Study on solid waste generation and composition at balakong city, selangor

Increasing of solid waste is one of the most crucial environmental problems in Malaysia. Improper management of solid waste will cause many problems. Increasing solid waste, no segregation from the source and lack of knowledge and awareness about recycling has more worsened to the problem. Most of Malaysian such Balakong City Selangor generally the waste is mixed which means there is organic and inorganic waste. Organic waste can be used as composting materials meanwhile inorganic waste can be used and send for recovery and recycle. Knowledge of solid waste generation and composition is necessary for an accurate decision making in the best management strategy of municipal solid waste. This study has shown waste generation and composition at Balakong City Selangor. From the waste generation and composition, a proper waste management system had introduced to treat solid waste more efficiently. Solid waste measurement that has been applied is using a direct method which is direct sampling or weighting from the solid waste collected. It mainly consists of three main stages which is weighing, recording and analysing the data. The data collection was conducted for a certain period and the weighing process was done every day. The result from this study was found that the total waste generated for a month in residential, shopping and industrial area in Balakong City was approximately 31,536.1 Kg. Beside that for the total of waste composition are made up of with the organic waste (15,158.8 Kg), paper (9,313.2 Kg), plastic (5,263.00 Kg), glass (599.8 Kg), metal (365.2 Kg) and others (836.14 Kg)

Investigation of antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of zingiber officinale roscoe oleosin on airborne pathogenic microorganisms / Mohd Faez Sharif... [et al.]

Zingiber Officinale Roscoe or ginger has been found to have characteristics that are beneficial to human beings for different purposes. In this study, oleoresins from both young and mature gingers were studied to evaluate their antioxidant and antimicrobial activity on common airborne pathogenic microorganisms. The total phenolic and antioxidant contents were tested using the Folin–Ciocalteu method and DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl) scavenging activity assay respectively. Meanwhile, antimicrobial activity was determined using the disc diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against two pathogenic bacteria and fungi; namely S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, C. albicans, and A. niger. Young ginger oleoresin exhibits higher total phenolic contents (129.5869 ± 14.27 GAE) and antioxidant activity (99.06 % ± 1.41) than matured ginger oleoresin. In the antimicrobial study, the result showed that both young and matured oleoresins were able to inhibit the growth of common airborne pathogenic bacteria. However, common airborne pathogenic fungi were resistant to both oleoresin of ginger extract. The oleoresin was able to suppress the growth of S. aureus at the low concentration of 1 mg/ml rather than P. aeruginosa at 10 mg/ml. Young ginger possess higher antioxidant and antibacterial activity than matured ginger

Study of relationship between water quality parameters, selective heavy metals and radioactive elements content in rivers at Gebeng, Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia

This study was focused on the correlation between water quality parameters with the level of radioactive elements and heavy metals at six different sampling points of rivers. For achieving these objectives, collected data was done for Balok river and Tunggak river in dry seasons. Both of the rivers selected were located in Gebeng industrial area, Pahang, Malaysia. The physical parameters such as temperature, specific conductivity, pH, turbidity and dissolved oxygen were measured by using hydrolab. The water samples were then collected for tracing the radioactive elements and heavy metals by using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The readings obtained from both in situ and ex situ analysis was analyzed by using SPSS to know the correlation between water quality parameter, radioactive elements and heavy metals. There were significant relationships found between all water quality parameters and most heavy metals selected (lead and cadmium), except for arsenic. While, for radioactive elements, in the year 2015, there were significant relationships found between most water quality parameters and thorium, exception for uranium. However, for year 2014, there is no significant relationship observed. The findings of the study showed some of the presence of pollutants such as heavy metals and radioactive elements concentrations were reflected some of the water quality parameters at all the sampling locations. © 2019 Chemical Publishing Co. All rights reserved

Composition and source determination of heavy metals (HM) in particles in selected primary schools in Pahang / Maryam Zahaba... [et al.]

Composition and concentrations of air pollutants in particles have been shown to have a correlation with differences in mortality counts in different parts of the world. These particles are also able to deteriorate health especially the respiratory system and may lead to mortality. Toxic metals in these particles are associated with respiratory diseases and lung cancer in school children. The effects of HM toxicity are more severe to the schoolchildren as their immune system is not fully developed yet. Thus, this study aims to analyse the HM composition in particles collected inside the classroom during the school days (occupied) and the weekends (vacant), and to determine pattern of HM concentration from particles based on different location backgrounds (residential, industrial and rural). In order to achieve these objectives, the following samplings were done. The particles were simultaneously collected using GilAir-5 air pump sampler (Sensidyne, USA) inside and outside the classrooms. The sampling was done for a minimum of 8 hours. The exposed Mixed Cellulose Ester (MCE) membrane filters (0.8 µm, 37 mm) were digested following the International Standard Test Method (ASTM) for Determination of Elements in Airborne Particulate Matter by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The compositions of metals in particles were determined using ICP-MS NexION™ 300× (PerkinElmer, USA). From the result obtained, concentrations of Al, Zn and Pb inside the classrooms were higher compared to the other elements like Cr, Mg, Cd and Cu. Meanwhile, HM concentration detected in the industrial site was higher compared to the residential and rural sites

