Pollutants such as human pharmaceuticals and synthetic hormones that are not covered by environmental legislation have increasingly become important emerging aquatic contaminants. This paper reports the development of a sensitive and selective multi-residue method for simultaneous determination and quantification of 23 pharmaceuticals and synthetic hormones from different therapeutic classes in water samples. Target pharmaceuticals include anti-diabetic, antihypertensive, hypolipidemic agents, β2-adrenergic receptor agonist, antihistamine, analgesic and sex hormones. The developed method is based on solid phase extraction (SPE) followed by instrumental analysis using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) with 30 min total run time. River water samples (150 mL) and (sewage treatment plant) STP effluents (100 mL) adjusted to pH 2, were loaded into MCX (3 cm(3), 60 mg) cartridge and eluted with four different reagents for maximum recovery. Quantification was achieved by using eight isotopically labeled internal standards (I.S.) that effectively correct for losses during sample preparation and matrix effects during LC-ESI-MS/MS analysis. Good recoveries higher than 70% were obtained for most of target analytes in all matrices. Method detection limit (MDL) ranged from 0.2 to 281 ng/L. The developed method was applied to determine the levels of target analytes in various samples, including river water and STP effluents. Among the tested emerging pollutants, chlorothiazide was found at the highest level, with concentrations reaching up to 865 ng/L in STP effluent, and 182 ng/L in river water.

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The inheritance of glyphosate-resistant goosegrass was studied by making reciprocal crosses between resistant (R) and susceptible (S) biotypes. Eighty-four F1hybrids were confirmed using isozyme analyses. Reciprocal F1hybrids displayed uniform levels of resistance intermediate (I) to that of the parental types, with no indication of maternal inheritance. The F1hybrids were selfed to produce F2populations. F3populations were produced by selfing resistant and intermediate F2phenotypes. A segregation ratio of 1:2:1 (S:I:R) was observed in the F2and subsequently in the F3generations derived from selfing intermediate F2phenotypes. Individuals in F3families derived from selfing resistant F2phenotypes were resistant. Results from the present study show that glyphosate resistance in goosegrass is inherited as a single, nuclear, and incompletely dominant gene.

This study provides the first investigation on the occurrence of human pharmaceuticals in the tropical aquatic environment of Malaysia. Water samples were collected at seven different sites along the Langat River and effluents from five sewage treatment plants (STPs) in Langat River Basin. Samples were extracted by solid phase extraction (SPE) and analyzed using liquid chromatography coupled with a tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for 18 pharmaceuticals from six therapeutic classes and one metabolite. Fifteen out of these 19 pharmaceuticals were detected in the river water samples. Mefenamic acid, salicylic acid and glibenclamide were detected in all river water samples indicating their ubiquitous nature and resistance to degradation under the warm and humid tropical conditions. The median concentrations of detected pharmaceuticals ranged from less than the method detection limit (

Problem Statement: Landfill leachate had been implicated in environmental pollution, developmental anomalies, birth defect and surface and groundwater pollution worldwide. This study has been conducted to determine the toxicity of landfill leachate from three different landfills in Malaysia on fry common carp (Cyprinus carpio L., 1758; Pisces, Cyprinidae) in combination with some physico-chemical parameters analysis. Approach: Leachates were collected from Air Hitam (AHL), Ampar Tenang (ATL) and Sungai Sedu (SSL) landfills. The experiments were performed as three replicates using a total of 180 carps for each definitive test. The semi-static renewal method of acute toxicity test was used. The data obtained were statically evaluated by the use of the EPA computer program based on Finney's Probit Analysis Method. Results: The leachate used in this study had an invariable of (1640-7600 mg L −1 ) COD and (321.22-956.86 mg L −1 ) Ammonical-N. The 96 h LC 50 values of landfills leachate from the three landfills using fry C. carpio individuals with an average weight of 0.92±0.24 g and average length of 3.83±0.19 cm were found to be 1.132, 2.0 and 3.822% respectively. Among the behavioral changes observed for the individual fish at different leachate concentrations, decline in general activity, loss of balance, breathing difficulties, excessive mucosal secretion and gathering at the surface for breathing. Conclusion: This study of acute toxicity to the recommended fish species, C. caprio, is considered the first in Malaysia. Further research with toxicity testing methods directly on fish will be very useful in assessing possible ecological risk assessment of landfill leachate.