Freshwater fish has been studied and reported numerously. However, little attention has been made and limited studies available on local marine fish in Malaysia. Thus, in this study, concentrations of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Pb and Cu) were studied in four major local marine fish Megalaspis cordyla (hardtail scad), Rastrelliger kanagurta (Indian mackerel), Selaroides leptolepis (yellowstripe scad) and Sardinella fimbriata (fringescale sardinella). The study was also intended to estimate potential health risk assessment from these heavy metals to the consumption of fish and assess maximum allowable fish consumption rate. The range of heavy metal concentrations were 0.053-0.096 mg/kg for Cd, 1.16-2.34 mg/kg for Cr, 8.34-12.44 mg/kg for Pb and 1.40-3.21 mg/kg for Cu in four major self-caught saltwater fish. Heavy metal levels of Cd and Cu in the local marine fish from Port Dickson are below the limit enforced by Food Regulations (1985) while the levels of Cr and Pb have exceeded the limit. Potential health risks associated with Cd, Cr, Cu and Pb were assessed based on target hazard quotients. HQ values calculated for Cd, Cr and Cu were less than 1, thus indicate that no adverse effects while HQ values for Pb exceeded 1 for all the fish species assessed with the exception of Megalaspis spp and Sardinella sppa. Cr was the highest while Pb concentrations were the lowest in all the studied fish samples for maximum allowable fish consumption rate. A long term monitoring program is crucial to be done in coastal areas with high consumption of local marine fish along Port Dickson to obtain real consumption rates and other cofounders factors in local population.
Introduction: Pesticides may influence the physicochemical properties of soil and the water quality parameters, which is vital in maintaining soil fertility and producing high quality crops. Objective: This study aims to determine the relationship between the concentration of pesticides, the physicochemical properties of the paddy soil samples and the water quality parameters of paddy water samples. Methods: A total of 72 soil and 72 water samples were collected in Tanjung Karang, Malaysia. The paddy soil and water were extracted using Quick, Easy, Cheap, Efficient, Rugged and Safe (QuEChERS) and solid phase extraction (SPE) techniques respectively. The concentrations of pesti- cides were analysed in ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). The relationship of the concentration of target pesticides and the paddy soil and water physicochemical properties were studied using Spearman correlation. Results: In paddy soil, the concentration of propiconazole shows moderate positive correlation with manganese (Mn) (r = 0.587) (p 0.01). Meanwhile buprofezin-total organic carbon (TOC) (r = -0.55) (p 0.01), imidacloprid-cation exchange capacity (CEC) (r = -0.519) (p 0.01), pymetrozine-sodium (Na) (r = -0.588) (p 0.01), and trifloxystrobin-calcium (Ca) (r = 0.566) (p 0.01) showed moderate negative correlation. Whereas in water, trifloxystrobin showed significant positive correlation with turbidity (r = 0.718) (p 0.01) and te- buconazole showed negative correlation to dissolved oxygen (DO) (r = 0.634) (p 0.01). Conclusion: The presence of pesticides in paddy field may influence the soil and water quality, thus regular monitoring of pesticides usage and nutrient management in soil is deemed important.
The generation of municipal solid waste (MSW) in South East Asian and developing countries has become a serious concern worldwide. Population growth, urbanization, economic productivity and demand for consumption had accelerated the amount of waste generation each year. This paper presents a short definition of MSW landfill, an overview of current status of MSW landfills in Malaysia and generation of solid waste in Malaysia and other neigh- bouring countries.
