Influences of inorganic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on the sources of PM2.5 in the Southeast Asian urban sites

Abstract

PM_2.5 released from urban sources and regional biomass fire is of great concern due to the deleterious effect on human health. This study was conducted to determine the chemical compositions andsource apportionment of PM_2.5. Twenty-four-hour PM_2.5 samples were collected at two urban monitoring sites in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 12 November 2013 to 15 January 2014 using a high volume air sampler (HVS). The source apportionment of PM_2.5 was determined using positive matrix factorization (PMF) version 5.0. Overall, the PM_2.5 mean concentrations ranged from 16 to 55 μg m⁻³ with a mean of 23 ± 9 μg m⁻³. The results of enrichment factor (EF) analysis showed that Zn, Pb, As, Cu, Cr, V, Ni, and Cs mainly originated from non-crustal sources. The dominant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were benzo[b]fluoranthene (B[b]F), benzo[ghi]perylene (B[ghi]P), indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene (I[cd]P), benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) and benzo[k]fluoranthene (B[k]F). PMF 5.0 results showed that the secondary aerosol coupled with biomass burning was the largest contributor followed by combustion of fuel oil and road dust, soil dust source and sea salt and nitrate aerosol, accounting for 34, 25, 24 and 17% of PM_2.5 mass, respectively. On the other hand, biomass and wood burning (42%) was the predominant source of PAHs followed by combustion of fossil fuel (36%) and natural gas and coal burning (22%). The broad overview of the PM_2.5 sources will help to adopt adequate mitigation measures in the management of future urban air quality in this region.

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