The Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 12 No 1 (2008): 187 – 194

 

 

ANALYSIS OF PM₁₀ IN KUALA TERENGGANU BY INSTRUMENTAL NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS

 

Norhayati Mohd Tahir¹, Poh Seng Chee¹, Suhaimi Hamzah², Khalik Hj Wood², Shamsiah Abd. Rahman²,

Wee Boon Siong², Suhaimi Elias²  and Nazaratul Ashifa Abdullah Salim².

 

¹Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu,

_{21030 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu}

²Pusat Nuklear Negara, Bangi 4300 Kajang, Selangor

 

Abstract

Instrumental neutron activation analysis was used for the determination of trace elements in airborne  particulate matter (PM₁₀) for air pollution monitoring. For the collection of air samples, the PM₁₀   high volume sampler unit and Whatman 41 cellulose filter papers were employed. Samples were collected at 13 selected sampling sites covering areas in the city center, inner and outer city of Kuala Terengganu during the month of March 2005. The average PM₁₀ was 69.64 µgm^-3, 83.58 µgm^-3 and 72.22 µgm^-3  for sampling stations located in the city center, inner and outer city of Kuala Terengganu, respectively. It was found that the mass of air particles in the  study area was higher compared to Bangi and Kuala Lumpur. Chemical analysis of selected elements (Al, Fe, Cu, Pb, V, Mn, Zn, Cr, As  Cd), ionic species (Na⁺, SO₄^2-, Cl^-, NH₄⁺,Mg²⁺, K⁺ , Ca²⁺) and some rare earth  elements (REE) were included in this study. In general, most of the average concentration of trace elements  in the city center sampling stations was generally higher than the inner and outer city sampling stations.  The concentrations of trace elements in sampling stations follow the general trend of Al>Fe>Zn>Cu>Mn>Pb>V>Cr>As>Ni>Cd. The elements concentration ranged from 680-2119 ngm^-3,  170-1132 ngm^-3, 8.13-122.4 ngm^-3, 8.48-77.3 ngm^-3, 7.68-14.4 ngm^-3, 1-90.4 ngm^-3, 1.47-3.25 ngm^-3, 1.43-5.03 ngm^-3, 1.15-4.45 ngm^-3, 0.24-3.75 ngm^-3  and 0.28-1.36 ngm^-3, respectively.

 

Key words: airborne particulate matter, trace elements, PM₁₀, INAA, Kuala Terengganu

 

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