Oxygen --- Identification of Water Pollution

"Do you know why do we need to measure the oxygen concentration in the water?"
"To test whether it is enough for the fish to breath?"

Ok that was a sample answer most probably will be given by normal people who are not into Chemistry or Water Science. The basic knowledge that we know about oxygen is, all living things need oxygen to breath and stay alive. From the perspective of Environmental Science, the oxygen concentration in the water means something more, and we call the oxygen 'dissolved oxygen' (DO). Oxygen is soluble in water, that's why aquatic life can breath underwater!

(image taken from Michael Prescotts's Blog)

Haze - Air Pollutant Index (API)

(screenshot taken from Air Pollutant Index of Malaysia)

The sun has been less scorching and the scenery has been blurry for almost a month. Holding an umbrella, I walked towards the faculty, trying my best to breath through nose despite of the burning smell, hopefully this amazing creation given by God can filter away the smoke suspending in the afternoon air during this hazy season. As a person with over 18 years of sinus experience, minimizing exposure towards the haze is a must to prevent triggering allergic condition but this trans-boundary man-made phenomenon has cornered many of us to the state that we have to stay in air-conditioned room whole day long, if it is available. Simply staying indoor to avoid the haze is no longer a temporary solution unless you shut off all the ventilation you have in the building. Haze has brought so much discomfort to our daily lives but how much do we actually know about the figure that we have been watching closely every day hoping for school closing to get information about the haze condition?  

BPA - Why Our Plastic Bottles Need to Be BPA free?

(image taken from Clean Body Living website)

We often notice this sign saying 'BPA free' when we walk down the aisles of hypermarket displaying various types of plastic drinking bottles. It seems like a must for the prestigious plastic bottle manufacturers today to put the sign on their products so that customers will be like 'oh ok, BPA must be something nasty, since it says it is free from this substance, it must be safe to use', without actually knowing what BPA is.

Back to 1891...

BPA stands for bisphenol A, a chemical substances that is used in manufacturing of polycarbonate plastic (PC) derived from petroleum. It was first synthesized as early as 1891 by a Russian chemist named Aleksandr Dianin (but it was first mentioned in scientific paper in 1905 by Thomas Zincke from Germany, and of course it was written in German that I couldn't understand the content). Only after over 60 years, in 1953, two scientists - Dr. Hermann Schnell and Dr. Daniel Fox - respectively discovered PC through the reaction between BPA and phosgene. Both of them were amazed by its durability and strength, and continued developing this polymer. At the beginning, this material was used in electrical and electronic appliances and then slowly moved into industries producing plastic bottle and lining of canned food.

International Greentech & Eco Products Exhibition & Conference Malaysia 2015 (IGEM 2015)

The International Greentech & Eco Products Exhibition & Conference Malaysia (IGEM) is here again in Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) from 9th to 12nd September 2015! For IGEM since year 2011,  Expomal International Sdn Bhd had been the host until this year, when this annual event was taken over by the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water Malaysia (KeTTHA) (The first IGEM was held in 2010 by Green Purchasing Network Malaysia). The theme for IGEM 2015 is Powering The Green Economy which covers the following 5 key areas:

Compared to the previous two years which I attended, the theme this year looks more interesting but the number of exhibitors are much more lesser (I believe it was due to the economic crisis we are facing now where many companies pulled out), in which a lot of the exhibitors are from the solar energy section. I would like to feature one company from each of the key areas above.

The History of Vaping - Tracing Back to 1963

(photo taken from abc News website)

A few months ago, if I smell a whiff of sweet fruity scent, I would have thought that someone sitting nearby must be eating candy. But today, things are a whole lot different. There is no way to run no way to hide because they are EVERYWHERE including indoor dining area. Well, relax, I was just exaggerating to get the mood started. This sweet smelling vapor is not toxic gas, but something people call 'vape', or electronic cigarette (e-cigarette), which has recently swept through Malaysia especially among young people. I have heard of the term 'e-cigarette' long time ago but had not actually seen one, until this year when I saw some guys puffing away at the shopping centre.

Working with a vape company, Herbert A. Gilbert has launched 1963®.

