The potential impacts of anthropogenic and climate changes factors on surface water ecosystem deterioration at Kenyir Lake, Malaysia

Water ecosystem deterioration can be affected by various factors of either natural environment or physical changes in the river basin. Data observation were made during dry season (April 2017) and wet season (December 2017). 21 sampling stations were selected along Kenyir Lake Basin. Overall, the water quality status as stated in NWQS is categorized as Class I on dry season and Class II on wet sea-son. The major pollutants in Kenyir Lake are Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Dissolve Oxygen and pH which are contributed largely by untreated or partially treated sewage from tourism development and construction activities around the basin. The sedimentation problem level in the Kenyir Lake Basin is not in critically stage but the flow rate of water and land use ac-tivities (development around basin) will be contributed to the increasing levels of sedimentation. The good site management such as the implementation of proper site practice measures to control and treat run-off prior to discharge will ensure that the construction works will not affect the quality and quantity of the receiving waters or have significant impact upon the receiving waters

Positive and negative effects of COVID-19 pandemic on aquatic environment: a review

In December 2019, a novel coronavirus called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak was reported for the first time in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. This coronavirus has been referred as Coronavirus Disease 2019 or COVID-19 by World Health Organization (WHO). The spread of COVID-19 has become unstoppable, infecting around 93.5 million people worldwide, with the infections and deaths still increasing. Today, the entire planet has changed due to the greatest threat on the planet since the introduction of this lethal disease. This pandemic has left the world in turmoil and various measures have been taken by many countries including movement control order or lockdown, to slow down or mitigate the infection. Since the lockdown has been implemented almost in all affected countries, there has been a significant reduction in anthropogenic activity, including a reduction in industrial operations, vehicle numbers, and marine-related activities. All of these changes have also led to some unexpected environmental consequences. As a result of this lockdown, it had a positive and negative impact on the environment including the aquatic environment. Hence this review will therefore focus on the good and bad perspectives of the lockdown toward the aquatic environment

Longtail Tuna (Thunnus tonggol) consumption frequency in Terengganu, Malaysia

In Terengganu, Longtail tuna or Thunnus tonggol is one of the most popular marine fishes landed by fishermen and has a high demand among customers. This species often served with a unique local delicacy called Nasi Dagang and Ikan Singgang, one of the favourite meals during breakfast by local communities. Since people have always consumed this species, therefore this study aims to identify the consumption rate of this species among Terengganu people. Specifically, this survey data obtained from 124 respondents, ages ranged from 15 to 60 years old from five districts in Terengganu, including Besut, Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu, Hulu Terengganu, and Kemaman. Generally, the estimated amount of this species consumption is 239.7 g per person and 1.83 times per week. From the formula calculated, the amount of this species consumed by one person is 437.4 g/person/week. This value can use to calculate the permissible tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) to estimate the intake of pollutants, such as heavy metals in the human body

Moringa Oleifera dosage clustering for remediation process of Batik effluents using chemometric technique

Batik has become one of the well-known industries because of the exclusive design and colours. The wastewater produced during the Batik production could contaminate the water bodies due to the contaminants present in the effluents. The need to remove the contami-nants, in turn, calls for an efficient and effective Batik wastewater treatment prior to the disposal into the environment. The present study is purposely to determine the optimum Moringa oleifera dosage during the Batik effluents treatment process. The Batik effluent was treated using different M. oleifera seed powder dosages, swirled and allowed to settle down for 24 hours. The best dosage was deter-mined by utilizing the cluster analysis (CA) and discriminant analysis (DA) on the observation data. The CA and DA verified that 2.5g and 5.0g are the optimum dosages to reduce the contaminants in the Batik wastewater. Additionally, both optimum dosages are the least dosage by which will also reduce the cost of M. oleifera used in the Batik wastewater treatment

The evaluation of Brunei Bay sediment cores sedimentation rate using 210Pb radiometric dating technique

The use of radioisotopes 210Pb and 226Ra in establishing the geochronology of pollutants in the sediment core and sediment dating is be-ing widely used in the world. The present study was conducted in Brunei Bay region of Malaysian waters to define the sedimentation rate and sediment age as well as to investigate the possible sources of pollutants into this bay. Sediment core samples were cut by layers, dried and analyzed using High Purity Germanium (HPGe) Spectrometer. Results obtained marked the time interval of 1875, 1956, 1962 and 1945 for sediment core B5, B9, B13 and LB consecutively. Sediment core of B9 and LB showed higher sedimentation rate compared to B5 and B13 due to the rapid development of urban and industrial. The increasing of sedimentation rate over the last 25 years was in line with the increasing of human activities surround the bay. Additionally, the health and distribution of mangroves surround Brunei Bay were important to determine the sediment movement which will affect the sedimentation rate in the bay. Overall, by controlling human activities as well as sustaining the mangroves population, could maintain and preserve the natural and unique environment of Brunei Bay

Environmental forensic techniques in identifying the sources of 16 USEPA priority pollutants Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) at the Langat River, Selangor, Malaysia

Twenty-two surface sediment samples were collected from the Langat River, Selangor, Malaysia in January 2010. The concentration of 16 USEPA priority PAHs were determined and quantified by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry detector (GC-MS). The 16 PAHs concentration ranged from 37.91 to 299.68 ng/g dry weight and are within low to moderate pollution range. Cluster analysis showed that SL08, SL09, SL10, SL15 and SL22 can be discriminated as having high pollution loading PAHs due to industrialized region and shipping boat traffic. In this work, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and PCA association with Multiple Linear Regressions (PCA-MLR) to identify and apportion possible sources of PAHs. Three sources of PAHs were identified: (1) traffic emission (91.57%); (2) coal or wood combustion (6.63%); and (3) spillage of petroleum based products (1.80%). Langat River is highly contaminated by PAHs from pyrogenic sources, in particular 4 rings PAHs (28.87-79.52%) and 5 to 6 rings PAHs (2.69-57.44%)