Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (Pahs): Contamination Level and Risk Assessment in Urban Areas, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Desalination and Water Treatment 57 (2016) 171–190 www.deswater.com January

doi: 10.1080/19443994.2015.1021103

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs): contamination level and risk assessment in urban areas, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Nur-Aainaa-Syaﬁni Mohd Radzia,*, Nor Kartini Abu Bakara, C.U. Emenikeb,c, Mhd Radzi Abasa aEnvironmental Research Group, Faculty of Science, Department of Chemistry, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Tel. +603 79674204; Fax: +603 7967 4193; email: [email protected] (N.-A.-S. Mohd Radzi) bFaculty of Science, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia cCentre for Green Technology and Sustainability, Malaysia University of Science and Technology, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Received 5 October 2014; Accepted 4 February 2015

ABSTRACT

We are reporting the distribution of 15 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in roadside soils and road dusts of ﬁve industrial areas around Kuala Lumpur city, namely Chan Saw Lin, Kuchai, Segambut, Kepong-1, and Kepong-2 using GC-MS and assessing their toxicological risk. The total PAH concentrations of PAHs in roadside soils of the industrial areas ranged from 2804 ± 2645 μg/kg (Kepong-2) to 18384 ± 12324 μg/kg (Chan Saw Lin), while for the road dusts, it ranged from 3056 ± 1929 μg/kg (Kepong-2) to 13581 ± 5295 μg/kg (Segambut). High molecular weight PAHs dominated the distribution of PAHs in all sampling locations for roadside soils and in road dust except for road dust of the Segambut industrial areas. Result of isomeric pair ratios and PCA used for the identi- ﬁcation of the PAHs sources, suggested that the contribution of petrogenic sources is greater than the pyrogenic sources in almost all studied locations. Total B[a]Peq for roadside soils and road dusts of studied areas, recorded highest in Chan Saw Lin and lowest in Kepong-2. Cancer risks caused by a long-period exposure to the PAHs in roadside soils of studied areas are still considered very low.

Keywords: PAHs; Roadside soils; Road dusts; Risk assessment; Cancer risk

*Corresponding author.

Presented at the International Conference on Business, Economics, Energy and Environmental Sciences (ICBEEES) 19–21 September 2014, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia