By: Amirul Azuan Md Joni, Ferdius Mohamat-Yusuff, Nurhanin Aqila Mohammed Noor

Article Prepared By: Farah Izana binti Abdullah

The widespread use of agrochemicals in modern agriculture has led to agricultural non-point source pollution via waterways, eventually threatening aquatic and coastal ecosystems. Most of these compounds enter a water body via surface runoff. Such pollutants ultimately sink within the estuary bottom and thus become a major threat to aquatic and aquaculture organisms. Perak state is known as one of the main contributors to the aquaculture industry, especially cockle farming activity. However, information on the impact of agricultural runoff within an aquaculture area remains scarce. Therefore, an evaluation of the effect of selected agricultural runoff, specifically glyphosate, nitrate, and ammonia in the bottom water, as well as their possible sources, within an active cockle farming area in Bagan Pasir, Perak, Malaysia was conducted. Generally, glyphosate, nitrate, and ammonia were present within the study site with the average concentration of 37.44 μg/l, 1.65 mg/l, and 0.37 mg/l, respectively. All the target compound levels in Bagan Pasir active cockle farming area are still considered very low and are unlikely to have any negative impacts on cockles and other species in the area. The glyphosate and nitrate might be derived from an inland source while uniform and low levels of ammonia suggested might originate from lithogenic origins. Therefore, continuous monitoring remains encouraged.

Web: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112276

Date of Input: 09/05/2022 | Updated: 09/05/2022 | m_fakhrulddin