title: Source apportionment and health risk assessment of PM10 in a naturally ventilated school in a tropical environment.
abstract: This study aimed to investigate the chemical composition and potential sources of PM10 as well as assess the potential health hazards it posed to school children. PM10 samples were taken from classrooms at a school in Kuala Lumpur's city centre (S1) and one in the suburban city of Putrajaya (S2) over a period of eight hours using a low volume sampler (LVS). The composition of the major ions and trace metals in PM10 were then analysed using ion chromatography (IC) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), respectively. The results showed that the average PM10 concentration inside the classroom at the city centre school (82µg/m(3)) was higher than that from the suburban school (77µg/m(3)). Principal component analysis-absolute principal component scores (PCA-APCS) revealed that road dust was the major source of indoor PM10 at both school in the city centre (36%) and the suburban location (55%). The total hazard quotient (HQ) calculated, based on the formula suggested by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), was found to be slightly higher than the acceptable level of 1, indicating that inhalation exposure to particle-bound non-carcinogenic metals of PM10, particularly Cr exposure by children and adults occupying the school environment, was far from negligible.
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia; School of Ocean Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Noorlin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mohamad
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia; Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. Electronic address: talib@ukm.my.
authors.forename: Mohd Talib
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Latif
authors.affiliation: Centre for Tropical Climate Change System, Institute for Climate Change, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Md Firoz
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Khan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D002648:Child; D004391:Dust / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D010316:Particle Size; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis*; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000032:analysis; D014329:Tropical Climate
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D004391:Dust; D052638:Particulate Matter; D014131:Trace Elements
keywords: Chemical composition; Children; Health risk; PCA-APCS; Particulate matter; School environment