Oil and grease, nutrient and fecal coliform contents in port dickson coastal waters improved during the year of COVID-19 pandemic

Anthropogenic activities are among major contributors to the deterioration of coastal environmental quality. Reduction of these activities could improve the status. Hence, this study was carried out to investigate temporal variations of water quality parameters of Lukut and Port Dickson coastal waters during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Three sampling events were carried out between February to March 2020 (Before COVID-19 pandemic movement control order - MCO), followed by September 2020 and from March to April 2021 (After one year of the first MCO). The parameters monitored were oil and grease (OG), nitrate (NO3-N), ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3-N), unionized ammonia (NH3), phosphate (PO4-P), and fecal coliform (Escherichia coli). The OG content was reduced to more than 99%, followed by ammonia, E. coli, ammoniacal nitrogen, and nitrates which decreased by 94.65%, 91.87%, 83.64%, and 80.58%, respectively, in the third sampling. Phosphate was the only element found to increase at specific sites during the third sampling, and this was expected to be influenced by other water parameters. The improvement of water quality, especially OG, ammonia, ammoniacal nitrogen, nitrates, and E. coli concentrations in the study area, was related to the restrictive human movement associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2023 Author(s).

Port Dickson Surface Water Quality Status: A Year with COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has become a planetary concern that affecting the sustenance of the human population all around the globe. The effective measured has been taken in Malaysia to control the virus transmission by limiting the human vitality which unsurprisingly propitious to the environment. A monitoring study was conducted to assess the water quality status of surface seawater along the Port Dickson coast based on the Malaysian Marine Water Quality Index (MMWQI) and Malaysian Marine Water Quality Standards (MMWQCS) with an interval period of a year (March 2020-March 2021). In situ, water quality parameters incorporate temperature, pH, salinity, conductivity, dissolved oxygen (DO), and total dissolved solids (TDS) were measured at 14 sampling sites to evaluate the biochemical characteristics of water. Surface water samples were collected from the same sites and transported back to Universiti Putra Malaysia for nitrate (NO3-), ammonia (NH3), phosphate (PO4), biochemical oxygen demands (BOD), fecal coliform (Escherichia coli), and total suspended solids (TSS) analyses. The MMWQI showed the status of surface water from the Port Dickson coast was classified as moderate quality (50.41 - 64.05) for both sampling events. However, there are some indexes that showed significant decreases (p< 0.05) in the latter year. The concentration of nutrient pollution such as phosphate, nitrates, ammonia, fecal coliform as well as oil and grease, was decreased by 11.12%, 77.39%, 82.4%, 90.26%, and 99.9% respectively. The water parameters namely TDS, pH, and BOD levels were significantly decreased by 1.77%, 20.73%, and 77.16%. Certain parameters listed in the MMWQS such as temperature, pH, ammonia, fecal coliform, oil and grease were classified as Class 1 in March 2021. These occurrences recorded were greatly influenced by the reduction of the substantial human activities around the recreational beach of Port Dickson followed by the declaration of Movement Control Order (MCO) in Malaysia.

Spatiotemporal variations and contributing factors of air pollutant concentrations in Malaysia during movement control order due to pandemic COVID-19

The restriction of daily and economic-related activities due to COVID-19 pandemic via lockdown order has been reported to improve air quality. This study evaluated temporal and spatial variations of four major air pollutant concentrations across Malaysia before (March 4, 2020–March 17, 2020) and during the implementation of different phases of Movement Control Order (MCO) (March 18, 2020–May 12, 2020) from 65 official regulatory air quality stations. Results showed that restriction in daily and economic activities has remarkably reduced the air quality in all sub-urban, urban, and industrial settings with relatively small contributions from meteorological conditions. Overall, compared to before MCO, average concentrations of PM2.5, CO, and NO2 reduced by 23.1%, 21.74%, and 54.0%, respectively, while that of SO2 was constant. The highest reduction of PM2.5, CO, and NO2 were observed in stations located in urban setting, where 63% stations showed significant reduction (p <0.05) for PM2.5 and CO, while all stations showed significant reduction in NO2 concentrations. It was also revealed that 70.5% stations recorded lower concentrations of PM2.5 during MCO compared to before MCO, despite that high numbers of local hotspots were observed simultaneously from NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Spatial analysis showed that the northern part of Peninsular had the highest significant reduction of PM2.5, while the highest of NO2 and CO reduction were found in stations located in the central region. All pollutants exhibit similar diurnal trends when compared between pre-and during MCO although significant lower readings were observed during MCO. This study gives confidence to regulatory body;the enforcement of strict air pollution prevention and control policies could help in reducing pollution. © 2020, AAGR Aerosol and Air Quality Research. All rights reserved.