Effluents
Effluents come from both direct and indirect sources. Direct sources include industries, agriculture, domestic households and hotels. Indirect sources include forest clearing, solid waste dumping, disease control (excess chemicals) and oil spills at sea.
Effluent discharges into the sea normally originate from industries, domestic and municipal sources, as well as from agricultural activities such as pig farming. The discharges are both organic and inorganic and include toxic chemicals, such as heavy metals, pesticides and oxygen-consuming materials. The increase in levels of these pollutants in Malaysian seas is one repercussion of the massive development which occurred in the country during the 1980s and 1990s. A number of measures have been taken locally to control these discharges.
- Information in the full article includes
- Organic matter
- Inorganic nutrients
- Synthetic compounds