Although Malaysia is a model for economic success amongst Southeast Asian countries with its impressive development over the last 36 years, it has not been without its detrimental effects on the natural environment. The most apparent effect is the drastic increase in the generation of hazardous wastes. This paper highlights Malaysia's current status in hazardous waste management and the potential major difficulties. The principles, objectives and the remedial plans for hazardous waste control are also explained in detail and have been stipulated in the environmental policies as issued by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Ministry, Malaysia.Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Rashid, Z.A., Alias, A.B., Aris, M.J., El-Harbawi, M., Rahman, N.A. and Som, A.M. (2010) 'Hazardous waste management: current status and future strategies in Malaysia', Int. J. Environmental Engineering, Vol. 2, Nos. 1/2/3, pp.139-158.
The aim of this study is to investigate odour emission profiles from storage of local food waste and to assess the potential health risk caused by exposure to volatile compounds. Food waste decomposition process was conducted for 14 days and kept at 20°C and 30°C in self-made bioreactor. VOCs emissions from both samples were collected at different stages of decomposition starting at day 0, day 1, day 3, day 5, day 7, day 10, day 12 and day 14. It was analyzed using TD-GC/MS. Findings showed that various VOCs were released during decomposition of food waste. Compounds produced were influenced by time, temperature and the physico-chemical characteristics of the compounds. The most abundant compound released was dimethyl disulfide. Potential health risk of exposure to this compound is represented by hazard ratio, HR, calculated at 1.6 x 1011. Since HR equal to or less than 1.0 is considered negligible risk, this indicates that the compound posed a potential risk to human health.
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