The combination of UV and water-soluble Fe(III) complexes is an effective method for generating Fe(II) in situ for activating advanced oxidation processes. This study explored the potential of Fe(III)-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Fe(III)-DTPA) and Fe(III)-ethylene glycol-bis(2-aminoethylether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid (Fe(III)-EGTA) in activating the UV/persulfate (UV/PS) for sulfamethazine removal. The initial screening showed that Fe(III)-EGTA and Fe(III)-DTPA could significantly improve the rate of sulfamethazine removal.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Ficus deltoidea Jack (Moraceae) is a plant used in Malaysia to treat various ailments, including diabetes. The presence of several varieties raises essential questions regarding which is the potential bioactive variety and what are the bioactive metabolites.
Objectives: Here, we explored the phytochemical diversity of the seven varieties from Peninsular Malaysia using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) analyses and correlated it with the α-glucosidase inhibitory activity.
Food contamination is a serious concern because of a high level of chemicals in food causes severe health issues. Safeguarding the public from the risk of adulterated foods has become a challenging mission. Chloropropanols are of importance to food safety and food security because they are common chemical food contaminants and believed to be carcinogenic to humans.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn an effort to determine the reason behind excellent nitrate remediation capacity at Kelantan region, a multivariate approach is employed to evaluate extent to which the influence of sea on soil geochemical composition affect variation pattern of groundwater quality. The results obtained from geochemical analysis of paleo-beach soil in coastal site at Bachok revealed multiple redox activity at different soil strata, involving both heterotrophic and autotrophic denitrification. In soil and water analysis, eight of the fourteen hydro-geochemical parameters (conductivity, temperature, soil texture, oxidation reduction potential, pH, total organic carbon, Fe, Cu, Mn, Cl, SO, NO, NO and PO) measured using standard procedures were subjected to multivariate analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFQuantifiable levels of 3-chloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) and 1,3-dichloro-2-propanol (1,3-DCP) were found in domestically manufactured soy-based sauces. Selected commercial foods in the Malaysian market (n = 43) were analyzed for their 3-MCPD and 1,3-DCP contents using a validated gas chromatography-mass spectrometry technique. The 3-MCPD and 1,3-DCP contents of the analyzed food samples varied from not detectable levels to 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHuman health is threatened by significant emissions of heavy metals into the urban environment due to various activities. Various studies describing health risk analyses on soil and dust have been conducted previously. However, there are limited studies that have been carried out regarding the potential health risk assessment of heavy metals in urban road dust of < 63-μm diameter, via incidental ingestion, dermal contact, and inhalation exposure routes by children and adults in developing countries.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEvaluation 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.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe spatial distributions of Na, Mg, K, Ca, Cr, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se and Pb in Hemibagrus sp. from Selangor River and a reference site were determined with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer, in comparison to the levels in their surrounding water body and sediments. The results demonstrated significant differences in elemental accumulation pattern in different fish tissues originated from both sites.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe trace metal concentrations in edible muscle of red tilapia (Oreochromis spp.) sampled from a former tin mining pool, concrete tank and earthen pond in Jelebu were analysed with microwave assisted digestion-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Results were compared with established legal limits and the daily ingestion exposures simulated using the Monte Carlo algorithm for potential health risks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn recent years, essential oils have received a growing interest because of the positive health effects of their novel characteristics such as antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant activities. For the extraction of plant-derived essential oils, there is the need of advanced analytical techniques and innovative methodologies. An exhaustive study of hydrodistillation, supercritical fluid extraction, ultrasound- and microwave-assisted extraction, solid-phase microextraction, pressurized liquid extraction, pressurized hot water extraction, liquid-liquid extraction, liquid-phase microextraction, matrix solid-phase dispersion, and gas chromatography (one- and two-dimensional) hyphenated with mass spectrometry for the extraction through various plant species and analysis of essential oils has been provided in this review.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA vesicle is a microscopic particle composed of a lipid bilayer membrane that separates the inner aqueous compartment from the outer aqueous environment. Palmitoleate-palmitoleic acid vesicles were prepared and their physico-chemical properties were investigated. Moreover, mixed vesicles composed of palmitoleic acid and PEGylated lipid and/or a mixture of phospholipids were also prepared.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of this work was to evaluate two different digestion methods for the determination of the total concentration of metals (Zn, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb and Cd) in shrimp sludge compost. The compost made from shrimp aquaculture sludge co-composted with organic materials (peat, crushed bark and manure) was used as an organic growing medium for crop. Open system digestion and microwave assisted digestion procedures were employed in sample preparation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA study was carried out to investigate the fractionation of Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Zn in shrimp aquaculture sludge from Selangor, Malaysia, using original (unmodified) and modified four-steps BCR (European Community Bureau of Reference, now known as the Standards Measurements and Testing Program) sequential extraction scheme. Step 2 of the unmodified BCR procedure (subsequently called Method A) involves treatment with 0.1 M hydroxylammonium chloride at pH 2, whereas 0.
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