Identification of Pelargonium radula as bioindicator for mercury (Hg) detection confers a new hope for monitoring the safety of drinking water consumption. Hg, like other non-essential metals, inflicts the deterioration of biological functions in human and other creatures. In the present study, effects of Hg on the physiology and biochemical content of P. radula were undertaken to understand the occurrence of the morphological changes observed. Young leaves of P. radula were treated with different concentrations of Hg-containing solution (0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 ppb) along with controls for 4 h, prior to further analysis. Elevated Hg concentration in treatment solution significantly prompted an increased accumulation of Hg in the leaf tissues. Meanwhile, total protein, chlorophyll and low molecular mass thiol contents (cysteine, glutathione and oxidized glutathione) decreased as Hg accumulation increased. However, phytochelatin 2 productions were induced in the treated leaves, in comparison to the control. Based on these findings, it is postulated that as low as 0.5 ppb of Hg interferes with the metabolic processes of plant cells, which was reflected from the morphological changes exhibited on P. radula leaves-the colour of the Hg-treated leaves changed from green to yellowish-brown, became chlorosis and wilted. Changes in the tested characteristics of plant are closely related to the Hg-induced morphological changes on P. radula leaves, a potential bioindicator for detecting Hg in drinking water.
The present study aimed to assess the effects of anthropogenic activities on the heavy metal levels in the Langat River by transplantation of Corbicula javanica. In addition, potential ecological risk indexes (PERI) of heavy metals in the surface sediments of the river were also investigated. The correlation analysis revealed that eight metals (As, Co, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) in total soft tissue (TST) while five metals (As, Cd, Cr, Fe and Mn) in shell have positively and significantly correlation with respective metal concentration in sediment, indicating the clams is a good biomonitor of the metal levels. Based on clustering patterns, the discharge of dam impoundment, agricultural activities and urban domestic waste were identified as three major contributors of the metals in Pangsun, Semenyih and Dusun Tua, and Kajang, respectively. Various geochemical indexes for a single metal pollutant (geoaccumulation index (I geo), enrichment factors (EF), contamination factor (C f) and ecological risk (Er)) all agreed that Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn are not likely to cause adverse effect to the river ecosystem, but As and Pb could pose a potential ecological risk to the river ecosystem. All indexes (degree of contamination (C d), combined pollution index (CPI) and PERI) showed that overall metal concentrations in the tropical river are still within safe limit. River metal pollution was investigated. Anthropogenic activities were contributors of the metal pollution. Geochemical indexes showed that metals are within the safe limit.
Middle-income countries are currently undergoing massive structural changes towards more industrialized economies. In this paper, we carefully examine the impact of these transformations on the environmental quality of middle-income countries. Specifically, we examine the role of sector value addition to GDP on CO2 emission nexus for middle-income economies controlling for the effects of population growth, energy use, and trade openness. Using recently developed panel methods that consider cross-sectional dependence and allow for heterogeneous slope coefficients, we show that energy use and growth of industrial and service sectors positively explain CO2 emissions in middle-income economies. We also find that population growth is insignificantly associated with CO2 emission. Hence, our paper provides a solid ground for developing a sustainable and pro-growth policy for middle-income countries.
Fruit wastes constituting up to half of total fruit weight represent a large pool of untapped resources for isolation of starch with diverse applications. In this work, the possibility of isolating starch from tropical fruit wastes and its extended application as a natural coagulant was elucidated. Amongst the 12 various parts of fruit wastes selected, only jackfruit seeds contained more than 50% of total starch content. Using alkaline extraction procedures, starch has been successfully isolated from local jackfruit seeds with a yield of approximately 18%. Bell-shaped starch granules were observed under SEM with a granule size ranging from 1.1 to 41.6 μm. Detailed starch characteristics were performed to provide a comparison between the isolated seed starch and also conventional starches. Among them, chemical properties such as the content of starch, amylose, amylopectin and the corresponding molecular weights are some of the key characteristics which governed their performance as natural coagulants. The potential use of isolated seed starch as an aid was then demonstrated in both suspensions of kaolin (model synthetic system) and Chlorella sp. microalga (real-time application) with plausible outcomes. At optimized starch dosage of 60 mg/L, the overall turbidity removal in kaolin was enhanced by at least 25% at a fixed alum dosage of 2.1 mg/L. Positive turbidity and COD removals were also observed in the treatment of Chlorella suspensions. Starches which served as bridging agents aided in the linkage of neighbouring microflocs and subsequently, forming macroflocs through a secondary coagulation mechanism: adsorption and bridging.
