Determining the Occupational Health and Safety of Workers in The Food Manufacturing Sector of Pakistan

Background: For organizations, conducting work in a safe environment has become mandatory under the provisions and guidelines provided by international and local laws. Occupational health and safety (OHS) standards have become a requisite in almost every industry these days; however, many organizations in developing countries are negligent at adhering to the safety measures, and there is also an absence of proper monitoring. Objective: Our objective was to determine the occupational health and safety standards that are prevailing in the food manufacturing sector of Pakistan. For this, we approached several food manufacturing companies and conducted interviews with quality assurance managers and health and safety executives to evaluate and analyze the workplace conditions to understand their OHS practices. Methods: We conducted 7 interviews with quality assurance managers in the food manufacturing and services companies of Pakistan. The interview guide was used for eliciting responses and a coding method was used to arrive at the themes of the data gathered. Results: The interviews conducted with quality assurance managers and those working to ensure that safety measures are practiced in their company, showed that the export-oriented food manufacturing companies in Pakistan are following OHS standards, as it has become a necessity, with numerous benefits such as ensuring worker safety, maintaining company reputation. However, the extent to which these measures are implemented and strictly followed varies, as there are certain issues that arise when companies try to follow and implement OHS practices The problems vary from company to company however, most of them relate to worker adaptability, costs, and training needs.  OHS situation in local firms is concerning. Most of them do not have HSE officers, not the concept of toolbox talk, no preventive and safety measures.  These poor practices make the situation unsafe, which lead to fatalities Conclusion: By establishing a national framework for policies and legislations as per the conventions of ILO for a better workplace environment along with proper law enforcement improvement in occupational health and safety domain can be achieved.      

Phytochemical Analysis and Plant Mediated Nanoparticles Synthesis from Quercus Incana

Phytochemical Analysis and Plant Mediated Nanoparticles Synthesis from Quercus Incana Traditional medicines play significant role as healers, in addition to the synthetic drugs, for different diseases. Plants form a significant part of traditional healing and hence, Quercus incana was chosen for nanoparticles synthesis, biological screening and phytochemical analysis to determine a scientific basis for the traditional use of this plant. The phytochemical screening was carried out using column chromatography (CC) followed by thin layer chromatography (TLC), identification and structure elucidation of pure compounds were done by using spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques (1D and 2D-NMR, IR, UV, Mass). Through phytochemical analysis, fourteen compounds were isolated, among them four compounds (decane-1, 1,4-triol [1], 4-hydroxy-3-(hydroxymethyl) pentanoic acid [2], 2-(4-hydroxybutan-2-yl)-5-methoxyphenol [3], and 3-(2-hydroxy-4 methoxyphenyl) butane-1, 1-diol) [4] were new rare class of aliphatic alcohols and acids. Along these new compounds ten known compounds (Cirsimaritian [5], Eupatorin [6], b-amyrin [7], Betulin [8], Ursolic Acid [9], 3 β-hydroxy-30-Norlupan-20-one[10], 12-Oleanen-3yl acetate [11], β-Sitosteryl-D-glycoside [12], 1-Triacontanol [13], and 4-methoxy-1-methyl-2-oxo-1, 2-dihydropyridine-3-carbonitrile) [14], were isolated for the first time from Quercus incana except Ursolic Acid. Small sized, polydispersed gold nanoparticles were synthesized using all fractions of Quercus incana (n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol, aqueous fraction) and isolated compound (b-amyrin). 4-Methoxy-1-methyl-2-oxo-1, 2-dihydropyridine-3-carbonitrile was used for the synthesis of monodispersed silver nanoparticles. Biological screening of extracts, nanoparticles and pure compounds showed tremendous results. All fractions of Quercus incana were analyzed for antioxidant activity, nitric oxide scavenging activity, total phenolic content and antimicrobial potential. Among all fractions, ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions showed immense biological activities as these fractions may contain polyhydroxy compounds which contribute to the enhancement of activities. Synthesized nanoparticles were screened for antibacterial activity and it was found that extract xi loaded nanoparticles may be used as antibacterial agents by comparing it with crude extract. Crude extract was found inactive at low concentration whereas nanoparticles showed good activity against human pathogens. The unique properties of silver and gold nanoparticles have stimulated the increasing interest in the application of nanoparticles in interfacing biological recognition events with signal transduction and in designing biosensing devices exhibiting novel functions. The recognition behavior of nanoparticles were explored with different drugs and results showed that only Ag-NPs (4-methoxy-1-methyl-2-oxo-1, 2-dihydropyridine-3-carbonitrile) had biosensing ability towards cephalexin. Isolated compounds were screened for anti-biofilm, cytotoxic and anticancer activity. Eupatorin, Cirsimaritin and β-Sitosteryl-D-glycoside showed good anti-biofilm activity which explored the medicinal use of these compounds in pharmaceutics as an anti-biofilm agent. A preliminary screening of natural product compounds was carried out against NCI-H460 (Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma) cell line. The compounds; 12-Oleanen-3yl acetate, Betulin, Eupatorin, and Cirsimaritin showed good anticancer activity. The compound, 12-Oleanen-3yl acetate was found more active anticancer agent against NCI-H460 cell line. Similarly, Cirsimaritin, 12-Oleanen-3yl acetate and Betulin showed good cytotoxic activity against NIH-3t3 (Normal Fibroblast) cell line.