Scientific Articles/Reports, Newsletters and Press Releases
Title:
Characterization of rainwater chemical composition after a Southeast Asia haze event: insight of transboundary pollutant transport during the northeast monsoon
Date:
13-May-2017
Category:
Article
Source/Author:
Springer Link
Description:
Rainwater samples were collected after a prolonged drought and analyzed for heavy metals and major ion concentrations using inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) and ion chromatography (IC), respectively.
1.Centre for Tropical Climate Change System (IKLIM), Institute of Climate ChangeUniversiti Kebangsaan MalaysiaBangiMalaysia
2.School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, Faculty of Science and TechnologyUniversiti Kebangsaan MalaysiaBangiMalaysia
3.Institute of Climate ChangeUniversiti Kebangsaan MalaysiaBangiMalaysia
4.Department of Geology, Faculty of ScienceUniversity MalayaKuala LumpurMalaysia
5.Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI)Universiti Kebangsaan MalaysiaBangiMalaysia
6.Centre for Atmospheric ChemistryUniversity of WollongongWollongongAustralia
7.Analytical and Environmental Chemistry Programme, School of Marine and Environmental SciencesUniversiti Malaysia TerengganuKuala NerusMalaysia
8.Earth Observation Center, Institute of Climate Change, Universiti Kebangsaan MalaysiaBangiMalaysia
9.Department of Civil and Structural, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan MalaysiaBangiMalaysia
10.Environmental Health and Industrial Safety Program, School of Diagnostic Science and Applied Health, Faculty of Health SciencesUniversiti Kebangsaan MalaysiaKuala LumpurMalaysia
11.School of Chemical Sciences and Food Technology, Faculty of Science and TechnologyUniversiti Kebangsaan MalaysiaBangiMalaysia
Nadzir, M.S.M., Lin, C.Y., Khan, M.F. et al. Environ Sci Pollut Res (2017). doi:10.1007/s11356-017-9131-1
Abstract
Open biomass burning in Peninsula Malaysia, Sumatra, and parts of the Indochinese region is a major source of transboundary haze pollution in the Southeast Asia. To study the influence of haze on rainwater chemistry, a short-term investigation was carried out during the occurrence of a severe haze episode from March to April 2014. Rainwater samples were collected after a prolonged drought and analyzed for heavy metals and major ion concentrations using inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) and ion chromatography (IC), respectively. The chemical composition and morphology of the solid particulates suspended in rainwater were examined using a scanning electron microscope coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). The dataset was further interpreted using enrichment factors (EF), statistical analysis, and a back trajectory (BT) model to find the possible sources of the particulates and pollutants. The results show a drop in rainwater pH from near neutral (pH 6.54) to acidic (<pH 4.00) during the haze to non-haze transitional period, suggesting that the deposition rate of sulfate and nitrate in the atmosphere via the precipitation process was relatively lower compared to the mineral components. Zinc, nitrate, and calcium, which were the predominant elements in the first rainwater samples. Besides, the results of the SEM-EDS indicated that the zinc was possibly originated from anthropogenic activities which are consistent with the results obtained from EF. The BT model showed that pollutants transported from the mainland of Indo-China and the marine region in the South China Sea were responsible for the high pollution event in the study area. These findings can be useful in identifying contributions of pollutants from single or multiple sources in rainwater samples during haze episodes.
Keywords
Trace elements Rainwater Air pollution Drought Biomass burning Malaysia