Characterization of rainwater chemical composition after a Southeast Asia haze event: insight of transboundary pollutant transport during the northeast monsoon

Nadzir MSM 1 , Lin CY 2 , Khan MF 3 , Latif MT 4 , Dominick D 5 , Hamid HHA 4 Show all authors , Mohamad N 6 , Maulud KNA 7 , Wahab MIA 8 , Kamaludin NF 8 , Lazim MASM 9

Affiliations 

  • 1 Centre for Tropical Climate Change System (IKLIM), Institute of Climate Change, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. [email protected]
  • 2 Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, University Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 3 Centre for Tropical Climate Change System (IKLIM), Institute of Climate Change, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 4 School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 5 Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia
  • 6 Analytical and Environmental Chemistry Programme, School of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
  • 7 Earth Observation Center, Institute of Climate Change, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Malaysia
  • 8 Environmental Health and Industrial Safety Program, School of Diagnostic Science and Applied Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, 50300, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 9 School of Chemical Sciences and Food Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2017 Jun;24(18):15278-15290.
PMID: 28500553 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 (

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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