(photo taken from Ashtray Blog) 

1963: Smokeless Non-tobacco Cigarette

In school, we were taught that e-cigarette is used to 'cure' nicotine addiction, so that smokers can stop smoking and harming their health. And I thought that was the original intention of this invention too until I read an interview with the inventor of the e-cigarette, Herbert A Gilbert. Herbert thought that the smoke produced as a result of combustion was not something pleasant to be taken into our lungs, so he invented the other version of cigarette that did not require burning, just flavoured water vapour powered by battery as heat source. The first smokeless non-tobacco cigarette patent was filed as early as in 1963 but no manufacturer was willing to produce this product because at that time tobacco cigarette was selling like hot cakes and those companies want to protect their market, there was no need for an alternative that might give consumers an implication that tobacco cigarette is not healthy.

The Bakun Dam - Why It Is Wrong

It has been more than 600 days since the Baram Dam Blockade is set up. I have written a post about the negative impact due to the construction of dam last year (What Is Wrong With Mega Dam - The Baram Dam Project) after attending a charity lunch aimed to raise fund for the protest towards the construction of Baram Dam in Sarawak. For this semester I need to do an oral presentation on any topic related to my current field which is Environmental Studies during my English class (which is compulsory for each and everyone in UPM ugh, well I didn't say I dislike it). So I think this is a good time for me to bring up this issue again through direct transfer of message in the class. And I don't like giving speech, I just don't.

The beautiful view on Bakun Dam which hides the ugliness under the water.
(photo taken from Mohd Hisyamudin's blog)

We are required to prepare a audience analysis questionaire to see how much the audience knows about the topic you are going to talk about. Well, everyone knows what a dam is but mostly not sure whether a dam is beneficial overall or not. I am glad that they chose 'not sure' instead of a yes or no because I believe it sparkled some thoughts inside them, although it might last just for awhile. The main purpose of my speech is, again, to inform my audience the negative impact of dam construction in Malaysia in terms of environment and also demography of indigenous people. This time I am going to focus on just one single dam in Malaysia as the case study so that people can see it more clearly and feel it more deeply because it happens in our country, on fellow Malaysians even though the dam is located across the sea in Sarawak!

Solar Energy in Malaysia, Why Not?

Most of the university students in Malaysia are having a two-month semester breaks now where we could have gone for a short trip at the beach or a vacation to some heritage places. However, I am still sitting at home watching the laptop screen playing computer games instead of hanging out with friends somewhere close to nature. I did go out, to shopping centres, or anywhere with air-condition. We have to admit that the scorching sun is a major turnoff for those who do want to go out (of course there are people who are willing to brave through the sunlight), but the photon particles emitted by the sun is something worth harvested especially in tropical country like Malaysia in order to reduce electricity generation using fossil fuels.

The estimated amount of electricity that can be generated in Malaysia. This result was calculated using the solar calculator of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of  U.S. Department of Energy.

Climate Change and Health - A Malaysian Perspective

When we are talking about environmental issues (rising sea level in Bangladesh, river pollution in India, destruction of coral reef in Australia etc., just to name a few), we tend to just shrug it off because they have nothing to do with us there is nothing we can do about it. However, when it comes to health issues, people will be sharing information and tips how to prevent getting cancers, heart diseases and the list goes on never-endingly. We are so enthusiastic in protecting our body from harms by seeking medical or nutritional consultancy, but somehow we left out the whole chunk of ice berg that directly determines our health - the environment. Although there is no statistical evidence in our country that proves that climate change is bad for our health (at least not yet), I have highlighted some health issues which might be worsen by climate change.

Health issues impacted by climate change 

The flood in Kelantan last year. Flood makes you more susceptible to be infected by bacteria carried by the water.
(photo taken from The Malay Mail Online) 

1) Water-borne diseases

Prolonged rainy season due to climate change can cause flooding at low-lying ground. Malaysia experienced the worse flood in Kelantan last year which hit the level of 34.17 metres. Besides its direct threat towards human's safety, flooding causes the spread of water-borne diseases such as leptospirosis and typhoid as flood victims spend a lot of time being close to or in contact with the contaminated flood water (flood water can't be clean as it brings out water from the drains as well as the sewage system).

How to Get the Heavy Metal Out of the Soil for Analysis - BCR Sequential Extraction

Some time ago I have shared information about heavy metal analysis (simple introduction & more detailed one). Basically the samples we use for those machines are in liquid form so that they can be vaporised followed by being atomised or ionised, then the machines will do the rest. How about solid sample such as soil? Sometimes spillage happens or maybe the natural content of heavy metal in the soil is much higher that it can be harmful to human health. There are a few digestion methods (yes it is called digestion, like how we digest the food to obtain the nutrients) can be used, and this one, this 3-stage BCR sequential extraction method is one of the most basic ones.