This study was conducted to investigate the potential application of oil palm empty fruit branches (OPEFB) as adsorbents to remove organic methylmercurry, MeHg(II), and inorganic Hg(II) from aqueous solution. The OPEFB was functionalized with amine containing ligand namely 3-ureidopropyltriethoxysilane (UPTES) aiming for better adsorption performance towards both mercury ions. The adsorption was found to be dependent on initial pH, initial concentraton, temperatures, and contact time. The maximum adsorption capacities (Qm.exp) of Hg(II) adsorption onto OPEFB and UPTES-OPEFB were 0.226 and 0.773 mmol/g, respectively. The Qm.exp of MeHg(II) onto OPEFB, however, was higher than UPTES-OPEFB. The adsorption kinetic data obeyed the Elovich model and the adsorption was controlled by the film-diffusion step. The calculated thermodynamic parameters indicate an endothermic adsorption process. Adsorption data analysis indicates that the adsorption mechanism may include ion-exchange, complexation, and physisorption interactions. The potential applications of adsorbents were demonstrated using oilfield produced water and natural gas condensate. The UPTES-OPEFB offered higher selectivity towards both mercury ions than OPEFB. The regenerability studies indicated that the adsorbent could be reused for multiple cycles.
In this study, bisphenol A (BPA) removal by sonophotocatalysis coupled with commercially available titanium dioxide (TiO2, P25) was assessed in batch tests using energy-based advanced oxidation combining ultrasound (US) and ultraviolet (UV). The kinetics of BPA removal were systematically evaluated by changing operational parameters, such as US frequency and power, mechanical stirring speed, and temperature, but also comparison of single and coupled systems under the optimum US conditions (35 kHz, 50 W, 300 rpm stirring speed, and 20 °C). The combination of US/UV/P25 exhibited the highest BPA removal rate (28.0 × 10-3 min-1). In terms of the synergy index, the synergistic effect of sonophotocatalysis was found to be 2.2. This indicated that sonophotocatalysis has a considerably higher removal efficiency than sonocatalysis or photocatalysis. The removal of BPA was further investigated to identify BPA byproducts and intermediates using high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Five main intermediates were formed during sonophotocatalytic degradation, and complete removal of BPA and its intermediates was obtained after 3 h of operation. The degradation pathway of BPA by sonophotocatalysis was also elucidated.
The Three Gorges Dam's construction and industrial transfer have resulted in a new air pollution pattern with the potential to threaten the reservoir eco-environment. To assess the impact of socioeconomic factors on the pattern of air quality vairation and economical risks, concentrations of SO2, NO2, and PM10, industry genres, and meteorological conditions were selected in the Three Gorges Reservoir of Chongqing (TGRC) during 2006-2015. Results showed that air quality had improved to some extent, but atmospheric NO2 showed an increased trend during 2011-2015. Spatially, higher atmospheric NO2 extended to the surrounding area. The primary industry, especially for agriculture, had shown to be responsible for the remarkable increase of atmospheric NO2 (p
This work studied the performance of a laboratory-scale microbial fuel cell (MFC) using a bioanode that consisted of treated clinoptilolite fine powder coated onto graphite felt (TC-MGF). The results were compared with another similar MFC that used a bare graphite felt (BGF) bioanode. The anode surfaces provided active sites for the adhesion of the bacterial consortium (NAR-2) and the biodegradation of mono azo dye C.I. Acid Red 27. As a result, bioelectricity was generated in both MFCs. A 98% decolourisation rate was achieved using the TC-MGF bioanode under a fed-batch operation mode. Maximum power densities for BGF and TC-MGF bioanodes were 458.8 ± 5.0 and 940.3 ± 4.2 mW m-2, respectively. GC-MS analyses showed that the dye was readily degraded in the presence of the TC-MGF bioanode. The MFC using the TC-MGF bioanode showed a stable biofilm with no biomass leached out for more than 300 h operation. In general, MFC performance was substantially improved by the fabricated TC-MGF bioanode. It was also found that the TC-MGF bioanode with the stable biofilm presented the nature of exopolysaccharide (EPS) structure, which is suitable for the biodegradation of the azo dye. In fact, the EPS facilitated the shuttling of electrons to the bioanode for the generation of bioelectricity.
