top of page

NEWS

4th January 2021 - Teluk Intan

    News on Industrial pollution abatement program at Teluk Intan.

News on Ablution Water Recycling & Reuse.

NOEC signing a MOU with UNIMAS


KUCHING, 2nd February 2023 - University Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) has established a collaboration with National Organization For Ecosystem Conservation (NOEC) and RAF Technologies Sdn. Bhd. (RAF) to partnership in research program for peat water treatment using a submerge ultra filtration module called Al-Jazari NR10K. A six month research program is intended to be executed in Asajaya water treatment plant near Kuching, Sarawak.


Through the collaboration, the local that suffer from peat water contamination in their clean water system will be benefitted to enjoy better quality of drinking water. In addition, the collaboration will enable commercialization of the said technology throughout Malaysia as well as abroad in a larger scale.


NOEC President, Ir. Dr. Ahmad Fuad said that NOEC has long experiences in water and wastewater industry and would like to share the latest technology approach in improving the human health particularly in portable water sector. Besides, it is the main agenda for NOEC to work together with the academician for combining knowledge and effort in commercialization of its new technology.


“Al-Jazari NR10K is a unique membrane technology developed by RAF and was used widely in toxic and hazardous waste neutralization. It works without chemical and utilizing a very minimal energy, makes the technology practical, operator friendly and suit for the off grid including rural area usage” he said.

S3.jpg

NOEC flew its wing to Niger, Africa.

 

NIAMEY, 28th April 2023 -  A Memorandum Of Agreement (MOA) signing between National Organization For Ecosystem Conservation (NOEC) from Malaysia and Association Fighting Against Obstacles to Development Alcod (ALCOD) was held at ALCOD office in Niamey, Republic Of Niger, West Africa. The MOA is mainly addressing the collaboration on public clean water treatment and strategic partnership on assisting the local government to reduce the statistic of citizen that suffer from receiving poor water quality to their household. At present, about 54 % of the Niger population that did not have access to the clean water and expose to many water carrier diseases.

 

The MOA was signed by NOEC president, Ir. Dr. Ahmad Fuad Shahrudin while ALCOD was represented by its National President, Mr. Hamidou Ouayanit.

 

Dr. Ahmad Fuad said, Republic Of Niger is one of the worst affecting country in Africa that does not receiving clean drinking water for its people and every year, many children died due to this problem.   

Kuwait seeks for Malaysian expertise in Scrap Tyre Management.

 

Kuwait City, 1st September 2022  -  The scrap tyre dumping  site at Al-Salmy, about 100 km from Kuwait city was an eyesore, as black rubber rings blighted the view. Not only unpleasant to look at, the smoke and noxious fumes from continual blazes were also making life difficult for local residents and neighboring country, Saudi Arabia.

 

National Organization For Ecosystem Conservation (NOEC) together with its allied partner, RAF Technologies Sdn. Bhd. (RAF) has formed a joint venture company called Future Vision Used Tyre Recycling Company WLL (FUTURE) with majority equity owned by local at  Jaleeb Al Shuokh, Kuwat City. The purpose of the company is to receives the technology from Malaysia for the recycling of scrap tyre using a patented TRU thermochemical (pyrolysis) process and produces a by-product mainly diesel fuel, carbon black, steel bar and syngas. The same technology is use by three scrap tyre recycling plant in Malaysia and the yield is above expectation.

 

NOEC President, Ir. Dr. Ahmad Fuad said, “It is our hope that the new scrap tyre recycling plant in Kuwait can be a bench mark to all Middle Eastern countries as an example. It is the most efficient and practical way to dispose the scrap tyre while generating a good revenue from the by product comodity”.

‘They’re in the air, drinking water, dust, food …’ How to reduce your exposure to microplastics

Article by Amy Fleming from The Guardian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No corner of the planet is free from minuscule fragments of plastic packaging, textiles or utensils. We ask scientists what this means for our health – and what we should do to protect it.

