The uptake and effect of Formaldehyde on Jasminum sambac plants using UV-Vis Spectrophotometer

Over the past few years, the issue of pollution from the grave is often taken into account and always become a study material and research. The most commonly used method for disposal of dead bodies and limbs is incineration. Incineration has been used for decades. Previously, biological specimen at the Hospital University of Sains Malaysia (HUSM) was disposed of through incinerators. Given that the majority of HUSM patients are Muslim societies, then proposals to dispose biological waste in an Islamic-compliant through burial method is done. Incineration of dead bodies will have a bad impact on the environment and human health. New ways have been introduced to overcome this problem by burial of formalin fixed specimen onto the soil. However, formalin preservation on specimen is a main concern. This study was done to determine the effect of the formaldehyde on the growth of the Jasminum sambac and the physical characteristic of the plant hence to determine the uptake of formaldehyde that the plants absorb. The results obtained from this research will give valuable information on the effect of formaldehyde on the environment specifically on the plant to the community at HUSM. This study also determines whether the formalin fixed specimen by burial method give negative or positive effect to the environment. The physical characteristics of the plant after treated with formaldehyde shows a negative growth with decrease in number of leaves and flowers as well as in the surface area of leaf Other than that, the colors of leaves were changes from dark green to brownish color for the plants that treated with formaldehyde. The relative water content in leaves were achieved by measured the fresh, dry and turgid weight of leaves. The Jasminum sambac root, stem, flowers and leaves were blended to obtain the powder form. The uptakes of formaldehyde were obtained using UV-Vis Spectrophotometer. The result demonstrated that the highest formaldehyde concentration uptakes were found in the root with 0.02% from the actual concentration that applied to the plants. The evidence provided by this study demonstrated that the formaldehyde uptake followed the order of root>stem>flowers>leaves. In conclusion, formaldehyde application destroyed the plant and cause the physical characteristic of the plants does not grow well even with the lower concentration.