This work discusses the preparation and characterizations of glass hollow fiber membranes prepared using zeolite-5A as a starting material. Zeolite was formed into a hollow fiber configuration using the phase inversion technique. It was later sintered at high temperatures to burn off organic materials and change the zeolite into glass membrane. A preliminary study, that used thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), confirmed that zeolite used in this study changed to glass at temperatures above 1000 °C. The glass hollow fiber membranes prepared using the phase inversion technique has three different microstructures, namely (i) sandwich-like structure that originates from inner layer, (ii) sandwich-like that originates from outer layer, and (iii) symmetric sponge like. These variations were influenced by zeolite weight loading and the flow rate of water used to form the lumen. The separation performances of the glass hollow fiber membrane were studied using the pure water permeability and the rejection test of bovine serum albumin (BSA). The glass hollow fiber membrane prepared from using 48 wt% zeolite loading and bore fluid with 9 mL min(-1) flow rate has the highest BSA rejection of 85% with the water permeability of 0.7 L m(-2) h(-1) bar(-1). The results showed that the separation performance of glass hollow fiber membranes was in the ultrafiltration range, enabled the retention of solutes with molecular sizes larger than 67 kDa such as milk proteins, endotoxin pyrogen, virus, and colloidal silica.
Due to the health and environmental risks posed by the presence of petroleum-contaminated areas around the world, remediation of petroleum-contaminated soil has drawn much attention from researchers. Combining Fenton reaction with a solvent has been proposed as a novel way to remediate contaminated soils. In this study, a green solvent, ethyl lactate (EL), has been used in conjunction with Fenton's reagents for the remediation of diesel-contaminated soil. The main aim of this research is to determine how the addition of EL affects Fenton reaction for the destruction of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) within the diesel range. Specifically, the effects of different parameters, including liquid phase volume-to-soil weight (L/S) ratio, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) concentration and EL% on the removal efficiency, have been studied in batch experiments. The results showed that an increase in H2O2 resulted in an increase in removal efficiency of TPH from 68.41% at H2O2 = 0.1 M to 90.21% at H2O2 = 2 M. The lowest L/S, i.e. L/S = 1, had the highest TPH removal efficiency of 85.77%. An increase in EL% up to 10% increased the removal efficiency to 96.74% for TPH, and with further increase in EL%, the removal efficiency of TPH decreased to 89.6%. EL with an optimum value of 10% was found to be best for TPH removal in EL-based Fenton reaction. The power law and pseudo-first order equations fitted well to the experimental kinetic data of Fenton reactions.
With the rising concern about climate change, there has been an increased public awareness that has resulted in new government policies to support scientific research for mitigating these problems. Malaysia is among the major energy-intense countries and is under an excessive burden to advance its energy efficiency and to also work towards the reduction of its carbon emission. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) have the potential to lessen the carbon emission and gasoline consumption in order to alleviate environmental problems. Most of the energy problems linked to the increasing transportation pollution are now being reduced with the solution of the adoption of PHEVs. PHEVs are seen as a solution to cut carbon emission, which prevents environmental damages. Furthermore, PHEVs' driving range and performance can be comparable to the other hybrid vehicles as well as the conventional IC engines that have gasoline and diesel tanks. Thus, many efforts are being initiated to promote the use of PHEVs as an innovative and affordable transportation system. In order to achieve making the consumers aware of the adoption of PHEVs, we used a model which is based on the extended theory of planned behavior (TPB). This review is based on the factors affecting the adoption of PHEVs among Malaysian consumers. The model takes into account the ten key features that influence the adoption of PHEVs, such as environmental concern, personal norm, attitude, vehicle ownership costs, driving range, charging time, intention, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and personal norm. All these constructs are drivers towards the adoption of PHEVs. These factors affect the relationship between the adoption of PHEVs and how consumers intend to protect the environment. This review is based on improving how the "attitude-action" gap is understood as it is an important element for further studies on PHEVs. The aim of the research is to come up with a framework that examines how to modify the consumer's environmental concerns in acquiring PHEVs. This will pave the way for more academic research and future works that can emphasize how to obtain empirical results. The authors' recommendation is that, before a consumer's behavior is assessed and considered, an observation of the current technology is needed with methods and knowledge of the existing technology adoption aspect.
