Characterization of rainwater chemical composition after a Southeast Asia haze event: insight of transboundary pollutant transport during the northeast monsoon
RIS ID
114176
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 (
Publication Details
Citation Mohd Nadzir, M., Lin, C., Khan, M., Latif, M., Dominick, D., Hamid, H. Hafizal Abdul., Mohamad, N., Maulud, K. Nizam Abdul., Wahab, M. Ikram Abdul., Kamaludin, N. Farahana. & Lazim, M. Azwani Shah Mat. (2017). Characterization of rainwater chemical composition after a Southeast Asia haze event: insight of transboundary pollutant transport during the northeast monsoon. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 24 (18), 15278-15290.