Displaying publications 81 - 100 of 194 in total

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  1. Urban environmental Health: respiratory infection and urban factors in urban growth corridor of Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam and Klang, Malaysia
    Ling OHL, Siti Nur Afiqah Mohamed Musthafa, Abdul Rauf Abdul Rasam
    Sains Malaysiana, 2014;43:1405-1414.
    Environmental health in general is referring to the aspect of concern on healthy environment, and the interrelations between environment and human health. Due to the urbanization, urban development is changing the natural environment into a man-made environment. Along with the process, level of environmental quality and human health are decreased. Air quality as reference shows that urban ambient air is more polluted than rural. Due to high density of human population and their activities in urban areas, it produces air pollutants with higher rate as compared to less-developed areas. Air pollutants contribute to various health problems. People suffering from respiratory diseases are the most likely to be affected by air pollution. This paper aimed to examine the rate of respiratory infection among residents in an urban growth corridor (Petaling Jaya-Shah Alam-Klang) and the relationship with the urban land uses, traffic volume and air quality. There were four major types of data used in this study i.e., respiratory infection of the respondents, air quality, land use and traffic volume. A health questionnaire survey was carried out besides the secondary data collection from the various government departments. Relationship analysis was performed between respiratory health and the urban factors (air quality, traffic volume and land uses). The study found out that the relationship between the respiratory health and the urban factors is different in city-wide land use and traffic factors, as compared to the localised air quality and land use factors. To conclude, the urban factors are potentially affecting the respiratory health.
    Matched MeSH terms: Air Pollutants
  2. Relationship between vehicle count and particulate air pollution in Amman, Jordan
    Alnawaiseh NA, Hashim JH, Isa ZM
    Asia Pac J Public Health, 2015 Mar;27(2):NP1742-51.
    PMID: 22899706 DOI: 10.1177/1010539512455046
    The main objective of this cross-sectional comparative study is to observe the relationship between traffic-related air pollutants, particularly particulate matter (PM) of total suspended particulate (TSP) and PM of size 10 µm (PM10), and vehicle traffic in Amman, Jordan. Two study areas were chosen randomly as a high-polluted area (HPA) and low-polluted area (LPA). The findings indicate that TSP and PM10 were still significantly correlated with traffic count even after controlling for confounding factors (temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed): TSP, r = 0.726, P < .001; PM10, r = 0.719, P < .001). There was a significant positive relationship between traffic count and PM level: TSP, P < .001; PM10, P < .001. Moreover, there was a significant negative relationship between temperature and PM10 level (P = .018). Traffic volume contributed greatly to high concentrations of TSP and PM10 in areas with high traffic count, in addition to the effect of temperature.
    Matched MeSH terms: Air Pollutants/analysis*
  3. Source contribution of PM₂.₅ at different locations on the Malaysian Peninsula
    Ee-Ling O, Mustaffa NI, Amil N, Khan MF, Latif MT
    Bull Environ Contam Toxicol, 2015 Apr;94(4):537-42.
    PMID: 25652682 DOI: 10.1007/s00128-015-1477-9
    This study determined the source contribution of PM2.5 (particulate matter <2.5 μm) in air at three locations on the Malaysian Peninsula. PM2.5 samples were collected using a high volume sampler equipped with quartz filters. Ion chromatography was used to determine the ionic composition of the samples and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was used to determine the concentrations of heavy metals. Principal component analysis with multilinear regressions were used to identify the possible sources of PM2.5. The range of PM2.5 was between 10 ± 3 and 30 ± 7 µg m(-3). Sulfate (SO4 (2-)) was the major ionic compound detected and zinc was found to dominate the heavy metals. Source apportionment analysis revealed that motor vehicle and soil dust dominated the composition of PM2.5 in the urban area. Domestic waste combustion dominated in the suburban area, while biomass burning dominated in the rural area.
