Conference Presentations by Hafiz Rahim
In Malaysia, air pollution has been recognized as one of the major concerns that causing deleteri... more In Malaysia, air pollution has been recognized as one of the major concerns that causing deleterious effects on health. The purpose of this study is to determine the concentration of air pollution in industrial area and receptor areas and its association with respiratory problems among receptor populations. This study was aim to measure and identify risk profile of PM 10 and NO 2 concentration in the industrial area and receptor areas, assessing the relationship between distance from source and concentration of the pollutants and evaluating the association between exposure to air pollutants and respiratory symptoms and lung function of the receptor population. A cross-sectional study was conducted using EVM-7 (Quest Technologies) to measure the concentration of PM 10 and NO 2 in both industrial and receptor areas. Standardized questionnaire was distributed in collecting data for respiratory symptoms and Spirometer (Spirovit SP-1 Schiller) was used to measure the lung function performance of the receptor population. Analysis of the risk profile indicates that there is a significant difference in concentration of PM 10 and NO 2 between the industrial and receptor area with p=0.001. For assessing the association between distance of receptor area and source of air pollutants, significance association of p= 0.018 (day time) and p= 0.001(night time) for PM 10 and p= 0.002 (day time) and p= 0.001(night time) for and NO 2 were found between R1 (distance of 1000m-1500m) and R2 (1501m-2000m). The lung function performance also showed significant difference between receptor populations living in R1 and R2 where p= 0.007 for FVC and p= 0.030 for FEV 1. Only two symptoms from the study showed significant association (Cough, p= 0.002 and Phlegm, p= 0.001) to industrial air pollutants in which Chi-square test was used to determine the association. The prevalence of both symptoms is higher in R1 (cough= 67.4%, phlegm= 79.4%) compare to R2 (cough= 32.6%, phlegm, 20.6%). As a conclusion, exposure to industrial air pollutants (PM 10 and NO 2) is significantly associated with respiratory problems (cough and phlegm) among receptor population (Taman Balok Makmur).
Noise is one of the physical environmental factors affecting our health in today's world. Noise c... more Noise is one of the physical environmental factors affecting our health in today's world. Noise can be defined as unwanted or unpleasant sound. Excessive noise can seriously harm human and interferes with people's daily activities. This study was aim to study the environmental noise and its impacts to receptor population. In this comparative cross-sectional study, environmental noise was measured by using Sound Level Meter Model CR: 812C (Cirrus) at steel manufacturing boundary and the receptors area. Questionnaire was distributed to respondents who live in the receptors area. This study found that noise level measured at all 10 sampling points at the boundary of the factory do exceed the standard level of 65 dB (A) for day time (7.00 am-10.00pm) and night time (10.00 pm-7.00am) except for S6 where during day time the noise level was measured =65.2dB (A). However, eight sampling points at the receptor areas have been found to exceed standard limit of 55 dB (A) during day time with the highest level of noise detected was 61.2dB (A). During nigh time measurement, 19 sampling points was found to exceed noise level of 45 dB (A) with the highest noise recorded was at 59 dB (A). Mean difference was also found between factory boundary and receptor area during day time and night time which showed that the increase of distance between source and receptor areas caused a decrease in noise level measured at the receptor areas. By using statistical analysis (ordinal regression), significant association was found between noise level from source and health problem (feeling stress) among receptor population where p=0.032. Significant association was also found between noise level and environmental noise impact (annoyance) where p= 0.017 and between noise level and social effect of noise on communication (need to speak louder) where p= 0.000. Another statistical analysis (Chi-square) was done to determine the association between noise level and psychological effects of exposed respondents (from source and receptor area) in which a significant association was found between noise level and three psychological effects namely feeling noisy (p= 0.017) and disturbed (p= 0.037). Based on the study, it was found that steel factory was not the main source of noise as most of the noise level measured at the factory boundaries does not exceed the standard. This is due to the presence of other source of noise near the residential area which contributed to higher noise level measured at the residential areas. This study also found significant association between health problem (feeling stress), environmental noise impact (annoyance), social effect on communication (need to speak louder) and psychological effects (feeling noisy and disturbed).
Papers by Hafiz Rahim
Engineering in Life Sciences, 2015
ABSTRACT The use of pure substrate represents a significant proportion of the cost of manufacturi... more ABSTRACT The use of pure substrate represents a significant proportion of the cost of manufacturing a drug such as lovastatin. This study explores the production of lovastatin and (+)-geodin by Aspergillus terreus ATCC 20542 using biodiesel-derived crude glycerol (CG) as a feedstock. Shake flask experiments showed reduced lovastatin production and glycerol consumption in the presence of 10–50 g/L CG with respect to pure glycerol (PG) controls. At 50 g/L, lovastatin and (+)-geodin production was significantly reduced by 82% and 73%, respectively. The lowest lovastatin inhibition was detected in 30 g/L of CG (48%), which was accompanied by a significant rise in (+)-geodin production (338%). Further investigation was performed on three major impurities found in CG, namely methanol (MeOH), sodium chloride (NaCl) and fatty acids (oleic and palmitic acids, soap). None was particularly inhibitory for lovastatin, except soap and palmitic acids, which reduced its production by more than 50% at all concentrations tested. In contrast, (+)-geodin was inhibited in the presence of MeOH and palmitic acid by up to 46% and 91%, respectively. These observations indicate that partial purification of CG would be potentially useful in improving production of lovastatin and (+)-geodin by A. terreus.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
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Conference Presentations by Hafiz Rahim
Papers by Hafiz Rahim