Background: Prolonged exposure of heavy metals in the respirable particulate matter (PM10) from municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills may affect children health. Objective: To investigate the association of reported respiratory symptom with heavy metals in PM10, with heavy metals in fingernails among children residing close to MSW landfills. Methods: Two groups of children age 7 to 12 years old were involved in this cross-sectional study. Those residing within 3 km radius from a landfill were the exposed group and those residing more than 3 km radius as the unexposed group. Questionnaires adapted from American Thoracic Society were applied in the survey. Fingernails were used as biomarker. Ten heavy metals elements in PM and fingernail samples were analysed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results: The cadmium, chromium, copper, manganese, nickel and lead concentrations in PM around the MSW landfills and residential areas exceeded the Canada and USEPA standard permissible limit. Heavy metals in fingernails (p
Calcium Carbide (CaC2) use for fruit ripening become dubious in recent years when various health related issues began to arise. This study aims to assess knowledge, attitude and practises (KAP) and health related to CaC2 among mango farmers, staff/workers working in mango farms and fruits traders in Perak, Kedah and Perlis. Methods: All potential respondents in the study locations was invited to participate. Yes-no questions were used to assess KAP while structured questions were used to obtain socio-demographic data through face-to face interview. Results: The response rate for this study was 67.8% (n = 200). All respondents were male with the average age of 40.45 years old. Majority of them (67.5%) completed secondary school as their highest education level. Overall, less than half of the total respondents have appropriate KAP. Only job tenure significantly associated with the knowledge on the type of suitable PPE (χ2 = 16.421). Respondents with secondary or tertiary school of education level (χ2= 9.154) and those with 1-5 years of job tenure (χ2 = 10.932) showed significantly better attitude on CaC2 handling. Also, the total scores of knowledge significantly associated with attitude (χ2 = 26.801) and application of glove (χ2= 12.551). In multiple logistic regression only respondents with the knowledge on type of PPE (OR = 6.30) will persist to use CaC2. Conclusion: The KAP related to CaC2 among respondents is low and their knowledge was significantly associated with their attitude and practice. Therefore, effective training and communication approach is warranted.
Extensive agriculture activities in the upstream area causes pollutants flow to the downstream area and contaminate the drinking water resources. Methods: Water samples were collected from 27 sampling points of Bertam River in Cameron Highlands, during wet season in September 2017 for physicochemical properties and heavy metals analyses. Potential health risk was calculated based on the heavy metals concentration detected. Results: The pH value of the river ranged from neutral to slightly acidic (6.15-7.01). The overall mean level of turbidity (109.94 ± 160.73 NTU), DO (7.86 ± 0.71 mg/L), E. coli (5191.00 ± 14937.42 CFU/100 mL), and NH3-N (0.85 ± 0.54 mg/L) were exceeded the National Standard for Drinking Water Quality (NSDWQ) (Ministry of Health Malaysia). The concentration of heavy metals were in the following order; Fe>Al>Cu>Zn>Pb>Cd. The overall mean concentration of Cd (0.015 ± 0.007 mg/L), Fe (0.442 ± 0.191 mg/L) and Pb (0.021 ± 0.005 mg/L) were exceeded the national standard (NSDWQ). The non-carcinogenic health risk for adult and children from daily water consumption was within an acceptable risk. There is a potential cancer risk through Cd exposure in the drinking water where the risk higher among children (4.92 x 10-3), followed by adult male (3.06 x 10-3) and adult female (2.98 x 10-3). Conclusion: Significant heavy metals contamination and health risk through water consumption were observed in the highland river watershed, possibly due to the anthropogenic activities.
Introduction: The electronic cigarette (EC) usage has raised public health concerns; whether its advantages to smok- ers as a potential smoking cessation aid have outweighed its negative health impacts among EC users. This study aims to estimate health risks associated with chemical exposures to nicotine, propylene glycol (PG) and selected To- bacco-Specific Nitrosamines (TSNAs) namely 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) and N’-nitro- sonornicotine (NNN) in e-liquids locally-manufactured in Malaysia. Methods: The health risk assessment (HRA) was performed using established guideline by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The average daily dose (ADD) and lifetime average daily dose (LADD) were calculated using previously published data on chemical concentration of selected compounds and local EC usage topography data. Next, the non-carcinogenic risk (nicotine and PG) and carcinogenic risk (NNK and NNN) were calculated and denoted as total hazard quotient (HQT) and total lifetime cancer risk (LCRT) value, respectively. Results: For non-carcinogenic risk, the mean of HQT was 78.9 which falls un- der “unacceptable” risk as demonstrated by HQT value of more than 1. While for carcinogenic risk, the mean of total LCRT value was 1.54E-04 which may place EC users at risk of developing cancer resulted from exposure to selected TSNAs. Conclusion: Comprehensive HRA using currently available data of local EC usage topography and chemical evaluation of Malaysian-made e-liquids have revealed that the exposure to nicotine, PG and selected TSNAs are expected to be a significant health concern for local EC users. This finding supports the local health authority to issue a stringent health policy in considering EC as a tool for smoking cessation among heavy smokers.