    Matched MeSH terms: Air Pollutants/analysis*
  4. Biomass-based palm shell activated carbon and palm shell carbon molecular sieve as gas separation adsorbents
    Sethupathi S, Bashir MJ, Akbar ZA, Mohamed AR
    Waste Manag Res, 2015 Apr;33(4):303-12.
    PMID: 25804669 DOI: 10.1177/0734242X15576026
    Lignocellulosic biomass has been widely recognised as a potential low-cost source for the production of high added value materials and proved to be a good precursor for the production of activated carbons. One of such valuable biomasses used for the production of activated carbons is palm shell. Palm shell (endocarp) is an abundant by-product produced from the palm oil industries throughout tropical countries. Palm shell activated carbon and palm shell carbon molecular sieve has been widely applied in various environmental pollution control technologies, mainly owing to its high adsorption performance, well-developed porosity and low cost, leading to potential applications in gas-phase separation using adsorption processes. This mini-review represents a comprehensive overview of the palm shell activated carbon and palm shell carbon molecular sieve preparation method, physicochemical properties and feasibility of palm shell activated carbon and palm shell carbon molecular sieve in gas separation processes. Some of the limitations are outlined and suggestions for future improvements are pointed out.
    Matched MeSH terms: Air Pollutants/chemistry*
  5. Environmental quality indicators and financial development in Malaysia: unity in diversity
    Alam A, Azam M, Abdullah AB, Malik IA, Khan A, Hamzah TA, et al.
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2015 Jun;22(11):8392-404.
    PMID: 25537287 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-014-3982-5
    Environmental quality indicators are crucial for responsive and cost-effective policies. The objective of the study is to examine the relationship between environmental quality indicators and financial development in Malaysia. For this purpose, the number of environmental quality indicators has been used, i.e., air pollution measured by carbon dioxide emissions, population density per square kilometer of land area, agricultural production measured by cereal production and livestock production, and energy resources considered by energy use and fossil fuel energy consumption, which placed an impact on the financial development of the country. The study used four main financial indicators, i.e., broad money supply (M2), domestic credit provided by the financial sector (DCFS), domestic credit to the private sector (DCPC), and inflation (CPI), which each financial indicator separately estimated with the environmental quality indicators, over a period of 1975-2013. The study used the generalized method of moments (GMM) technique to minimize the simultaneity from the model. The results show that carbon dioxide emissions exert the positive correlation with the M2, DCFC, and DCPC, while there is a negative correlation with the CPI. However, these results have been evaporated from the GMM estimates, where carbon emissions have no significant relationship with any of the four financial indicators in Malaysia. The GMM results show that population density has a negative relationship with the all four financial indicators; however, in case of M2, this relationship is insignificant to explain their result. Cereal production has a positive relationship with the DCPC, while there is a negative relationship with the CPI. Livestock production exerts the positive relationship with the all four financial indicators; however, this relationship with the CPI has a more elastic relationship, while the remaining relationship is less elastic with the three financial indicators in a country. Energy resources comprise energy use and fossil fuel energy consumption, both have distinct results with the financial indicators, as energy demand have a positive and significant relationship with the DCFC, DCPC, and CPI, while fossil fuel energy consumption have a negative relationship with these three financial indicators. The results of the study are of value to both environmentalists and policy makers.
    Matched MeSH terms: Air Pollutants/analysis
  6. On-line CO, CO2 emissions evaluation and (benzene, toluene, xylene) determination from experimental burn of tropical biomass
    Tawfiq MF, Aroua MK, Sulaiman NM
    J Environ Sci (China), 2015 Jul 1;33:239-44.