Despite its extraordinary price, ceramic membrane can still be able to surpass polymeric membrane in the applications that require high temperature and pressure conditions, as well as harsh chemical environment. In order to alleviate the high cost of ceramic material that still becomes one of the major factors that contributes to the high production cost of ceramic membrane, various attempts have been made to use low cost ceramic materials as alternatives to well-known expensive ceramic materials such as alumina, silica, and zirconia in the fabrication of ceramic membrane. Thus, local Malaysian kaolin has been chosen as the ceramic material in this study for the preparation of kaolin hollow fibre membrane since it is inexpensive and naturally abundant in Malaysia. Due to the fact that the sintering process plays a prominent role in obtaining the desired morphology, properties, and performances of prepared ceramic membrane, the aim of this work was to study the effect of different sintering temperatures applied (ranging from 1200 to 1500 °C) in the preparation of kaolin hollow fibre membrane via dry/wet phase inversion-based spinning technique and sintering process. The morphology and properties of membrane were then characterised by SEM, AFM, FTIR, XRD, and three-point bending test, while the performances of membrane were investigated by conducting water permeation and Reactive Black 5 (RB5) dye rejection tests. From the experimental results obtained, the sintering temperature of 1400 °C could be selected as the optimum sintering temperature in preparing the kaolin hollow fibre membrane with the dense sponge-like structure of separation layer that resulted in the good mechanical strength of 70 MPa with the appreciable water permeation of 75 L/h m(2) bar and RB5 rejection of 68%.
The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the polymethyl acrylate (PMA) additive on the formation of particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxide (NOX) emission from a diesel coconut and/or Calophyllum inophyllum biodiesel-fueled engine. The physicochemical properties of 20% of coconut and/or C. inophyllum biodiesel-diesel blend (B20), 0.03 wt% of PMA with B20 (B20P), and diesel fuel were measured and compared to ASTM D6751, D7467, and EN 14214 standard. The test results showed that the addition of PMA additive with B20 significantly improves the cold-flow properties such as pour point (PP), cloud point (CP), and cold filter plugging point (CFPP). The addition of PMA additives reduced the engine's brake-specific energy consumption of all tested fuels. Engine emission results showed that the additive-added fuel reduce PM concentration than B20 and diesel, whereas the PM size and NOX emission both increased than B20 fuel and baseline diesel fuel. Also, the effect of adding PMA into B20 reduced Carbon (C), Aluminum (Al), Potassium (K), and volatile materials in the soot, whereas it increased Oxygen (O), Fluorine (F), Zinc (Zn), Barium (Ba), Chlorine (Cl), Sodium (Na), and fixed carbon. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) results for B20P showed the lower agglomeration than B20 and diesel fuel. Therefore, B20P fuel can be used as an alternative to diesel fuel in diesel engines to lower the harmful emissions without compromising the fuel quality.
A new commercial cationic polyelectrolyte chitosan (CM), obtained from the waste of mushroom production, was examined using models of water and wastewater namely kaolin and palm oil mill effluent (pome). As it is biocompatible, widely available, and economically feasible, chitosan mushroom has high potential to be a suitable replacement for alum. Also, it can be a promising alternative to chitosan obtained traditionally from Crustaceans due to its higher zeta potential and homogeneity based on the raw material required for its production. A wide range of coagulant dose (5-60 mg l(-1)) and wastewater pH (2-12) were taken into account to find the optimal conditions of coagulation. The optimal doses are 10 and 20 mg l(-1) at best pH (11 and 3) when treated with kaolin and palm oil mill effluent, respectively, while 1200 mg l(-1) of alum was not enough to reach the efficiency of chitosan mushroom. On the other hand, the optimum dose of chitosan mushroom (20 mg l(-1)) at pH 3 of pome produced (75, 73, and 98%) removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), and total suspended solids (TSS), respectively. The significant potential of chitosan mushroom was proved by zeta potential measurement. Indeed, it possesses the highest zeta potential (+70 mV) as compared to the traditional chitosan produced from crustaceans. In short, chitosan mushroom as a biocoagulant is eco-friendly and it enhances water quality that meets the requirements of environmental conservatives.
