Sains Malaysiana 40(6)(2011): 569–575

Heavy Metal Concentrations in Ceiling Fan Dusts Sampled at Schools Around Serdang Area, Selangor

(Kepektan Logam Berat di dalam Habuk Kipas Siling yang Disampel di Sekolah-sekolah di Serdang, Selangor)

C. K. Yap*, T. Krishnan & W. Chew

Department of Biology, Faculty of Science

Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, D.E., Malaysia

Received: 23 March 2010 / Accepted: 2 September 2010

ABSTRACT

In this study, ceiling fan dust samples were collected from three schools in the district of Serdang Selangor, Malaysia. The sampled dust were analysed for the concentrations of Cd, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb and Zn. The heavy metal ranges found in all the schools were 2.96-7.74 μg/g dry weight for Cd, 75-442 μg/g dry weight for Cu, 3445-3852 μg/g dry weight for Fe, 24-66 μg/g dry weight for Ni, 140-734 μg/g dry weight for Pb and 439-880 μg/g dry weight for Zn. SMK Seri Serdang School was found to have elevated concentrations of Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn which indicated the anthropogenic sources of the study sites. In comparison to other reported studies in the literature, the maximum levels of Cd, Cu, Ni, and Pb were comparable or higher to those cities reported. Therefore, more monitoring studies should be conducted in future since dusts could be related to human health hazards and the dusts can be used as a potential monitoring tool for heavy metal pollution in the atmosphere.

Keywords: Ceiling fan dust; heavy metals; schools

ABSTRAK

Di dalam kajian ini, habuk kipas siling telah dikumpul di tiga sekolah di kawasan Serdang Selangor, Malaysia. Habuk yang disampel telah dianalisis untuk kepekatan bagi Cd, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb dan Zn. Julat kepekatan logam berat di semua sekolah adalah 2.96-7.74 μg/g berat kering bagi Cd, 75-442 μg/g berat kering bagi Cu, 3445-3852 μg/g berat kering bagi Fe, 24-66 μg/g berat kering bagi Ni, 140-734 μg/g berat kering bagi Pb and 439-880 μg/g berat kering bagi Zn. SMK Sri Serdang didapati mempunyai kepekatan tinggi bagi Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn and ini menunjukkan sumber antropogenik di kawasan kajian. Berbanding dengan kajian yang dilaporkan di dalam kepustakaan, tahap maksimum bagi Cd, Cu, Ni, dan Pb adalah setanding atau lebih tinggi daripada bandar-bandar yang dilaporkan. Oleh itu, lebih kajian pemonitoran perlu dijalankan pada masa hadapan kerana habuk boleh dikaitkan dengan risiko kesihatan manusia dan habuk boleh digunakan sebagai alat pemonitoran yang berpotensi bagi pencemaran logam berat di atmosfera.

Kata kunci: Habuk kipas siling; logam berat; sekolah

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*Corresponding author; email: yapckong@hotmail.com