    PMID: 26141898 DOI: 10.1016/j.jes.2015.01.015
    Atmospheric pollution and global warming issues are increasingly becoming major environmental concerns. Fire is one of the significant sources of pollutant gases released into the atmosphere; and tropical biomass fires, which are of particular interest in this study, contribute greatly to the global budget of CO and CO2. This pioneer research simulates the natural biomass burning strategy in Malaysia using an experimental burning facility. The investigation was conducted on the emissions (CO2, CO, and Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, Xylenes (BTEX)) from ten tropical biomass species. The selected species represent the major tropical forests that are frequently subjected to dry forest fire incidents. An experimental burning facility equipped with an on-line gas analyzer was employed to determine the burning emissions. The major emission factors were found to vary among the species, and the specific results were as follows. The moisture content of a particular biomass greatly influenced its emission pattern. The smoke analysis results revealed the existence of BTEX, which were sampled from a combustion chamber by enrichment traps aided with a universal gas sampler. The BTEX were determined by organic solvent extraction followed by GC/MS quantification, the results of which suggested that the biomass burning emission factor contributed significant amounts of benzene, toluene, and m,p-xylene. The modified combustion efficiency (MCE) changed in response to changes in the sample moisture content. Therefore, this study concluded that the emission of some pollutants mainly depends on the burning phase and sample moisture content of the biomass.
    Matched MeSH terms: Air Pollutants/chemistry
  7. Composition and source apportionment of dust fall around a natural lake
    Latif MT, Ngah SA, Dominick D, Razak IS, Guo X, Srithawirat T, et al.
    J Environ Sci (China), 2015 Jul 1;33:143-55.
    PMID: 26141887 DOI: 10.1016/j.jes.2015.02.002
    The aim of this study was to determine the source apportionment of dust fall around Lake Chini, Malaysia. Samples were collected monthly between December 2012 and March 2013 at seven sampling stations located around Lake Chini. The samples were filtered to separate the dissolved and undissolved solids. The ionic compositions (NO3-, SO4(2-), Cl- and NH4+) were determined using ion chromatography (IC) while major elements (K, Na, Ca and Mg) and trace metals (Zn, Fe, Al, Ni, Mn, Cr, Pb and Cd) were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The results showed that the average concentration of total solids around Lake Chini was 93.49±16.16 mg/(m2·day). SO4(2-), Na and Zn dominated the dissolved portion of the dust fall. The enrichment factors (EF) revealed that the source of the trace metals and major elements in the rain water was anthropogenic, except for Fe. Hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis (HACA) classified the seven monitoring stations and 16 variables into five groups and three groups respectively. A coupled receptor model, principal component analysis multiple linear regression (PCA-MLR), revealed that the sources of dust fall in Lake Chini were dominated by agricultural and biomass burning (42%), followed by the earth's crust (28%), sea spray (16%) and a mixture of soil dust and vehicle emissions (14%).
    Matched MeSH terms: Air Pollutants/chemistry*
  8. Physicochemical factors and sources of particulate matter at residential urban environment in Kuala Lumpur
    Khan F, Latif MT, Juneng L, Amil N, Mohd Nadzir MS, Syedul Hoque HM
    J Air Waste Manag Assoc, 2015 Aug;65(8):958-69.
    PMID: 26030827 DOI: 10.1080/10962247.2015.1042094
    Long-term measurements (2004-2011) of PM10 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <10 μm) and trace gases (carbon monoxide [CO], ozone [O₃], nitrogen oxide [NO], oxides of nitrogen [NO(x)], nitrogen dioxide [NO₂], sulfur dioxide [SO₂], methane [CH₄], nonmethane hydrocarbon [NMHC]) have been conducted to study the effect of physicochemical factors on the PM10 concentration. In addition, this study includes source apportionment of PM10 in Kuala Lumpur urban environment. An advanced principal component analysis (PCA) technique coupled with absolute principal component scores (APCS) and multiple linear regression (MLR) has been applied. The average annual concentration of PM10 for 8 yr is 51.3 ± 25.8 μg m⁻³, which exceeds the Recommended Malaysian Air Quality Guideline (RMAQG) and international guideline values. Detail analysis shows the dependency of PM10 on the linear changes of the motor vehicles in use and the amount of biomass burning, particularly from Sumatra, Indonesia, during southwesterly monsoon. The main sources of PM10 identified by PCA-APCS-MLR are traffic combustion (28%), ozone coupled with meteorological factors (20%), and wind-blown particles (1%). However, the apportionment procedure left 28.0 μg m⁻³, that is, 51% of PM10 undetermined.
