| Title: | Observations of BTEX in the ambient air of Kuala Lumpur by passive sampling |
| Author(s): | Hamid HHA; Latif MT; Uning R; Nadzir MSM; Khan MF; Ta GC; Kannan N; |
| Address: | "Institute for Environmental and Development (LESTARI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. Department of Earth Sciences and Environment, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. Department of Earth Sciences and Environment, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. talib@ukm.edu.my. Centre for Tropical Climate Change System, Institute of Climate Change, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Smart Green Consultancy Sdn Bhd, 20A Jalan Ipoh Kecil, Off Jalan Ipoh, 50350, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia" |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10661-020-08311-4 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1573-2959 (Electronic) 0167-6369 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX) are well known hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) due to their human health risks and photochemical effects. The main objective of this study was to estimate BTEX levels and evaluate interspecies ratios and ozone formation potentials (OFP) in the ambient air of urban Kuala Lumpur (KL) based on a passive sampling method with a Tenax(R) GR adsorbent tube. Analysis of BTEX was performed using a thermal desorption (TD)-gas chromatography mass spectrometer (GCMS). OFP was calculated based on the Maximum Incremental Reactivity (MIR). Results from this study showed that the average total BTEX during the sampling period was 66.06 +/- 2.39 mug/m(3). Toluene (27.70 +/- 0.97 mug/m(3)) was the highest, followed by m,p-xylene (13.87 +/- 0.36 mug/m(3)), o-xylene (11.49 +/- 0.39 mug/m(3)), ethylbenzene (8.46 +/- 0.34 mug/m(3)) and benzene (3.86 +/- 0.31 mug/m(3)). The ratio of toluene to benzene (T:B) is > 7, suggesting that VOCs in the Kuala Lumpur urban environment are influenced by vehicle emissions and other anthropogenic sources. The average of ozone formation potential (OFP) value from BTEX was 278.42 +/- 74.64 mug/m(3) with toluene and xylenes being the major contributors to OFP. This study also indicated that the average of benzene concentration in KL was slightly lower than the European Union (EU)-recommended health limit value for benzene of 5 mug/m(3) annual exposure" |
| Keywords: | *Air Pollutants Benzene Benzene Derivatives *Environmental Monitoring Humans Toluene Xylenes Btex Kuala Lumpur Passive sampling Td-gcms Tenax(R) sorbent tube; |
| Notes: | "MedlineHamid, Haris Hafizal Abd Latif, Mohd Talib Uning, Royston Nadzir, Mohd Shahrul Mohd Khan, Md Firoz Ta, Goh Choo Kannan, Narayanan eng AP-2015-010/Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia/ DIP-2019-006/Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia/ Netherlands 2020/05/10 Environ Monit Assess. 2020 May 8; 192(6):342. doi: 10.1007/s10661-020-08311-4" |
