Evaluation of health risks due to heavy metals exposure via drinking water from ex-mining ponds in Klang Valley and Melaka has been conducted. Measurements of As, Cd, Pb, Mn, Fe, Na, Mg, Ca, and dissolved oxygen, pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solid, ammoniacal nitrogen, total suspended solid, biological oxygen demand were collected from 12 ex-mining ponds and 9 non-ex-mining lakes. Exploratory analysis identified As, Cd, and Pb as the most representative water quality parameters in the studied areas. The metal exposures were simulated using Monte Carlo methods and the associated health risks were estimated at 95th and 99th percentile. The results revealed that As was the major risk factor which might have originated from the previous mining activity. For Klang Valley, adults that ingested water from those ponds are at both non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks, while children are vulnerable to non-carcinogenic risk; for Melaka, only children are vulnerable to As complications. However, dermal exposure showed no potential health consequences on both adult and children groups.
Thirty snakehead fish, Channa micropeltes (Cuvier, 1831) were collected at Lake Kenyir, Malaysia. Muscle, liver, intestine and kidney tissues were removed from each fish and the intestine was opened to reveal cestodes. In order to assess the concentration of heavy metal in the environment, samples of water in the surface layer and sediment were also collected. Tissues were digested and the concentrations of manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) were analysed by using inductively-coupled plasma mass-spectrometry (ICP-MS) equipment. The results demonstrated that the cestode Senga parva (Fernando and Furtado, 1964) from fish hosts accumulated some heavy metals to a greater extent than the water and some fish tissues, but less than the sediment. In three (Pb, Zn and Mn) of the five elements measured, cestodes accumulated the highest metal concentrations, and in remaining two (Cu and Cd), the second highest metal accumulation was recorded in the cestodes when compared to host tissues. Therefore, the present study indicated that Senga parva accumulated metals and might have potential as a bioindicator of heavy-metal pollution.
A new graphene-based tetraethoxysilane-methyltrimethoxysilane sol-gel hybrid magnetic nanocomposite (Fe3O4@G-TEOS-MTMOS) was synthesised, characterized and successfully applied in magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) for simultaneous analysis of polar and non-polar organophosphorus pesticides from several water samples. The Fe3O4@G-TEOS-MTMOS nanocomposite was characterized using Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Separation, determination and quantification were achieved using gas chromatography coupled with micro electron capture detector. Adsorption capacity of the sorbent was calculated using Langmuir equation. MSPE was linear in the range 100-1000 pg mL(-1) for phosphamidon and dimethoate, and 10-100 pg mL(-1) for chlorpyrifos and diazinon, with limit of detection (S/N = 3) of 19.8, 23.7, 1.4 and 2.9 pg mL(-1) for phosphamidon, dimethoate, diazinon and chlorpyrifos, respectively. The LODs obtained is well below the maximum residual level (100 pg mL(-1)) as set by European Union for pesticides in drinking water. Acceptable precision (%RSD) was achieved for intra-day (1.3-8.7%, n = 3) and inter-day (7.6-17.8%, n = 15) analyses. Fe3O4@G-TEOS-MTMOS showed high adsorption capacity (54.4-76.3 mg g(-1)) for the selected OPPs. No pesticide residues were detected in the water samples analysed. Excellent extraction recoveries (83-105%) were obtained for the spiked OPPs from tap, river, lake and sea water samples. The newly synthesised Fe3O4@G-TEOS-MTMOS showed high potential as adsorbent for OPPs analysis.