Abstract
This study aims to measure the concentration of heavy metals of concern Lead (Pb), Copper (Cu), Chromium (Cr), Cadmium (Cd) and Nickel (Ni) at three university campus buildings which was situated adjacent to an industrial district. Heavy metals particulates were sampled from the PM10 sampling device (Met One Instrument) in 24 hours sampling between lecture and holiday periods. Determination of heavy metals concentrations were conducted using Inductively Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) after the filter papers were digested with mixture of nitric acid (HNO3) and sulphuric acid (H2SO4). These heavy metal concentrations were compared to the Standard Concentration on Air such as World Health Organization Health (WHO), Ambient Air Quality Criteria Act 1994 (AAQC), National Environment Protection Council (NEPS) and also Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The comparison with Standard Concentration of Air shows that Cd and Cu have low concentrations 0.0033±0.0018 μg/m3 and 0.0894±0.0614 μg/m3 while Cr and Ni have high concentrations of 0.1882±0.0535 μg/m3 and 0.1278±0.0323 μg/m3 respectively. The Pb gives irregular result and high standard deviation of 2.0410±3.4999 μg/m3. This finding produces significant contribution to some knowledge of the level of heavy metals in the study area. It identifies research needs and suggests potential approaches to addressing outstanding problems.
Highlights
Semiconductor industry contributes greatly for Malaysia economy which is 26.94% for manufacturing output such as chemical substance manufacturing plants, car manufacturing, wood processing, food and beverages, 48.7% for exports and 32.5% for employment which all these factories are capable to provide employment opportunities to many people [1]
Air pollution is a must to be worried for, because some previous research show that the concentrations of heavy metal in ambient air are higher than the allowable rate
In Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) campus, Mohamed et al [7] has assesed the levels of Pb, Cu, Cr, Cd, Ni, Zn in ambient air and was found the concentrations of Cr, Cd, and Ni exceeded the standard concentrations which were 0.0100 μg/m3, 0.0050 μg/m3 and 0.0150 μg/m3, respectively
Summary
Semiconductor industry contributes greatly for Malaysia economy which is 26.94% for manufacturing output such as chemical substance manufacturing plants, car manufacturing, wood processing, food and beverages, 48.7% for exports and 32.5% for employment which all these factories are capable to provide employment opportunities to many people [1]. Due to its proximity to a nearby industrial park (activities include data centers, electrical appliances manufacturing, wood processing plants, corrugated carton maker and packaging facilities) and its location in a hilly terrain (Fig. 1), events of air pollution and its persistence, especially that of heavy metals is of particular concern to the health and well-being of the student and faculty population. The semiconductor industry uses Cd, Cu and Pb; plastic industry, dye substances and ink pigments and chemical manufacturing uses Pb, Cu, Cd, Ni and Cr which for dye substances, heavy metals are needed to produce color such as orange (Cd), black (Ni), and green (Cr) while Cd, Cr and Pb are required in processing organic and inorganic chemical [8,9] This element is easy to be absorbed by water and vapor whereby they can be harmful to human health and aquatic life. Exposure of heavy metals can cause major health effect such as acute, chronic or temporary effect, throat irritation coughing, chest pain, and general discomfort are some of temporary effect from the exposure of heavy metals [9, 10]
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