Ambient Levels, Emission Sources and Health Effect of PM2.5-Bound Carbonaceous Particles and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the City of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Atmosphere

Hamidah Suradi¹  MdFiroz Khan¹  HaasyimahAb Rahim¹  NorAsrina Sairi¹  MohdTalib Latif²  Md.Aynul Bari³  Yusuke Fujii⁴  Murnira Othman⁵  Sumiani Yusoff⁶  Kai Qin⁷ 

[1] Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia;Department of Earth Sciences and Environment, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor 43600, Malaysia;Department of Environmental & Sustainable Engineering, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222, USA;Department of Sustainable System Sciences, Graduate School of Humanities and Sustainable System Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, 1-1 Gakuen-cho, Naka-ku, Sakai, Osaka 599-8531, Japan;Institute for Environment and Development, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor 43600, Malaysia;Institute of Ocean and Earth Environmental (IOES), University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia;School of Environment and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China;

关键词: elemental carbon;    secondary organic carbon;    health impact;    polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon;    north-easterly monsoon;   

DOI  :  10.3390/atmos12050549

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

With increasing interest in understanding the contribution of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) to particulate air pollution in urban areas, an exploratory study was carried out to determine levels of carbonaceous aerosols and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. PM_2.5 samples were collected using a high-volume sampler for 24 h in several areas in Kuala Lumpur during the north-easterly monsoon from January to March 2019. Samples were analyzed for water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC), organic carbon (OC), and elemental carbon (EC). Secondary organic carbon (SOC) in PM_2.5 was estimated. Particle-bound PAHs were analyzed using gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Average concentrations of WSOC, OC, and EC were 2.73 ± 2.17 (range of 0.63–9.12) µg/m³, 6.88 ± 4.94 (3.12–24.1) µg/m³, and 3.68 ± 1.58 (1.33–6.82) µg/m³, respectively, with estimated average SOC of 2.33 µg/m³, contributing 34% to total OC. The dominance of char-EC over soot-EC suggests that PM_2.5 is influenced by biomass and coal combustion sources. The average of total PAHs was 1.74 ± 2.68 ng/m³. Source identification methods revealed natural gas and biomass burning, and urban traffic combustion as dominant sources of PAHs in Kuala Lumpur. A deterministic health risk assessment of PAHs was conducted for several age groups, including infant, toddler, children, adolescent, and adult. Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk of PAH species were well below the acceptable levels recommended by the USEPA. Backward trajectory analysis revealed north-east air mass brought pollutants to the studied areas, suggesting the north-easterly monsoon as a major contributor to increased air pollution in Kuala Lumpur. Further work is needed using long-term monitoring data to understand the origin of PAHs contributing to SOA formation and to apply source-risk apportionment to better elucidate the potential risk factors posed by the various sources in urban areas in Kuala Lumpur.

【 授权许可】

Unknown