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Introduction: Heavy metals exposure through the consumption of seafood are an environmental issue of concern. Biomonitoring of whole blood heavy metals concentration give an insight on the total internal body burden. The level of heavy metals of an individual are interrelated to the genetic polymorphism of glutathione S-tranferases (GSTs). This study aims to determine the association between blood arsenic (BAs), blood cadmium (BCd) and blood lead (BPb) concentration as reported in previous report and polymorphic variants of GST genes. Methods: Sixty three adult respondents were recruited along the coastal area of Melaka through purposive sampling in February 2016. Blood samples were collected through venipuncture procedure by certified personnel in EDTA tubes. The inductively coupled plasma- mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) instrumentation was used to analyse the blood heavy metals concentration. DNA was extracted from the whole blood samples. The polymorphic variants of GSTM1 and GSTT1 were analysed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and polymorphic variants of GSTP1 were analysed by polymerase chain reaction- restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Results: The BAs, BCd and BPb median (IQR) concentrations detected were 0.076 (0.059 -- 0.107), 1.204 (0.670 -- 2.094) and 0.076 (0.038-0.138) (µg/L) respectively. The prevalence of genetic polymorphism in GSTM1 and GSTT1 of 63.5% and 38.1% were observed. The number of respondents who have both deleted genes for GSTM1 and GSTT1 was 17 (27%). The frequency of genetic polymorphism in GSTP1 was 55.5%, in which 29 (46.0%) of the respondents were having the heterozygous (Ile/Val) polymorphism while the other 6 (9.5%) respondents were having the homozygous mutant (Val/Val). Conclusion: The polymorphic GST gene variations were not statistically linked to heavy metal concentrations. Respondents with the Val/Val genotype in GSTP1 and both GSTM1 and GSTT1 deletions, had a greater median of BAs and BPb [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The zakat instrument plays an important role as a component in the economic system to build a more prosperous socio-economy for Muslims in Malaysia, in addition to the existing tax system. The total collection of zakat on income increases every year in each state. This is caused by various factors, including the possibility of zakat payers who pay zakat on income in excess of the zakat obligatory rate. However, the purpose of this study is to determine the factors that influence zakat payers to pay zakat on income in excess of the zakat obligatory rate. This study is significant because the zakat institution needs to focus on these factors so that the amount of zakat collection of income will continue to increase at a larger rate, which will ultimately increase the benefits of zakat distribution to asnaf. This study examined the factors that influence the Muslim community to pay zakat on income in excess of the prescribed rates. It also analyzed the community’s perception of the implementation of the zakat and tax systems in Malaysia. Descriptive analysis of mean score test, Alpha Cronbach analysis, and values of difference in GAP mean were applied to respondents at Jabatan Agama Islam Melaka (JAIM). The findings show that the ratio of income zakat payment to the obligatory zakat exceeded by 0.4, which is capable of constituting 21 percent of total zakat collection of Melaka. Interestingly, the study finds that this behaviour is driven by religious factors and that the altruism factor significantly affects the behaviour of paying income zakat in excess. Next, the results of the study show that the majority of respondents are more satisfied with the zakat information and system rather than with the tax system. Some suggestions and policy implications were also discussed in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]