Date of Award

1-1-2001

Thesis Type

Masters

Document Type

Thesis

Divisions

Faculty of Science

Department

-

Institution

Universiti Malaya

Abstract

The solvent-extractable hydrocarbons were identified in PM 10 airborne particles and roadside soil particles collected at eight locations in the city center and the suburb of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia during the period from November 1998 to January 1999. Airborne particles were collected using high-volume PM1o sampler on glass fiber filters over 24 h average sampling period. After ultrasonic agitation with dichloromethane, the extracts were concentrated and fractionated on an alumina-silica column into three major fractions (aliphatics, aromatics and polar compounds). The aliphatics and aromatics fractions were then subjected to gas chromatography-mass spectrometric (GCMS) analysis. The major hydrocarbons identified in these fractions were n-alkanes in the range of C11 to C34, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) ranging from phenanthrene (3 rings) to coronene (7 rings), and petroleum molecular markers including n-alkylcyclohexanes, pristane, phytane, hopanes, and steranes. The atmospheric concentrations of n-alkanes in urban Kuala Lumpur vary from 56.34 ± 9.84 to 178.90 ± 41.05 nglm3, whereas the concentrations in roadside soil particles range from 6.10 ± 4.97 to 13.88 ± 10.07 µgig. In atmospheric samples, the lower CPI values (CPI~ 1) and the shift of Cmax to lower molecular weight (e.g., C25) indicated that vehicular emissions (petrogenic) are the major source of these compounds in airborne particles. However, in roadside soil particles, the biogenic input of n-alkanes was more apparent. This can be illustrated by the higher CPI values and the high molecular weight Cmax (e.g., C31). Total PAHs concentrations in the atmospheric particles and roadside soil particles were found to be in the range of 1.84 ± 1.01 to 11.29 ± 4.99 ng/m3 and 0.19 ± 0.10 to 0.26 ± 0.17 µgig, respectively. Benzo[g,h,i]perylene and coronene, which are indicative of gasoline vehicle emissions were found to be the most abundant P AHs in airborne particles at all locations. The most abundant PAHs in the roadside soil particles were phenanthrene, fluoranthene, and pyrene. These compounds are indicative of diesel vehicle emissions. Thus, vehicular emissions are the primary contributor to PAHs concentration in Kuala Lumpur. For both airborne particles and roadside soil particles, the presence of petroleum molecular markers, coupled with the unresolved complex mixture (UCM) reflected the contamination by petroleum residues of vehicular emissions. The results of this study indicate that the solvent-extractable hydrocarbons in Kuala Lumpur's atmospheric and roadside soil particles are of mixed petrogenic and biogenic sources.

Initial

snms

Additional Information

Dissertation (M.A) -- Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, 2001.

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