Invisible specks of eroded plastic from long-forgotten toothbrushes, sweet wrappers and stocking-filler toys are everywhere. They live in our laundry bins, the Mariana trench and the human bloodstream. Microplastic particles can be small enough to infiltrate biological barriers such as the gut, skin and placental tissue. We are all now partially plastic – but how worried should we be, and is there any way to minimise our exposure?

At the moment, says Stephanie Wright, an environmental toxicologist at Imperial College, London, a lack of epidemiological and in-human data means we don’t yet know the harmful effects of microplastics, but “I would say reducing particle exposure in general (including microplastic) is likely to be beneficial”. But avoiding the stuff is a tall order, considering it’s in the “air, drinking water, dust and food”.

Food and drink sealed in plastic has long been associated with cleanliness, purity and protection from contamination, but we now know that some of the highest exposures to microplastics, says Wright, “are likely to come from processed and packaged foods and drinks”. The shedding of plastic is increased when containers are exposed to heat. “Hot water in plastic-lined cups and takeaway containers also release micro- and nanoparticles, in some cases trillions per litre, although whether these are true plastic particles is unknown.”

Wright says that to reduce exposure to microplastics, “I would start by not heating anything in plastic, or consuming hot liquid that has come into contact with plastic”. This includes microwaving food in Tupperware or ready-to-heat products such as boil-in-the-bag rice and “food-grade nylon used for food packaging, as liners for baking pans in restaurants and commercial kitchens and in slow cookers in household kitchens”.

When it comes to water, she chooses tap over bottled: “Some bottled waters – including glass bottles – contain thousands of microplastic particles per litre.” And, ideally, she would take it filtered. When I mention filtering to Mark Taylor, chief environmental scientist at the Environmental Protection Authority in the Australian state of Victoria, he points out that home water filters are usually plastic, too: “Ultimately it will start to shed because it will degrade.”

 

This gives me the perfect opportunity to gloat about my glass and stainless steel filter jug, but then I remember that the charcoal refills come in plastic pouches. When you start observing your plastic use, it’s hard not to spiral. “I think we can stress ourselves out over all of these things and put too much focus on it,” says Taylor. “The reality is people are living longer than they’ve ever lived before. Some people in a [global] population of 8 billion, of course, will be affected and may well die as a result of microplastics exposure.” The way forward, he says, is “balancing the risk of microplastics versus practical actions and lifespan”.

Having extensively studied microplastic exposure in homes – which is where Taylor says we absorb the most plastic contamination – he knows it’s impossible to avoid the stuff and so there’s no point worrying over every bit of plastic we meet. Instead, he says, “we can look at minimising inessential uses”.

At one end of the scale sits a plastic heart valve, which is essential. Whereas fruit sealed in plastic is unnecessary. “You can think about the furnishings and the clothes that you acquire, and buy more natural fabrics,” says Taylor. “Instead of having a polyester carpet, you could have a wool carpet.” Natural fibres are often more expensive, but second-hand is always an option, and if it’s not something you can change, don’t sweat it. “You can think about buying natural clothing – they do produce microfibres, but they’re not microplastics and they break down. If you’ve got kids, do you need to have plastic spoons and plates?”

On a personal level, he says, he makes choices based on unnecessary exposure, but also as an act of consumer protest – “every little action matters”. It is often hard to find out the composition of plastic products – they don’t come with ingredients lists like food – but he recalls looking for a new watch strap and discovering one contained perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). “I went: well, I won’t be buying that. It is associated with testicular and kidney cancer, low birth weight in newborns and just a ton of things.” PFAS are among the many commonly used chemicals in plastics that are endocrine disruptors, which some scientists believe are to blame for declining global sperm counts.

He actively avoids buying food such as fruit and veg wrapped in plastic, or adorned with “those stupid little food stickers”. His household uses glass instead of plastic in the kitchen. “I wear predominantly, but not entirely, natural fibres, because my work jacket is made of polyester. But I prefer either cotton or wool.” He concedes, however, “I have a wooden floor with varnish, which I know will slough off.”

At our current rate, more than 10bn tonnes of mismanaged plastic waste will be dispersed in the natural environment by 2050.