    Matched MeSH terms: Air Pollutants/chemistry*
  9. Start-up, performance and optimization of a compost biofilter treating gas-phase mixture of benzene and toluene
    Rene ER, Kar S, Krishnan J, Pakshirajan K, López ME, Murthy DV, et al.
    Bioresour Technol, 2015 Aug;190:529-35.
    PMID: 25827361 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2015.03.049
    The performance of a compost biofilter inoculated with mixed microbial consortium was optimized for treating a gas-phase mixture of benzene and toluene. The biofilter was acclimated to these VOCs for a period of ∼18d. The effects of concentration and flow rate on the removal efficiency (RE) and elimination capacity (EC) were investigated by varying the inlet concentration of benzene (0.12-0.95g/m(3)), toluene (0.14-1.48g/m(3)) and gas-flow rate (0.024-0.072m(3)/h). At comparable loading rates, benzene removal in the mixture was reduced in the range of 6.6-41% in comparison with the individual benzene degradation. Toluene removal in mixture was even more affected as observed from the reductions in REs, ranging from 18.4% to 76%. The results were statistically interpreted by performing an analysis of variance (ANOVA) to elucidate the main and interaction effects.
    Matched MeSH terms: Air Pollutants/isolation & purification*; Air Pollutants/chemistry
  10. Characterization and source apportionment of particle number concentration at a semi-urban tropical environment
    Khan MF, Latif MT, Amil N, Juneng L, Mohamad N, Nadzir MS, et al.
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2015 Sep;22(17):13111-26.
    PMID: 25925145 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-015-4541-4
    Principal component analysis (PCA) and correlation have been used to study the variability of particle mass and particle number concentrations (PNC) in a tropical semi-urban environment. PNC and mass concentration (diameter in the range of 0.25->32.0 μm) have been measured from 1 February to 26 February 2013 using an in situ Grimm aerosol sampler. We found that the 24-h average total suspended particulates (TSP), particulate matter ≤10 μm (PM10), particulate matter ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5) and particulate matter ≤1 μm (PM1) were 14.37 ± 4.43, 14.11 ± 4.39, 12.53 ± 4.13 and 10.53 ± 3.98 μg m(-3), respectively. PNC in the accumulation mode (<500 nm) was the most abundant (at about 99 %). Five principal components (PCs) resulted from the PCA analysis where PC1 (43.8 % variance) predominates with PNC in the fine and sub-microme tre range. PC2, PC3, PC4 and PC5 explain 16.5, 12.4, 6.0 and 5.6 % of the variance to address the coarse, coarser, accumulation and giant fraction of PNC, respectively. Our particle distribution results show good agreement with the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) distribution.
    Matched MeSH terms: Air Pollutants/analysis*
  11. Causal nexus between energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission for Malaysia using maximum entropy bootstrap approach
    Gul S, Zou X, Hassan CH, Azam M, Zaman K
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2015 Dec;22(24):19773-85.
    PMID: 26282441 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-015-5185-0
    This study investigates the relationship between energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission in the causal framework, as the direction of causality remains has a significant policy implication for developed and developing countries. The study employed maximum entropy bootstrap (Meboot) approach to examine the causal nexus between energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission using bivariate as well as multivariate framework for Malaysia, over a period of 1975-2013. This is a unified approach without requiring the use of conventional techniques based on asymptotical theory such as testing for possible unit root and cointegration. In addition, it can be applied in the presence of non-stationary of any type including structural breaks without any type of data transformation to achieve stationary. Thus, it provides more reliable and robust inferences which are insensitive to time span as well as lag length used. The empirical results show that there is a unidirectional causality running from energy consumption to carbon emission both in the bivariate model and multivariate framework, while controlling for broad money supply and population density. The results indicate that Malaysia is an energy-dependent country and hence energy is stimulus to carbon emissions.
