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Concentrations of heavy metals (Cu, Cd, Zn and Ni) and PAHs in Perna viridis collected from seaport and non-seaport waters in the Straits of Johore

Yap CK, Shahbazi A, Zakaria MP

Bull Environ Contam Toxicol, 2012 Dec;89(6):1205-10.
PMID: 23052577 DOI: 10.1007/s00128-012-0838-x

In this study, the ranges of pollutants found in the soft tissues of Perna viridis collected from Kg. Masai and Kg. Sg. Melayu, both located in the Straits of Johore, were 0.85-1.58 μg/g dry weight (dw) for Cd, 5.52-12.2 μg/g dw for Cu, 5.66-8.93 μg/g dw for Ni and 63.4-72.3 μg/g dw for Zn, and 36.4-244 ng/g dry weight for ∑PAHs. Significantly (p < 0.05) higher concentrations of Cd, Cu, Ni, Zn and ∑PAHs in the mussels were found in the water of a seaport site at Kg. Masai than a non-seaport site at Kg. Sg. Melayu population. The ratios of low molecular weight/high molecular weight hydrocarbons (2.94-3.42) and fluoranthene/pyrene (0.43-0.45) in mussels from both sites indicated the origin of the PAHs to be mainly petrogenic. This study has demonstrated the utility of using the soft tissues of P. viridis as a biomonitor of PAH contamination and bioavailability in the coastal waters of Peninsular Malaysia.

Matched MeSH terms: Ships/statistics & numerical data
Fulltext Safe havens and rough waters: networks, place, and the navigation of risk among injection drug-using Malaysian fishermen

West BS, Choo M, El-Bassel N, Gilbert L, Wu E, Kamarulzaman A

Int J Drug Policy, 2014 May;25(3):575-82.
PMID: 24332971 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2013.11.007

BACKGROUND: HIV prevalence among Malaysian fishermen is ten times that of the general population. Fishing boats are a key place where drug use occurs, but we know little about how these environments shape HIV risk behaviour. Utilizing Rhodes' 'risk environment' framework, we assessed drug use contexts and how characteristics of place associated with fishing and fishermen's social networks served as key axes along which drug use and HIV risk behaviour occurred.
METHODS: Data were collected during 2009-2011 in Kuantan, a fishing port on the eastern coast of Malaysia, and include 28 in-depth interviews and 398 surveys collected using RDS. Logistic regression was used to determine the effect of occupational, network and risk environment characteristics on unsafe injection behaviour and access to clean needles/syringes; qualitative data were coded and analyzed thematically.
RESULTS: Drug injecting was common and occurred on boats, often with other crewmembers. Captains and crewmembers were aware of drug use. Unsafe injection practices were significantly associated with having a larger proportion of drug injectors in network (OR=3.510, 95% CI=1.053-11.700) and having a captain provide drugs for work (OR=2.777, 95% CI=1.018-7.576). Size of fishermen network (OR=0.987, 95% CI=0.977-0.996), crewmembers' knowledge of drug use (OR=7.234, 95% CI=1.430-36.604), and having a captain provide drugs for work (OR=0.134, 95% CI=0.025-0.720) predicted access to clean needles/syringes. Qualitative analyses revealed that occupational culture and social relationships on boats drove drug use and HIV risk.
CONCLUSIONS: While marginalized in broader society, the acceptance of drug use within the fishing community created occupational networks of risk. Fishing boats were spaces of both risk and safety; where drug users participated in the formal economy, but also where HIV risk behaviour occurred. Understanding the interplay between social networks and place is essential for developing HIV prevention and harm reduction policies appropriate for the unique needs of this fishing population.

Matched MeSH terms: Ships*
Merits of partial shielding in dumping sediment spoils

Jensen JH, Saremi S, Jimenez C, Hadjioannou L

Mar Pollut Bull, 2015 Dec 15;101(1):61-68.
PMID: 26597564 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.11.023

The commonly adopted method of dumping dredge spoil at sea using split-hull barges leads to considerable sediment loss to the water column and a subsequent dispersion of fine material that can pose a risk to sensitive "downstream" habitats such as coral reefs. Containing sediment loads using stitched closed geotextile bags is practiced for minimizing loss of contaminated sediment, but is expensive in terms of operational efficiency. Following promising observations from initial laboratory trials, the plunging of partially shielded sediment loads, released on open sea, was studied. The partial shielding was achieved with rigid, open containers as well as flexible, open bags. The loss of sediment from these modes of shielding was measured, and it was observed that even limited and unstitched shielding can be effective in debilitating the entrainment of water into the descending load. In particular, long-sleeved flexible bags practically self-eliminated the exposure of the load and thus losses.

