (before and after treatment). Six sites were selected for this study and samples were collected from water, particulate, sediment and submerged plant in the river, while the treatment plant included water and particulate for the period from February 2017 to February 2018 and results were expressed as seasonally (wet and dry). Some physicochemical parameters are also measured at all sites per months. Two analytical methods were used photolab (PHD) and HPLC device for surfactants.

Also Person's correlation coefficient, Principle component analysis (PCA) and Factor analysis (FA) (multivariate statistical methods) were used as a tool to interpret the correlation between physicochemical parameters (for all six sites and two analytical methods) with surfactants.

From this study, the concentration of anionic and nonionic surfactants was in the following order: Particulate > Aquatic Plant > Sediment > Water. The RWWTP revealed its efficiency as treatment processes for anionic and nonionic surfactants where compared with permissible limits of use for irrigation purposes after treatment.