    Matched MeSH terms: Air Pollutants/analysis*
  12. Fulltext Biomarker as a research tool in linking exposure to air particles and respiratory health
    Suhaimi NF, Jalaludin J
    Biomed Res Int, 2015;2015:962853.
    PMID: 25984536 DOI: 10.1155/2015/962853
    Some of the environmental toxicants from air pollution include particulate matter (PM10), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and ultrafine particles (UFP). Both short- and long-term exposure could result in various degrees of respiratory health outcomes among exposed persons, which rely on the individuals' health status.

    METHODS: In this paper, we highlight a review of the studies that have used biomarkers to understand the association between air particles exposure and the development of respiratory problems resulting from the damage in the respiratory system. Data from previous epidemiological studies relevant to the application of biomarkers in respiratory system damage reported from exposure to air particles are also summarized.

    RESULTS: Based on these analyses, the findings agree with the hypothesis that biomarkers are relevant in linking harmful air particles concentrations to increased respiratory health effects. Biomarkers are used in epidemiological studies to provide an understanding of the mechanisms that follow airborne particles exposure in the airway. However, application of biomarkers in epidemiological studies of health effects caused by air particles in both environmental and occupational health is inchoate.

    CONCLUSION: Biomarkers unravel the complexity of the connection between exposure to air particles and respiratory health.

    Matched MeSH terms: Air Pollutants/toxicity*
  13. Fulltext Indoor air quality and respiratory health among malay preschool children in Selangor
    Rawi NA, Jalaludin J, Chua PC
    Biomed Res Int, 2015;2015:248178.
    PMID: 25984527 DOI: 10.1155/2015/248178
    Indoor air quality (IAQ) has been the object of several studies due to its adverse health effects on children. Methods. A cross-sectional comparative study was carried out among Malay children in Balakong (2 studied preschools) and Bangi (2 comparative preschools), Selangor, with the aims of determining IAQ and its association with respiratory health. 61 and 50 children aged 5-6 years were selected as studied and comparative groups. A questionnaire was used to obtain an exposure history and respiratory symptoms. Lung function test was carried out. IAQ parameters obtained include indoor concentration of particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), temperature, air velocity (AV), and relative humidity. Results. There was a significant difference between IAQ in studied and comparative preschools for all parameters measured (P < 0.001) except for CO2 and AV. Studied preschools had higher PM and CO concentration. FVC, FEV1, FVC% and FEV1% predicted values were significantly lower among studied group. Exposures to PM, VOCs, and CO were associated with wheezing. Conclusion. The finding concluded that exposures to poor IAQ might increase the risk of getting lung function abnormality and respiratory problems among study respondents.
    Matched MeSH terms: Air Pollutants/analysis
  14. Fulltext Community perception on human health effect of the biodiesel as an alternative fuel
    Leman, A.M., Amir Khalid, Dafit Feriyanto, Abdullah, N.H., Abdullah, A.A., Mamat, R.
    Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, 2015;12(1):227-231.
    MyJurnal
    In this research, the biodiesel from WCO is used in order to reduce the exhaust emission and to investigate the
    community perception regarding to the human health. Biodiesel production is conducted using trans-esterification
    process with holding time of 2 hours, temperature of 60 oC and conventional frequency of 20 kHz and then followed
    by washing process with holding time of 1 hours, temperature of 50 oC and the frequency of 5 kHz. Biodiesel can
    reduce exhaust emission of NOx up to 55%, NO gas up to 57%, increase CO gas up to 25% and increase CO2 gas up
    to 43.18% as compared to diesel fuel. In addition, biodiesel is achieve good responds from 35 respondents about the
    biodiesel importance.
    Matched MeSH terms: Air Pollutants
  15. Modeling air quality in main cities of Peninsular Malaysia by using a generalized Pareto model
    Masseran N, Razali AM, Ibrahim K, Latif MT
    Environ Monit Assess, 2016 Jan;188(1):65.