Matched MeSH terms: Ships
Environmental management for dredging sediments - the requirement of developing nations

Manap N, Voulvoulis N

J Environ Manage, 2015 Jan 1;147:338-48.
PMID: 25304520 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2014.09.024

Scientific research has characterized the effects of dredging, an underwater excavation process for navigational purposes or material extraction, and has shown its association with a number of chemical, physical and biological impacts. Due to this, much environmental management has been applied in the dredging industry in order to manage its detrimental effects. However, developing nations may have different approaches towards their dredging environmental management to compare to their companions with higher economic strength. Moreover, scientific evidence to make an informed decision is often lacking, hence affecting the number of research executed at these nations, limiting their efforts to preserve the environment. This paper reviews the dredging environmental impacts and its two important factors, dredging technology and sediment characteristic, that determine the magnitude of impacts through literature review, and discusses the need for a more integrated dredging environmental management to be developed for developing nations.

Matched MeSH terms: Ships
Contamination of diuron in coastal waters around Malaysian Peninsular

Ali HR, Arifin MM, Sheikh MA, Shazili NA, Bakari SS, Bachok Z

Mar Pollut Bull, 2014 Aug 15;85(1):287-91.
PMID: 24934440 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.05.049

The use of antifouling paints to the boats and ships is one among the threats facing coastal resources including coral reefs in recent decades. This study reports the current contamination status of diuron and its behaviour in the coastal waters of Malaysia. The maximum concentration of diuron was 285 ng/L detected at Johor port. All samples from Redang and Bidong coral reef islands were contaminated with diuron. Temporal variation showed relatively high concentrations but no significant difference (P>0.05) during November and January (North-East monsoon) in Klang ports (North, South and West), while higher levels of diuron were detected during April, 2012 (Inter monsoon) in Kemaman, and Johor port. Although no site has shown concentration above maximum permissible concentration (430 ng/L) as restricted by the Dutch Authorities, however, long term exposure studies for environmental relevance levels of diuron around coastal areas should be given a priority in the future.

Matched MeSH terms: Ships
Risk-based decision-making framework for the selection of sediment dredging option

Manap N, Voulvoulis N

Sci Total Environ, 2014 Oct 15;496:607-623.
PMID: 25108801 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.07.009

The aim of this study was to develop a risk-based decision-making framework for the selection of sediment dredging option. Descriptions using case studies of the newly integrated, holistic and staged framework were followed. The first stage utilized the historical dredging monitoring data and the contamination level in media data into Ecological Risk Assessment phases, which have been altered for benefits in cost, time and simplicity. How Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) can be used to analyze and prioritize dredging areas based on environmental, socio-economic and managerial criteria was described for the next stage. The results from MCDA will be integrated into Ecological Risk Assessment to characterize the degree of contamination in the prioritized areas. The last stage was later described using these findings and analyzed using MCDA, in order to identify the best sediment dredging option, accounting for the economic, environmental and technical aspects of dredging, which is beneficial for dredging and sediment management industries.

Matched MeSH terms: Ships
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) and hopanes in stranded tar-balls on the coasts of Peninsular Malaysia: applications of biomarkers for identifying sources of oil pollution

Zakaria MP, Okuda T, Takada H

Mar Pollut Bull, 2001 Dec;42(12):1357-66.
PMID: 11827123

Malaysian coasts are subjected to various threats of petroleum pollution including routine and accidental oil spill from tankers, spillage of crude oils from inland and off-shore oil fields, and run-off from land-based human activities. Due to its strategic location, the Straits of Malacca serves as a major shipping lane. This paper expands the utility of biomarker compounds, hopanes, in identifying the source of tar-balls stranded on Malaysian coasts. 20 tar-ball samples collected from the east and west coast were analyzed for hopanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Four of the 13 tar-ball samples collected from the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia were identified as the Middle East crude oil (MECO) based on their biomarker signatures, suggesting tanker-derived sources significantly contributing the petroleum pollution in the Straits of Malacca. The tar-balls found on the east coast seem to originate from the offshore oil platforms in the South China Sea. The presence of South East Asian crude oil (SEACO) tar-balls on the west coast carry several plausible explanations. Some of the tar-balls could have been transported via sea currents from the east coast. The tankers carrying SEACO to other countries could have accidentally spilt the oil as well. Furthermore, discharge of tank washings and ballast water from the tankers were suggested based on the abundance in higher molecular weight n-alkanes and the absence of unresolved complex mixture (UCM) in the tar-ball samples. The other possibilities are that the tar-balls may have been originated from the Sumatran oil fields and spillage of domestic oil from oil refineries in Port Dickson and Malacca. The results of PAHs analysis suggest that all the tar-ball samples have undergone various extent of weathering through evaporation, dissolution and photooxidation.

