Morphological and elemental analysis of fineparticulate matter (PM2.5) at background station in Malaysia
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Date
2016-09-01
Authors
Teh Nur Amalina Mohd Zaki
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Abstract
Monitoring and sampling of PM2.5 concentrations were held at background station of
Malaysia (Jerantut). The aim of this research is to analyze the morphological and
elemental compositions of PM2.5 then identifying the sources of PM2.5. Potential
sources were identified by site profiling within 10 km radius from the monitoring
station. Then statistical analysis and Pearson correlation were conducted using
Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) program in describing PM2.5
concentration. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy together with Energy
Dispersive X-ray Spectrometer (FESEM-EDX) were used to analyze morphological
and elemental compositions of each particle and the particles were classified based
on the major sources; anthropogenic, natural and biological. The abundant of
potential sources came from southeast direction and were classified into three
groups; industries, constructions and traffic from Jerantut town. PM2.5 concentration
was in the range of 6 μg/m3 to 98 μg/m3 and the average was 33 ± 16 μg/m3which
exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. The most abundant
particles found in Jerantut were biological particles with 52%, followed by
anthropogenic particles (45%) and natural particles (3%). The major elements in
anthropogenic particles were Na and Ba, while for natural particles were S and K.
One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) together with Duncan’s Multiple Range
Test were used for further classification of elements from the anthropogenic particles
and the sources identified were industrial, construction and traffic. Therefore, based
on the morphological and elemental analysis of PM2.5 in Jerantut, majority of the
sources of PM2.5 at the background station came from biological sources, but
industrial, constructions, traffic and natural sources also contributed significantly to
PM2.5 emissions.