ASSESSMENT OF PARTICULATE MATTER 10µM (PM10) TRENDS IN TRONOH

PM10 is one of the major pollutant that can contribute significant effect towards the
health and environment and usually related with the high particulate event in Malaysia.
There were complaints regarding the air quality issue in Tronoh area where the air was
seen in hazy condition at which may involve PM10. From initial investigation, the
source of emission of PM10 may cause by the traffic, industrial and human activities.
The objective of this study is to investigate the trends of PM10 with the development
status and to compare the concentration of PM10 with the meteorological parameters
such as temperature and humidity. Air monitoring was carried out by using Aeroqual
AQM60 which was placed at 3 locations within 2km radius from flyover in Tronoh
for 1 weekday and 1 weekend at each location. Based on the 12 hours sampling, the
highest average concentration of PM10 recorded is 42.28µg/m3
. The calculation was
done to compare the average concentration of PM10 with air pollution index (API).
The results show the index of 42.28 which is below 50 which means the environment
is still in good condition. The results also show that temperature and humidity affect
the concentration of PM10. The study achieved its objective and should be continued
further to improve the air quality in Tronoh.