This study examines the impact of economic growth, corruption, health, and poverty on environmental degradation for three countries from ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand using annual data over the period of 1994-2014. The relationship between environmental degradation (pollution) by carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and economic growth is examined along with some other variables, namely health expenditure, poverty, agriculture value added growth, industrial value added growth, and corruption. The ordinary least squares (OLS) method is applied as an analytical technique for parameter estimation. The empirical results reveal that almost all variables are statistically significant at the 5% level of significance, whereby test rejects the null hypotheses of non-cointegration, indicating that all variables play an important role in affecting the environment across countries. Empirical results also indicate that economic growth has significant positive impact, while health expenditures show significantly negative impact on the environment. Corruption has significant positive effect on environment in the case of Malaysia; while in the case of Indonesia and Thailand, it has insignificant results. However, for the individual analysis across countries, the regression estimate suggests that economic growth has a significant positive relationship with environment for Indonesia, while it is found insignificantly negative and positive in the case of Malaysia and Thailand, respectively, during the period under the study. Empirical findings of the study suggest that policy-makers require to make technological-friendly environment sequentially to surmount unregulated pollution, steady population transfers from rural areas to urban areas are also important, and poverty alleviation and better health provision can also help to improve the environment.
Currently, generation of solid waste per capita in Malaysia is about 1.1 kg/day. Over 26,500 t of solid waste is disposed almost solely through 166 operating landfills in the country every day. Despite the availability of other disposal methods, landfill is the most widely accepted and prevalent method for municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal in developing countries, including Malaysia. This is mainly ascribed to its inherent forte in terms cost saving and simpler operational mechanism. However, there is a downside. Environmental pollution caused by the landfill leachate has been one of the typical dilemmas of landfilling method. Leachate is the liquid produced when water percolates through solid waste and contains dissolved or suspended materials from various disposed materials and biodecomposition processes. It is often a high-strength wastewater with extreme pH, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), inorganic salts and toxicity. Its composition differs over the time and space within a particular landfill, influenced by a broad spectrum of factors, namely waste composition, landfilling practice (solid waste contouring and compacting), local climatic conditions, landfill's physico-chemical conditions, biogeochemistry and landfill age. This paper summarises an overview of landfill operation and leachate treatment availability reported in literature: a broad spectrum of landfill management opportunity, leachate parameter discussions and the way forward of landfill leachate treatment applicability.
The Antarctic continent is known to be an unpopulated region due to its extreme weather and climate conditions. However, the air quality over this continent can be affected by long-lived anthropogenic pollutants from the mainland. The Argentinian region of Ushuaia is often the main source area of accumulated hazardous gases over the Antarctic Peninsula. The main objective of this study is to report the first in situ observations yet known of surface ozone (O3) over Ushuaia, the Drake Passage, and Coastal Antarctic Peninsula (CAP) on board the RV Australis during the Malaysian Antarctic Scientific Expedition Cruise 2016 (MASEC'16). Hourly O3 data was measured continuously for 23 days using an EcoTech O3 analyzer. To understand more about the distribution of surface O3 over the Antarctic, we present the spatial and temporal of surface O3 of long-term data (2009-2015) obtained online from the World Meteorology Organization of World Data Centre for greenhouse gases (WMO WDCGG). Furthermore, surface O3 satellite data from the free online NOAA-Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) database and online data assimilation from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)-Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate (MACC) were used. The data from both online products are compared to document the data sets and to give an indication of its quality towards in situ data. Finally, we used past carbon monoxide (CO) data as a proxy of surface O3 formation over Ushuaia and the Antarctic region. Our key findings were that the surface O3 mixing ratio during MASEC'16 increased from a minimum of 5 ppb to ~ 10-13 ppb approaching the Drake Passage and the Coastal Antarctic Peninsula (CAP) region. The anthropogenic and biogenic O3 precursors from Ushuaia and the marine region influenced the mixing ratio of surface O3 over the Drake Passage and CAP region. The past data from WDCGG showed that the annual O3 cycle has a maximum during the winter of 30 to 35 ppb between June and August and a minimum during the summer (January to February) of 10 to 20 ppb. The surface O3 mixing ratio during the summer was controlled by photochemical processes in the presence of sunlight, leading to the depletion process. During the winter, the photochemical production of surface O3 was more dominant. The NOAA-AIRS and ECMWF-MACC analysis agreed well with the MASEC'16 data but twice were higher during the expedition period. Finally, the CO past data showed the surface O3 mixing ratio was influenced by the CO mixing ratio over both the Ushuaia and Antarctic regions. Peak surface O3 and CO hourly mixing ratios reached up to ~ 38 ppb (O3) and ~ 500 ppb (CO) over Ushuaia. High CO over Ushuaia led to the depletion process of surface O3 over the region. Monthly CO mixing ratio over Antarctic (South Pole) were low, leading to the production of surface O3 over the Antarctic region.