(photo taken from Bonnie Plant website)

To make it simple, the same soil will go through 3 times of digestions using different solvent respectively to target heavy metals in different forms for several hours on a shaker to mix well(or overnight, depending on the stage), then it will be centrifuged (spun with high speed to separate the soil from the solvent) so that we can obtain the solvent which will be analysed later on. After we are done with each stage, the soil will be 'washed' with distilled water before the following stage can be carried out to remove the solvent in previous stage to avoid contamination (but remember not to loss any of the soil during the process!). Even though we have carried out the 3 stages of digestion, there still will be some residual heavy metal that is bound to the soil and is not removable with the above methods. Since they are tightly bound, we can ignore them as they can't really move around in the soil and will not bring much impact to us. For this whole process, only 1 gram of oven-dried soil is needed!

Tomorrowland - Review

Spoiler Alert! 

If you want to save time, just watch the last 30 minutes of the movie. =P

(image taken from Moviexplorers website)

Tomorrowland in this 30-minute movie is a place in a hidden dimension where scientists and geniuses gather to build a high-tech city (this was the initial reason of me being dragged to the cinema by my dear lol) for a better world. The origin of Tomorrowland is unclear to me but what I know it is being managed by some automated...err...robots with high intelligence like human, or I should say, more than that. The movie begins with two flashbacks about how Frank, a clever boy got into the Tomorrowland with the help of Athena, a robot girl who never ages (yeah of course) and how Casey got to know about the Tomorrowland and was asked to save that city from destruction.

Where Does Your Rubbish Go? (Part 2) - Jeram Sanitary Landfill

After ending the somehow painfully long site visit at Shah Alam Transfer Station, we moved on to Jeram Sanitary Landfill in Kuala Selangor which is quite some distance away from UPM. Operated by Worldwide Holdings as well, Jeram Sanitary Landfill is 1 out of 12 sanitary landfills existed in Malaysia as stated below (information not complete):

• Bukit Tagar Sanitary Landfill operated by KUB-Berjaya Enviro Sdn Bhd in Selangor
• Air Hitam Sanitary Landfill by Worldwide Holdings (closed in 2006) in Selangor
• Jeram Sanitary Landfill by Worldwide Holdings in Selangor
• Tanjung 12 Sanitary Landfill by Worldwide Holdings in Selangor
• Seelong Sanitary Landfill by SWM Sdn Bhd in Johor
• Tanjung Langsat Sanitary Landfill by Pasir Gudang Municipal Council in Johor
• Pulau Burong Sanitary Landfill in Penang
• Kota Kinabalu Sanitary Landfill in Sabah
• Mambong Sanitary Landfill in Kuching, Sarawak
• Bintulu Sanitary Landfill in Sarawak
• Kemuyang Sanitary Landfill in Sibu, Sarawak
• Sibuti Sanitary Landfill in Miri, Sarawak

Where Does Your Rubbish Go? (Part 1) - Shah Alam Transfer Station

Environmental students love field trips where you can get out from the class and go to somewhere interesting and play. However there are always some places that we are reluctant to go. All of you know what I mean. It must be some nasty places. Well, I have gone to an open dumping site during the trip to Chini Lake last year. A transfer station should be better, right? Oh you have not heard of a transfer station? Neither do I, until this semester, hahaha. 

The view of the main building from bus. You can see a path on the left that leads towards the building. It is where the rubbish trucks go to unload their content.

This building looks nice. But the smell? Err..

Who Collects Your Rubbish?

I remembered that when I was in primary school we had rubbish collection every day outside the house. There will be a lorry with compactor at the behind and several men in uniforms fetching bags of rubbish from each rubbish bin and throwing them into the lorry (now the men will come first to gather rubbish from a few bins at several sites along the road so that when the lorry arrives they can pick up the whole heap of rubbish at one go so that the lorry does not have to stop house by house). I would wait at the house gate and looked at the compactor to see whether I have any chance to witness the operation of the compactor. It sounds silly but I enjoyed that a lot at that time, hahaha.

Besides the fact that it is a bit too deep, it
really protects the content from rain and strays.
(image taken from Epsom Ewell website)

My family and I moved to our new home in Nibong Tebal when I was in Standard Two. Every new house in the residential area received a uniform green bin with a attached lid with two wheels underneath. Well I didn't really look into the details of how rubbish collection works and what I knew was those people are from Penang Municipal Council and they came every day. Years later, without my realisation, the frequency of rubbish collection was reduced to three days per week (I started to be away from home since 2012 to study in Selangor). And the green bin that we used to have was gone (stolen maybe?) that we used a paint bin as a substitute which will be placed at the roadside only when there will be a rubbish collection service to avoid strays from messing with the rubbish.

