UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

CAWANGAN PULAU PINANG

ENVIRONMENTAL LABORATORY
CEW545
OCT 2020 – FEB 2021
TITLE OF EXPERIMENT : Air Particles Measurement

DATE OF EXPERIMENT : 28TH OCTOBER

GROUP : PEC221 7 H2

GROUP MEMBERS 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

LECTURER : PN. SABARIAH BINTI BADREALAM

LEVEL OF OPENESS :
1 2 3
1. INTRODUCTION
Particulates in the air vary from location to location within the area. Air particles are tiny
subdivisions of solid matter suspended in a gas or liquid. In contrast, aerosol refers to
particles and/or liquid droplets and the gas together. Sources of particulate matter can be
manmade or natural. Large amount of air particles in the environment is the main cause of
air pollution which can bring various implications such as health problem and reduce
visibility.

2. OBJECTIVES
To determine and to compare the particulate concentrations at indoor and outdoor.

3. LEARNING OUTCOMES
 To identify the appropriate experiment to determine the air particles at indoor and
outdoor.
 To analyse and interpret the data and identify the concentration of air particles at indoor
and outdoor.

4. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Higher air particles in the air could lead to deterioration on health among human and animal
and also limit the vision. Particulate matter contains microscopic solids or liquid droplets
that are so small that they can be inhaled and cause serious health problems. Particles less
than 10 micrometers in diameter pose the greatest problems, because they can get deep
into your lungs, and some may even get into your bloodstream.
Fine particles (<PM2.5) are the main cause of reduced visibility (haze) in parts of the United
States, including many of our treasured national parks and wilderness areas.
Based on the Air Pollutant Index (API) governed by the Department of Environment (DOE)
Malaysia, air quality in terms of human health impacts and implications are categorized as
follows;

API Descriptor
0 – 50 Good
51 – 100 Moderate
101 – 200 Unhealthy
201 – 300 Very unhealthy
> 300 Hazardous
5. PROBLEM STATEMENT
In actual practice, students need to measure the air particles at two different locations
namely indoor and outdoor. However, for this online lab session, students are required to
browse any relevant video/method from YouTube/Journal/research article to determine on
how to conduct this experiment. Students need to analyze the data and compare the
particles count at both locations. Students also need to discuss factors affecting the result.

6. APPARATUS
 DustMate – Environmental Dust Detector

7. PROCEDURES
a. The DustMate Dust Detector was switched on.
b. Then the start button was pressed.
c. “Yes” was selected on the Reset Memory section. The “Enter” button was pressed.
d. Then, the up-arrow button was pressed as a “Yes” to indicate the test for Sample no 1.
The “Enter” button was pressed.
e. Then, the instrument was allowed to take its reading at two different locations, which
are indoor and outdoor.
f. The air particles data was recorded from the instrument.

8. RESULTS
 Location 1: Outdoor

Time Total particles PM10 PM2.5 PM1

(min) (µg/m3) (µg/m3) (µg/m3) (µg/m3)
1 76.6 40.0 18.19 9.47
2 65.3 40.4 16.74 8.79
3 69.2 40.8 16.19 8.35
4 70.9 39.4 15.91 8.29
5 66.4 40.4 14.86 8.09
6 66.7 41.9 15.50 7.93
7 59.2 38.7 14.49 7.45
8 80.0 37.2 14.07 7.45
9 51.0 34.3 13.45 7.04
10 78.3 41.1 12.59 6.96
11 55.5 30.6 12.83 6.68
 12 63.4 32.6 12.68 6.72
13 58.8 36.2 12.83 6.77
14 66.8 36.3 12.69 6.69
15 73.0 36.6 12.95 6.69
Average 66.74 37.77 14.40 7.56
 Location 2: Indoor

Time Total particles PM10 PM2.5 PM1

(min) (µg/m3) (µg/m3) (µg/m3) (µg/m3)
1 29.1 17.3 8.69 4.57
2 31.7 18.5 8.50 4.37
3 39.2 19.9 8.71 4.60
4 28.3 18.3 8.27 4.30
5 24.8 16.8 7.51 3.96
6 26.8 14.2 6.93 3.81
7 23.0 14.2 6.85 3.73
8 26.9 14.5 6.38 3.53
9 17.5 12.3 6.43 3.55
10 15.4 9.7 6.11 3.34
11 17.3 9.8 6.26 3.22
12 18.8 10.1 5.78 3.21
13 20.5 10.8 5.82 3.14
14 12.7 8.2 5.52 3.06
15 35.1 10.6 5.41 2.91
Average 24.47 13.68 6.88 3.69

9. DISCUSSION
From data collected, the average total particles of indoor and outdoor has shown a great
changes, 66.67 µg/m3 to 24.47 µg/m3 for outdoor giving the percentage different is 63.34%.
The location of data taken is the main factor that influences the result. Outdoor location is
mainly known to have various airborne solid particles and liquid droplets that can be inhaled
and may cause serious health problems.
Surrounding every 5-20km of the data taken we observed there were a few places that
incites our data, for example at the Perai Industrial a lot of gas emission were produced.
Then one of the main road for people to go into highway around Bandar Perda, Permatang
Pauh, and Bukit Mertajam is connected through the road of UITM. Heavy vehicles such as
lorries 10 tan up to 30 tan always use the same road. The amount of dust carried and gas
emission were released into our air surrounding. That explains the bigger air particles
presences in our outdoor data.
References :
1. OMEGA Engineering Ltd. (2018, August 29). Measuring Particle Pollution. AZoM
2. How, C. Y., & Ling, Y. E. (2016). The influence of PM2. 5 and PM10 on Air Pollution Index
(API). Environmental Engineering, Hydraulics and Hydrology: Proceeding of Civil
Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor, Malaysia, 3, 132.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, we had successfully achieved the main objective of this experiments which is
to determine and compare the particulate concentrations at outdoor and indoor location.
The laboratory data were analysed accordingly and on average it shows that the particulate
concentration is higher at the outdoor location compared to indoor, where the total
particles for outdoor is 66.74 µg/m 3 compared to indoor which is only 24.47 µg/m 3. This also
shows that the outdoor location must be near the main source of air pollution like
Industries, Vehicle gas emissions on the road and development activities. The possible
location of the outdoor data is at the main gate of UiTMPP where it is near the road and
development activities. The possible indoor location is in the classroom of BKBA where it is
far from the main source of air pollution. Based on the data of Malaysian Ambient Air
Quality Guidelines from DOE, the standard concentration of Particulate Matter (PM 10) is 150
µg/m3, and from the laboratory data that we achieved, it is lower than the standard which
are only 37.77 µg/m3 and 13.68 µg/m3 for outdoor and indoor location. This shows that the
air quality for both locations is good but we must take this as a guideline for us to make an
improvement for better and healthy lifestyle as the source of air pollution is increasing day
by day, especially in a developing country like Malaysia.