    PMID: 26718946 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-015-5070-9
    The air pollution index (API) is an important figure used for measuring the quality of air in the environment. The API is determined based on the highest average value of individual indices for all the variables which include sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), and suspended particulate matter (PM10) at a particular hour. API values that exceed the limit of 100 units indicate an unhealthy status for the exposed environment. This study investigates the risk of occurrences of API values greater than 100 units for eight urban areas in Peninsular Malaysia for the period of January 2004 to December 2014. An extreme value model, known as the generalized Pareto distribution (GPD), has been fitted to the API values found. Based on the fitted model, return period for describing the occurrences of API exceeding 100 in the different cities has been computed as the indicator of risk. The results obtained indicated that most of the urban areas considered have a very small risk of occurrence of the unhealthy events, except for Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, and Klang. However, among these three cities, it is found that Klang has the highest risk. Based on all the results obtained, the air quality standard in urban areas of Peninsular Malaysia falls within healthy limits to human beings.
    Matched MeSH terms: Air Pollutants/analysis; Air Pollutants/chemistry
  16. Source apportionment and health risk assessment of PM10 in a naturally ventilated school in a tropical environment
    Mohamad N, Latif MT, Khan MF
    Ecotoxicol Environ Saf, 2016 Feb;124:351-362.
    PMID: 26590697 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2015.11.002
    This study aimed to investigate the chemical composition and potential sources of PM10 as well as assess the potential health hazards it posed to school children. PM10 samples were taken from classrooms at a school in Kuala Lumpur's city centre (S1) and one in the suburban city of Putrajaya (S2) over a period of eight hours using a low volume sampler (LVS). The composition of the major ions and trace metals in PM10 were then analysed using ion chromatography (IC) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), respectively. The results showed that the average PM10 concentration inside the classroom at the city centre school (82µg/m(3)) was higher than that from the suburban school (77µg/m(3)). Principal component analysis-absolute principal component scores (PCA-APCS) revealed that road dust was the major source of indoor PM10 at both school in the city centre (36%) and the suburban location (55%). The total hazard quotient (HQ) calculated, based on the formula suggested by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), was found to be slightly higher than the acceptable level of 1, indicating that inhalation exposure to particle-bound non-carcinogenic metals of PM10, particularly Cr exposure by children and adults occupying the school environment, was far from negligible.
    Matched MeSH terms: Air Pollutants/analysis
  17. Estimation of aerosol optical depth at different wavelengths by multiple regression method
    Tan F, Lim HS, Abdullah K, Holben B
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2016 Feb;23(3):2735-48.
    PMID: 26438373 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-015-5506-3
    This study aims to investigate and establish a suitable model that can help to estimate aerosol optical depth (AOD) in order to monitor aerosol variations especially during non-retrieval time. The relationship between actual ground measurements (such as air pollution index, visibility, relative humidity, temperature, and pressure) and AOD obtained with a CIMEL sun photometer was determined through a series of statistical procedures to produce an AOD prediction model with reasonable accuracy. The AOD prediction model calibrated for each wavelength has a set of coefficients. The model was validated using a set of statistical tests. The validated model was then employed to calculate AOD at different wavelengths. The results show that the proposed model successfully predicted AOD at each studied wavelength ranging from 340 nm to 1020 nm. To illustrate the application of the model, the aerosol size determined using measure AOD data for Penang was compared with that determined using the model. This was done by examining the curvature in the ln [AOD]-ln [wavelength] plot. Consistency was obtained when it was concluded that Penang was dominated by fine mode aerosol in 2012 and 2013 using both measured and predicted AOD data. These results indicate that the proposed AOD prediction model using routine measurements as input is a promising tool for the regular monitoring of aerosol variation during non-retrieval time.
    Matched MeSH terms: Air Pollutants/chemistry*
  18. Impact of Climate Change on Air Quality and Public Health in Urban Areas
    Hassan NA, Hashim Z, Hashim JH
    Asia Pac J Public Health, 2016 Mar;28(2 Suppl):38S-48S.
