Affiliations 

  • 1 Malaysian Nuclear Agency
MyJurnal

Abstract

Samples of fine (PM2.5) and coarse (PM10-2.5) fraction of airborne particulate were collected on weekly basis during the period from May 2012 to July 2014 at Bangi, Selangor. The samples were collected using a Gent Stacked Filter Sampler in two fractions of < 2.5 µm and 2.5 - 10 µm sizes. This research paper aims at establishing the concentration level of PM2.5, PM10-2.5 and PM10 at Bangi area and investigates their possible sources and contribution to the ambient aerosol of the area. The samples were analyzed for their elemental composition and black carbon content by Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) and Smoke Stain Reflectometer, respectively. The average for PM2.5, PM10-2.5 and PM10 ranged from1.8 µg/m3 to 78.0 µg/m3, 9.6 µg/m3 to 76.8 µg/m3 and 12 µg/m3 to 134 µg/m3, respectively. Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) technique was also applied to fine and coarse data set in order to identify the possible sources of particulate matter (PM) and their contribution to the ambient particulate matter concentrations in the area. The best solution was found to be five factors for both elemental compositions of fine and coarse PM, respectively. The PMF results show that motor vehicles and secondary sulphate contribute about 40.3% and 33.0% of the fine mass respectively followed by soil, sea salt and smoke/biomass burning with the average contribution of 10.5%, 10.3% and 6.4%, respectively. In case of coarse particles the PMF results show that a large fraction of about more than 50% of the coarse mass comes from motor vehicle. Soil dust including road dust and soil construction contribute about 32.5% of the coarse mass whilst the smoke/biomass burning factor contributes about 6.7% of the coarse mass.