Matched MeSH terms: Ships
Lead in blood and hair of shipyard workers, Sabah, Malaysia

Mokhtar MB, Awaluddin AB, Yusof AB, Bakar BB

Bull Environ Contam Toxicol, 2002 Jul;69(1):8-14.
PMID: 12053250
Matched MeSH terms: Ships
Fulltext The determinants of total fertility rate in selected Asian countries: an empirical study using panel data

Asef Raiyan Hoque, Mohd Yusof Ibrahim, Mohammad Zahirul Hoque

Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2019;15(106):18-18.
MyJurnal

Introduction: In recent years, the variation in total fertility rate (TFR) has sparked public interest for demographic concerns on the global population shift towards an older age structure. This study aims to investigate the determi-nants of total fertility rate among Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines East Asian Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) region. Methods: Our empirical study consists of data collected from the United Nations Development Report of the UNDP, World Development Indicators (WDI) of the World Bank and World Health Organization (WHO) report 2018. We investigated the socio-economic determinants of fertility rate by analyzing a panel data set consisting of 28 years from 1990-2017 of the four countries. A statistical and econometric software EViews version 10 (HIS Global Inc., Irvine, CA, USA) were used to run a Pearson’s Correlation and a multiple regression analysis by panel least squares method. To investigate the determinants of TFR we have selected five socio- economic factors, these are- Infant mortality rate (IMR), Gross National Income Per Capita, PPP (GNI), Human Development Index (HDI), percentage of population living in urban areas (URB) and lastly Female Labor Force Participation Rate (FLP). Results:Pearson’s correlation showed that a statistically significant negative relationship exists between TFR and the 3 vari-ables- GNI, URB and HDI. A statistically strong positive relationship exists between IMR and TFR. However, our results from the empirical multiple regression model indicates that there is a statistically significant negative relation-ship exists between TFR and two of the independent variables GNI and FLP. Conclusion: The results of present study showed that an increase in the national income and female labor participation rate in the workforce could result in a decrease in total fertility rate. These findings may have implications for countries national policy for planning, development and resource allocation.

Matched MeSH terms: Ships
Keratin based bioplastic film from chicken feathers and its characterization

Ramakrishnan N, Sharma S, Gupta A, Alashwal BY

Int J Biol Macromol, 2018 May;111:352-358.
PMID: 29320725 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2018.01.037

Plastics have been one of the highly valued materials and it plays an significant role in human's life such as in food packaging and biomedical applications. Bioplastic materials can gradually work as a substitute for various materials based on fossil oil. The issue like sustainability and environmental challenges which occur due to manufacturing and disposal of synthetic plastics can be conquering by bio-based plastics. Feathers are among the most inexpensive abundant, and renewable protein sources. Feathers disposal to the landfills leads to environmental pollutions and it results into wastage of 90% of protein raw material. Keratin is non-burning hydrophilic, and biodegradable due to which it can be applicable in various ways via chemical processing. Main objective of this research is to synthesis bioplastic using keratin from chicken feathers. Extracted keratin solution mixed with different concentration of glycerol (2 to 10%) to produce plastic films. The mixture was stirred under constant magnetic stirring at 60 °C for 5 h. The mixtures are then poured into aluminum weighing boat and dried in an oven at 60 °C for 24 h. The mechanical properties of the samples were tested and the physic-chemical properties of the bioplastic were studied. According to the results, Scanning Electron Microscopy test showed good compatible morphologies without holes, cavity and edge. The difference in chemical composition was analyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The samples were also characterized by thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-Ray diffraction (XRD) to check the thermal and crystallinity properties. Other than that, bioplastic made up from keratin with 2% of glycerol has the best mechanical and thermal properties. According to biodegradability test, all bioplastic produced are proven biodegradable. Therefore, the results showed possible application of the film as an alternative to fossil oil based materials which are harmful to the environment.

Matched MeSH terms: Ships