The Development of Environment & Occupation Likelihood Scale on Workers Mental Health Status

Daily work activities are among the sources of stress to humans. Typically, each individual will spend 1/3 of their day at work. It is no exaggeration to say that 1/3 affects the other 2/3. Appropriate assessments should be conducted to assess what employment factors and the work environment contribute to this. This study explains the development process and the use of the Environmental & Occupational Probability Scale screening form on mental health status or known as SKiPP. This assessment can be used to measure both of these factors on the mental health status of employees based on the DASS21 score. Keywords: DASS21; Person-Environment-Occupation model; Work-related stress eISSN: 2398-4287© 2021. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v6i18.306

Employers Practice towards Managing Psychosocial Risk in the Workplace: IMAGE star rating system

The management of employee mental health in the workplace is essential. Good leadership by employers can increase employees' productivity and directly improve their quality of life. This study explores the use of more objective evaluators in formulating employers' action plans on workplace psychosocial risks. This survey was conducted using an employer practice evaluation form (Amalan Majikan: AM). Seventy-seven employers have filled out this survey voluntarily. Seven employers (9.1%) received an excellent result equivalent to five stars rating. This rating can be used as a reference for employers' practice managing psychosocial risk in the workplace. Keywords: Psychosocial risk; Workplace management; Employers practice; SKiPP eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7i20.351

Evaluation on the potential of Ganoderma lucidum bioactive compounds as alpha-glucosidase enzyme inhibitor: a computational study

Introduction: Computational simulation study was carried out on bioactive compounds of Ganoderma lucidum (G. lucidum). Methods: Molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed. The input files for protein and ligands were retrieved from Protein Data Bank (PDB) and PubChem database. Human maltase-glucoamylase (PDB ID: 3L4Y) is the protein (α-glucosidase enzyme). The ligands are thirteen compounds derived from G. lucidum together with acarbose and miglitol as controls. Results: Docking result showed the lowest binding energy is from Ganomycin B (-7.8 kcal/mol) compared to acarbose and miglitol (-5.0 kcal/mol and -4.4 kcal/mol) respectively. MD simulation showed interaction of 3L4Y-Ganomycin B achieved stable interaction and conformation as follows: root mean square deviation (RMSD) is ± 2.7 Å, average distance of ±1.8 Å and constant hydrogen bonds around 1 - 3. Conclusion: Ganomycin B was found to have good binding affinity, embarking its potential as a potent α-glucosidase inhibitor

Evaluation of occupational exposure to TiO2 nanoparticles: microwave-assisted acid digestion method on air membrane filters

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles have been extensively used in various industrial sectors and applications, including cosmetics, catalysts, food additives, inks, paints, and coatings. However, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified TiO2 nanoparticles as a potential carcinogen for humans, meaning they may cause cancer and pose serious health complications, particularly for manufacturing workers. This highlights the need for better evaluation to determine worker exposure. In this study, suspended TiO2 nanoparticles were sampled using a nanoparticle respiratory deposition (NRD) sampler fitted with specially designed membrane filters and analyzed using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The digestion method used for titanium element recovery after nanoparticle sampling is crucial for optimal ICP-MS analysis. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the most suitable digestion method. A microwave-acid digestion method using concentrated nitric acid and concentrated hydrochloric acid at a 7:4 ratio, with a run time of 30 minutes and the temperature set to 200°C showed remarkable titanium recovery compared to other methods. These findings may pave the way for optimal analysis of suspended TiO2 nanoparticles in assessing occupational exposure while promoting sustainability and eco-friendliness in resource utilization

Identification of chrysotile in brake pads and linings from Malaysian vehicles and heavy vehicles by using Polarized Light Microscope (PLM)

Exposure to types of asbestos such as chrysotile and crocidolite increases respiratory disease risks such as lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis. Nevertheless, asbestos products banning in Malaysia is only limited to crocidolite as per stated in OSHA (Prohibition of Use of Substance) Order 1999, though other types are highly suspected to be found in asbestos-containing materials (ACM) like brake pads and linings. This study ascertains the presence of asbestos fibres, particularly chrysotile, in brake pads and linings used in Malaysia's vehicle and heavy vehicle sector. Seven different brake pads; three from vehicle brands, and four from heavy vehicle brands were collected by bulk sampling approaches from the market and field. Dust fibres were extracted using slow grinding method and analysed under Polarized Light Microscope (PLM). The fibre characteristics such as colour, morphology, pleochroism, extinction, and dispersion staining technique were examined, referring the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Manual of Analytical Methods (NMAM) 9002. Additionally, the observed samples also were verified by an accredited lab to support the authenticity of the outcome. From the analysis and lab results, chrysotile fibres were consistently detected in all brake pad samples, fulfilling the fibre characteristics and positive elongation signs