Keeping a clean house is something anyone can do to reduce exposure. “The carpets, the curtains, the sofa, most of those are probably not made from fully natural fabrics, and they degrade and their fibres accumulate,” he says. All that dust and fluff that balls up like tumbleweed under sofas, or twinkles in sunbeams after you plump a cushion, will contain plastic fibres. This is why the vacuum cleaner is about more than being house-proud.

He says: “It’s very clear, whether you’re dealing with microplastics or trace metals such as lead, zinc, cadmium and arsenic that migrate into a home, that regular vacuuming is really effective at reducing the load.” If you don’t vacuum, the dust remobilises and, adds Taylor, “deposits in open water vessels, on your fruit, on people’s hands, kitchen utensils”.

He recommends – if you can afford it – robot vacuum cleaners, “that go around the floor and just keep on top of the worst of it when you’re out at work. Or preferably, if you’ve got a hard floor, wet mopping.” With carpets, vacuuming has the added benefit of capturing loose fibres soon to be shed from everyday wear and tear.

Malcolm Hudson, an associate professor in environmental science at the University of Southampton, is very keen that we don’t panic about our current exposure to microplastics. Instead, he’d rather we divert that energy into helping to stop the planet accumulating yet more plastic. At the current rate of production, more than 10bn tonnes of mismanaged plastic waste will be dispersed in the natural environment by 2050.

He certainly isn’t panicking right now. “I’m sitting at home in my office and I’m probably breathing in some plastic fibres from the clothes that I’m wearing, and from the carpet on the stairs just outside my office,” he says. “And I’ve probably ingested some plastic in my lunch, which is an unsettling thought but it’s probably not doing me a great deal of harm,” he says. He doubts, at this point, whether trying to limit plastic exposure will make much difference to his health right now.

Hot water in plastic-lined cups releases micro- and nanoparticles. “We’ve evolved to deal with inhalation and ingestion of impurities,” he says. “That’s why we have complex respiratory systems and all sorts of trapping devices to stop particles going into our lungs. It’s why we have an immune system that’s set up to deal with small foreign bodies. It’s why we have a digestive system that doesn’t let larger impurities get into our system – they just pass through.”

But in another few decades, “if the environment continues to get more contaminated, I think you have got potentially a harmful issue.” This is partly due to the sheer volume of microplastics that will have accumulated by then, and we know that the greater the exposure, the greater the risk. “There was a study from a few years ago that showed that people who work in textile factories in Bangladesh have been exposed to very high levels of airborne microplastic fibres and they do get respiratory disease.”

The other reason the health risks will grow with time is because the older the particles are, the more toxic they can become. They can harbour pathogenic microbes and take on other pollutants such as heavy metals. “And then,” says Hudson, “if you swallow that microplastic, you’re swallowing a small dose of another harmful chemical as well.” These chemicals include, “polyaromatic hydrocarbons, plasticisers like phenol A that are used in things like furnishings and packaging – they can have hormone mimicking or carcinogenic properties. Heavy metals like copper, vanadium, mercury, lead. Cadmium contaminated sediments have already become associated with plastics.”

Meanwhile, avoiding traffic-heavy roads is always recommended, where microplastics are part of the toxic soup of pollution, although Hudson reckons they’re probably the least of your worries next to car fumes and tyre particles. Plastic comes off road markings and wears off brakes, says Hudson, “made from composite synthetic polymers”. Roads are, adds Wright, “a hypothesised source of microplastic particle emissions to the air due to litter being worn down and run over”.

But it’s hard and time-consuming to prove the effects of any one pollutant on health. “In a study, isolating the impact of microplastics versus all the other contaminants such as air pollution would be really difficult,” says Taylor. But rather than sit back and say there’s no hard evidence they cause harm to humans, he says he would rather, “apply the precautionary principle: in the history of environmental toxicology, early concerns were usually born out. So let’s take an approach that minimises – I don’t think we can eliminate – the risk.”

spoon_edited.jpg
8192_edited.jpg
5400_edited.jpg
6048_edited.jpg
bottom of page