    PMID: 26141092 DOI: 10.1177/1010539515592951
    This review discusses how climate undergo changes and the effect of climate change on air quality as well as public health. It also covers the inter relationship between climate and air quality. The air quality discussed here are in relation to the 5 criteria pollutants; ozone (O3), carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and particulate matter (PM). Urban air pollution is the main concern due to higher anthropogenic activities in urban areas. The implications on health are also discussed. Mitigating measures are presented with the final conclusion.
    Matched MeSH terms: Air Pollutants/analysis*
  19. The impact of CO2 emissions on economic growth: evidence from selected higher CO2 emissions economies
    Azam M, Khan AQ, Bin Abdullah H, Qureshi ME
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2016 Apr;23(7):6376-89.
    PMID: 26620862 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-015-5817-4
    The main purpose of this work is to analyze the impact of environmental degradation proxied by CO2 emissions per capita along with some other explanatory variables namely energy use, trade, and human capital on economic growth in selected higher CO2 emissions economies namely China, the USA, India, and Japan. For empirical analysis, annual data over the period spanning between 1971 and 2013 are used. After using relevant and suitable tests for checking data properties, the panel fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) method is employed as an analytical technique for parameter estimation. The panel group FMOLS results reveal that almost all variables are statistically significant, whereby test rejects the null hypotheses of non cointegration, demonstrating that all variables play an important role in affecting the economic growth role across countries. Where two regressors namely CO2 emissions and energy use show significantly negative impacts on economic growth, for trade and human capital, they tend to show the significantly positive impact on economic growth. However, for the individual analysis across countries, the panel estimate suggests that CO2 emissions have a significant positive relationship with economic growth for China, Japan, and the USA, while it is found significantly negative in case of India. The empirical findings of the study suggest that appropriate and prudent policies are required in order to control pollution emerging from areas other than liquefied fuel consumption. The ultimate impact of shrinking pollution will help in supporting sustainable economic growth and maturation as well as largely improve society welfare.
    Matched MeSH terms: Air Pollutants/analysis; Air Pollutants/economics*
  20. Greenhouse gas emissions estimation from proposed El Fukhary Landfill in the Gaza Strip
    Abualqumboz MS, Malakahmad A, Mohammed NI
    J Air Waste Manag Assoc, 2016 06;66(6):597-608.
    PMID: 27249105 DOI: 10.1080/10962247.2016.1154115
    Landfills throughout the world are contributing to the global warming problem. This is due to the existence of the most important greenhouse gases (GHG) in landfill gas (LFG); namely, methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2). The aim of this paper is quantifying the total potential emissions, as well as the variation in production with time of CH4 from a proposed landfill (El Fukhary landfill) in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. Two different methods were adopted in order to quantify the total potential CH4 emissions; the Default methodology based on the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) 1996 revised guidelines and the Landfill Gas Emissions model (LandGEM V3.02) provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The second objective of the study has been accomplished using the Triangle gas production model. The results obtained from both Default and LandGEM methods were found to be nearly the same. For 25 years of disposing MSW, El Fukhary landfill expected to have potential CH4 emissions of 1.9542 ± 0.0037 ×109 m3. Triangle model showed that the peak production in term of CH4 would occur in 2043; 28 years beyond the open year. Moreover, the model shows that 50 % of the gas will be produced approximately at the middle of the total duration of gas production. Proper control of Methane emissions from El Fukhary landfill is highly suggested in order to reduce the harmful effects on the environment.

    IMPLICATIONS: Although, GHG emissions are extensively discussed in the developed countries throughout the world, it has gained little concern in the developing countries because they are forced most of the time to put environmental concerns at the end of their priority list. The paper shows that developing countries have to start recognizing their fault and change their way of dealing with environmental issues especially GHG emissions (mainly Methane and carbon dioxide). The authors estimated the potential methane emissions from a proposed central landfill that has been approved to be built in Palestine, a country that is classified as a developing country.

    Matched MeSH terms: Air Pollutants/analysis*
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