Health hazard of using mosquito repellent in Khulna city, Bangladesh

PurposeMosquito problem per se arises with diverse weather patterns. With regard to mosquito diseases, people intrinsically use repellents regardless of the harmful effect. The use of repellents like coil, spray, liquid vaporizer and mosquito cream triggers indoor congestion, and thereby respiratory diseases. Eventually, people have to bear high out-of-pocket costs.Design/methodology/approachThis study has applied a stratified systematic sampling technique taking 120 adult individuals from residential and slum areas covering users and non-users of mosquito repellents of Khulna city, Bangladesh. A structured questionnaire has been used to collect data from respondents.FindingsEconometric techniques are exercised to examine the occurrence, severity and duration of different respiratory diseases. Results exhibit that poor and less-educated slum people are more prone to face respiratory diseases compared to residential people. The health cost of slum and residential people is estimated US$ 134 and US$ 9, respectively.Originality/valueFinally, this study underpins arranging public health programs and taking averting actions as an impetus to raise consciousness toward the negative health effect of using mosquito repellents.

Pemanfaatan Ekstrak Protein dari Kacang-kacangan sebagai Koagulan Alami: Review

Coagulation and flocculation are commonly used in water and wastewater treatment. Inorganic coagulant such as alum (Al2(SO4)3), ferrous sulphate (FeSO4), and polyaluminium chloride (PAC) are commonly used. These coagulants are known for its effectiveness and simple operation procedure. However, there are some drawbacks such as reduction in pH, potential negative health effect when the treated water is consumed, and large sludge volume. To overcome these problems, utilization of natural coagulants has been proposed. Based on its active coagulating agent, natural coagulant could be divided as polyphenolic, polysaccharides, and protein. Protein from beans and seeds is commonly used as the source of active coagulating agent, due to its effectiveness, availability, and relatively simple pretreatment is needed. Usually the protein is extracted by using 0.5-1 M NaCl solution as globulin is the major protein fraction in beans.The extracted protein could act as cationic polymer to neutralize negatively charged colloids through adsorption-charge neutralization mechanism. Extracted protein could work effectively to treat turbid and waste water with lower cost compared to alum. However, most of existing studies are still focused on small – pilot scale utilization thus further explorations are still needed.A B S T R A KKoagulasi dan flokulasi merupakan proses yang umum digunakan dalam pengolahan air dan limbah cair. Pada umumnya digunakan koagulan seperti alum (Al2(SO4)3), ferro sulfat (FeSO4), dan polialuminium klorida (PAC). Selain efektif, koagulasi merupakan proses yang relatif sederhana dan mudah diterapkan. Akan tetapi koagulasi dengan koagulan anorganik memiliki beberapa kekurangan seperti menurunnya pH menjadi asam saat digunakan, potensi gangguan kesehatan jika air hasil pengolahan terkonsumsi, serta volume sludge yang dihasilkan relatif tinggi. Penggunaan koagulan alami menjadi alternatif dalam pengolahan air untuk mengatasi berbagai kekurangan tersebut. Berdasarkan bahan aktif koagulannya, koagulan alami dapat dibagi menjadi polifenol, polisakarida, dan protein. Protein dari kacang-kacangan merupakan salah satu sumber koagulan alami yang umum digunakan, karena selain efektif, kacang-kacangan mudah didapat, serta membutuhkan perlakuan yang relatif sederhana, meliputi pengeringan, pengecilan ukuran, ekstraksi, serta purifikasi. Proses ekstraksi kacang-kacangan pada umumnya menggunakan larutan garam NaCl dengan konsentrasi 0,5-1 M, dikarenakan fraksi protein dominan pada protein kacang-kacangan pada umumnya berupa globulin. Protein yang terekstrak berfungsi sebagai polimer kationik yang cocok digunakan untuk mengolah koloid yang bermuatan negatif melalui mekanisme adsorpsi-netralisasi muatan. Pemanfaatan ekstrak protein dapat bekerja efektif untuk mengolah kekeruhan dan air limbah, dengan biaya yang lebih rendah dibandingkan alum. Akan tetapi pemanfaatannya masih pada skala laboratorium-pilot, sehingga diperlukan pengembangan lebih lanjut untuk isolasi ekstrak serta aplikasinya pada skala industri.

Occupational health effects during periods with heat

Hydration status, awareness and the attitude to health and performance effects of preventing dehydration was evaluated in five industries across Europe. The prevalence of dehydration was assessed via analyses of urine samples from 139 workers and questionnaires collected from employers as well as employees collected from ten different work places. In total 80 % of all workers were either suboptimal hydrated at the onset of work or became dehydrated during their work shift with levels equal to or higher than those associated with impaired function in cognitively dominated tasks and complex motor function. The high prevalence of dehydration is in conflict with ∼75% of all workers that emphasize drinking as the most important mitigation strategy during periods with elevated heat strain. Also, work safety and prevention of negative health effect was stressed as very important both by employers and employees (average score 9 out of 10). Although, hydration is emphasized by work-safety advisories, it seems clear that more effective 24/7 hydration strategies are warranted. We propose that future protection of workers against detrimental effects of heat should consider personalized alerts that can integrate the importance of timing to facilitate the development of appropriate hydration habits that accounts for the large inter-individual variation in sweating and hence differences in water and electrolyte needs.

Sustainability of Palm Oil: Drivers of Consumers’ Preferences

In recent years, the public debate on the health and sustainability of palm oil and its use by food industries has strongly influenced consumer choices. Consequently, palm oil-free products have asserted their image as healthier and more sustainable food products. The current paper contributes to the extant knowledge on consumers’ perception of palm oil, particularly concerning preferences for food products carrying a “palm oil-free” label on their packaging. A web survey with a sample of 291 individuals was performed. Determinants of consumers’ preferences towards the “palm oil-free” label were estimated with an ordered logistic model using as the dependent variable the purchasing frequency of palm oil-free foods and a set of independent variables. Results show that respondents generally prefer palm oil-free products, perceiving these products as healthier or eco-friendly. Furthermore, individuals are strongly influenced by the available information on these foods that may guide their choices for palm oil-free foods, which may be perceived as cleaner. Findings also highlight the low degree of information on this ingredient, underlining the need for public information and communication campaigns through different media, in order to emphasize that no scientifically proven negative health effect is currently attributed to palm oil consumption.