The effect of metals on environmental health is well documented and monitoring these and other pollutants is considered an important part of environmental management. Developing countries are yet to fully appreciate the direct impacts of pollution on aquatic ecosystems and as such, information on pollution dynamics is scant. Here, we assessed the temporal and spatial dynamics of stream sediment metal and nutrient concentrations using contaminant indices (e.g. enrichment factors, pollution load and toxic risk indices) in an arid temperate environment over the wet and dry seasons. The mean sediment nutrient, organic matter and metal concentration were highest during the dry season, with high values being observed for the urban environment. Sediment contaminant assessment scores indicated that during the wet season, the sediment quality was acceptable, but not so during the dry season. The dry season had low to moderate levels of enrichment for metals B, Cu, Cr, Fe, Mg, K and Zn. Overall, applying the sediment pollution load index highlighted poor quality river sediment along the length of the river. Toxic risk index indicated that most sites posed no toxic risk. The results of this study highlighted that river discharge plays a major role in structuring temporal differences in sediment quality. It was also evident that infrastructure degradation was likely contributing to the observed state of the river quality. The study contributes to our understanding of pollution dynamics in arid temperate landscapes where vast temporal differences in base flow characterise the riverscape. Such information is further useful for contrasting sediment pollution dynamics in aquatic environments with other climatic regions.
The field of arsenic pollution research has grown rapidly in recent years. Arsenic constitutes a broad range of elements from the Earth's crust and is released into the environment from both anthropogenic and natural sources due to its relative mobility under different redox conditions. The toxicity of arsenic is described in its inorganic form, as inorganic arsenic compounds can leach into different environments. Sampling was carried out in the Bestari Jaya catchment while using a land use map to locate the site, and experiments were conducted via sequential extraction and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy to quantify proportions of arsenic in the sediment samples. The results show that metals in sediments of nonresidual fractions, which are more likely to be likely released into aquatic environments, are more plentiful than the residual sediment fractions. These findings support the mobility of heavy metals and especially arsenic through sediment layers, which can facilitate remediation in environments heavily polluted with heavy metals.
Allium cepa assay was carried out in this study to evaluate genotoxic effects of raw and treated water samples from Perak River in Perak state, Malaysia. Samples were collected from three surface water treatment plants along the river, namely WTPP, WTPS, and WTPK. Initially, triplicates of equal size Allium cepa (onions) bulbs, 25-30 mm in diameter and average weight of 20 g, were set up in distilled water for 24 h at 20 ± 2 °C and protected from direct sunlight, to let the roots to grow. After germination of roots (0.5-1.0 cm in length), bulbs were transferred to collected water samples each for a 96-h period of exposure. The root physical deformations were observed. Genotoxicity quantification was based on mitotic index and genotoxicity level. Statistical analysis using cross-correlation function for replicates from treated water showed that root length has inverse correlation with mitotic indices (r = - 0.969) and frequencies of cell aberrations (r = - 0.976) at lag 1. Mitotic indices and cell aberrations of replicates from raw water have shown positive correlation at lag 1 (r = 0.946). Genotoxicity levels obtained were 23.4 ± 1.98 (WTPP), 26.68 ± 0.34 (WTPS), and 30.4 ± 1.13 (WTPK) for treated water and 17.8 ± 0.18 (WTPP), 37.15 ± 0.17 (WTPS), and 47.2 ± 0.48 (WTPK) for raw water. The observed cell aberrations were adherence, chromosome delay, C-metaphase, chromosome loss, chromosome bridge, chromosome breaks, binucleated cell, mini cell, and lobulated nuclei. The morphogenetic deformations obtained were likely due to genotoxic substances presence in collected water samples. Thus, water treatment in Malaysia does not remove genotoxic compounds.