Affiliations 

  • 1 Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. Electronic address: murnira@ukm.edu.my
  • 2 Department of Earth Sciences and Environment, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 3 Centre for Toxicology and Health Risk Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, 50300, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 4 Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 5 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Chemosphere, 2021 Jan;262:127767.
PMID: 32763576 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.127767

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the spatial distribution of PM2.5 and PM10 collected in four regions (North, Central, South and East Coast) of Peninsular Malaysia during the southwest monsoon. Concurrent measurements of PM2.5 and PM10 were performed using a high volume sampler (HVS) for 24 h (August to September 2018) collecting a total of 104 samples. All samples were then analysed for water soluble inorganic ions (WSII) using ion chromatography, trace metals using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). The results showed that the highest average PM2.5 concentration during the sampling campaign was in the North region (33.2 ± 5.3 μg m-3) while for PM10 the highest was in the Central region (38.6 ± 7.70 μg m-3). WSII recorded contributions of 22% for PM2.5 and 20% for PM10 mass, with SO42- the most abundant species with average concentrations of 1.83 ± 0.42 μg m-3 (PM2.5) and 2.19 ± 0.27 μg m-3 (PM10). Using a Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) model, soil fertilizer (23%) was identified as the major source of PM2.5 while industrial activity (25%) was identified as the major source of PM10. Overall, the studied metals had hazard quotients (HQ) value of <1 indicating a very low risk of non-carcinogenic elements while the highest excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) was recorded for Cr VI in the South region with values of 8.4E-06 (PM2.5) and 6.6E-05 (PM10). The incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) calculated from the PAH concentrations was within the acceptable range for all regions.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.