National Solid Waste Management Department was established in 2007 under the Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government under the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Act 2007 (Act 672). I just found out about the existence of such a department in Malaysia through the subject Integrated Solid Waste Management that I am taking this semester. Besides that, through the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Corporation Act 2007 (Act 673), Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation (PPSPPA) was established to enforce Act 672. (this was the first time I study law and reading the text was really painful!!!)

MESYM Widget Is Here!

Yay MESYM with the new awesome interface comes with widget! Now you can embed any interesting content that you want on MESYM on your personal website or blog! An event calender to remind yourself or your website visitors on the latest event that came up? Or a project that you want to keep yourself updated? Here's the instruction on how to do it. Happy exploring the evolved version of MESYM website!

Shah Alam Trees for Life 2015 (April Edition) - Trailer

If you have been looking for a chance to be a tree hugger but you are not sure when and where, here's the trailer of Shah Alam Trees for Life 2015, the April edition! Eco Warriors Malaysia and Shah Alam City Council have been working together organizing tree planting events around Shah Alam area once a month since 2010 as one of the community programs by the city council. With the theme 'A Corporate Social Responsibility', corporations and the public are encouraged to be part of the simple yet meaningful environmental movement by planting tree-lings at various parks in Shah Alam. Over the years, improvement has been made that fruit trees are planted as well so that we get double benefits as the trees grow (if you get what I mean, hehe)!

Dish Motion - Wednesday Soup Delivery

Personally I enjoy soup very much and I like to drown my nice with soup (hey don't judge!). It is not difficult to have soup during meals when I am studying in UPM because there are two economic rice shops at old flat serving Chinese-style soup for free! I have tried bittergourd soup, old cucumber soup, ABC soup (tomato, potato, onion soup basically), corn soup etc. but all of them have one similarity - you feel thirsty after having them. 

I came across this Facebook page named DishMotion which makes dinner delivery on every Wednesday, and it is specifically soup with tomato rice (the one that was quite popular on internet last time, hahaha). At first, I thought it was another project of a student taking business management course who are required to sell something as part of the course (since it is a compulsory course I will have to face it sooner or later). After talking to a friend who has ordered the delivery, it is actually a personal business started by a third-year student of UPM. What attracted me the most about this dinner delivery is that they use good quality containers which are non-disposable! Being an environmental student I feel rather uneasy using disposable container. Can you imagine how much plastics or polystyrenes you are going to throw away each time you take away food?

Tadaa! The lovely containers that serve me nice and warm food! 

Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) and Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS)

When it comes to analytical chemistry for inorganic elements especially metals, it is almost impossible to not include Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) and Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Compared to simpler laboratory analysis that we have done during matriculation and first year such as titration or measurement using portable meter, the usage of AAS and ICP-MS is rather complex in terms of the whole mechanism used within the instrument. However, we can precisely know the concentration of element contained by the sample using these two methods with the careful preparation of standard solutions. I have written a similar post regarding heavy metal analysis technology last year, but this time we are going to look into the details to understand better how they work behind the shell of the machines.

(Image taken from the website of Avomeen Analytical Services.

Getting Back to the Main Purpose of Going Environmental

The title of today's post might sound weird, but it is what all of us should do because we often tend to accidentally miss out the point of going green when we are pushing for a sustainable cause. As an environmentalist (no matter you are studying or working in any field), we want the best for the environment and we also hope that people around us do the same as well. Besides showering our peers with 'environmental-friendly behaviour', we might involve ourselves as the organisers or volunteers for some green events and projects. We want to conserve water by avoiding wastage, we want to encourage the reduction of plastic bag usage, we want to stop the invasion of polystyrene containers to our garbage dump. It seems that the list is endless and we are working hard to attract people's attention on these issues. The problem is, do we miss the target?

(photo taken during my first fieldwork in UPM)
Just a pile of leaves to capture your attention for awhile, hahaha...

SIEPC 2015 - Ignite the Silver Lining

I have always believed in youth's potential to make a change towards the community and the environment. We search for our direction, we dream, we let our mind run wild and be so ambitious that people might scoff at us. However, most of the time we are not sure how to do it, or doubt that we can really make it happen the way we want. We have the ideas in our head, but we are afraid to voice it out. We have the time and energy if we really want to put the plan in front of the priority list, but sometimes we lack of the confidence and motivation to take the first step.

It's time to overcome the fear, my fellow UPM undergraduates!