arnold loh The Star 11 May 19;
GEORGE TOWN: The heavy metal nickel – in a concentration 944% higher than natural – has been found in the sea off Penang National Park in Teluk Bahang.
It is identified as the probable pollutant that led to anoxic or dead zones with hardly any dissolved oxygen (DO) along the island’s north coast since last month and may also be killing live marine specimens in a research lab at the park’s beach.
The nickel-based pollutant is believed to have spread and caused the sea off Tanjung Bungah, not far from Penang Swimming Club, to record a DO level of just 0.08mg/L – too low to support marine life.
Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (Cemacs) director Professor Datuk Dr Aileen Tan said Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Chemistry Department had found nickel in the waters off Teluk Bahang at 0.472 parts per million (ppm), 944% more than the standard 0.005ppm in typical sea water.
Lead, she added, was found at 184% above normal or 0.804ppm, when it should be only 0.005ppm. Cadmium was 32% higher at 0.065ppm instead of 0.0002ppm.
Prof Tan said while pure nickel was a metal, nickel compounds exist inorganically as salts or organically as carbon-based molecules.“So we don’t know what the raw form of the pollutant is,” she said, adding that other heavy metals were found to be at normal levels, such as copper at 0.077ppm, where the acceptable standard is higher at 0.09ppm.
Nickel is carcinogenic, according to Indian scientists in a research paper published by International Research Journal of Environment Sciences, and nickel refinery workers face great risks of developing cancer of the lungs, nose, larynx, kidney and prostate.
Prof Tan said although the nickel is harming the marine environment, it does not bio-accumulate in marine life such as fish, so it will not contaminate seafood.
But it is highly toxic to plant life including sea algae, and Prof Tan said algae could have died in such vast amounts that their decomposition robbed the sea of DO, which in turn kills other marine life.
Since late April, live specimens such as sea cucumber and sea grass species in Cemacs have been showing signs of stress and dying.
Prized groupers worth tens of thousands
of ringgit at four floating fish farms near Cemacs have also been dying by the hundreds every day since April 10.
Prof Tan’s team of marine scientists found more disturbing effects of the pollution.
On Tuesday, Cemacs scientists went on their jellyfish monitoring rounds from Teluk Bahang to Pantai Bersih in north Butterworth.
“They couldn’t net a single one. This has never happened. We’ve been monitoring jellyfish using special nets to catch them for study since 2017 and the sea around Penang is well known for being full of them,” she said.
Besides the near-zero DO level in Tanjung Bungah, Prof Tan said the sea off Monkey Beach, a popular tourist spot in Penang National Park, had a DO level of just 2.13mg/L 50cm beneath the surface and 1.84mg/L at the seabed 4m deep.
She said the only area in the north coast with a normal DO level was Batu Ferringhi, which had 5.17mg/L at the surface and 4.88mg/L at the seabed.
“That should be the normal level for our island’s north coast. The other six locations we tested were low at around 3mg/L.There is no industrial activity here and no development is allowed in Penang National Park.
“The only logical explanation for this pollution is that passing ships could be dumping something,” Prof Tan said, adding that for such a high nickel level, the dumping may have happened more than once.
She said port and marine authorities needed to ensure stronger monitoring and enforcement of the shipping lanes off Penang.
She said she had alerted government agencies including the Department of Environment and Fisheries Department, and hoped they would get to the bottom of the pollution source.
State govt urged to tackle heavy metal pollution
rena lim The Star 12 May 19;
GEORGE TOWN: The state government must set up an emergency task force to address the heavy metal pollution in the sea off Tanjung Bungah and Penang National Park in Teluk Bahang, said Tanjung Bungah Residents’ Association chairman Meena Raman (pic).
She said the association echoed the concerns raised by the Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (Cemacs) after high levels of heavy metals were found in the waters.
“We hope the state government will form an emergency task force and include all relevant authorities to address the source of the heavy metal pollution.
“Necessary measures must be taken to stop the pollution, including alerting and warning the public about the dangers of swimming in such polluted waters,” she said in a statement yesterday.
The pollutant is believed to have spread and caused the sea off Tanjung Bungah, not far from Penang Swimming Club, to record a dissolved oxygen level of 0.08mg/L – which is too low to support marine life.
“We have locals and tourists swimming in the sea off the north coast of Teluk Bahang and Tanjung Bungah and they may not be aware of the dangers,” Meena said.
She said the association would send an official letter to urge the state to look into the issue as it would affect local residents, tourists and fishermen.
“The federal and state authorities must take urgent measures to stop the pollution and protect public health while avoiding the destruction of marine life.
“We are also alarmed and concerned over the findings of high levels of pollutants, and the impact on the community as we did not know about this until we read about it in The Star,” she said.
Cemacs director Professor Datuk Dr Aileen Tan said the nickel concentrations could not naturally be that high after Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Chemistry Department found nickel in the waters off Teluk Bahang at 0.472 parts per million (ppm), 944% more than the standard 0.005ppm in typical sea water.
According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, some nickel compounds are carcinogenic to humans, meaning it has the potential to cause cancer.
