Particulate matter emission at selected construction area in Kuantan

Abstract

The release of particulate matter from the construction area is undeniable. The spread of PM2.5 and PM10 also occurs with the presence of wind velocity and wind direction blowing through the study area, Priya construction site in Kuantan, Pahang Darul Makmur. It is not trivial to state that PM2.5 and PM10 emissions have received less attention from the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) the agency that regulates, facilitates and develops the construction industry in Malaysia. Therefore, this research aims to investigate the dispersion of PM2.5 and PM10 using the Rstudio software and WRPLOT Software, in analysing and plotting wind rose using the meteorological data. Rstudio, a state-of-the-art technology software tool helps determine the dispersion of PM2.5 and PM10 that is emitted from the activities at the construction site. Thus, the particulate matter was monitored daily for the 6 months from June to November 2020 using an Aeroqual’s series 500, a portable air quality monitor, to collect data at the construction at Priya Construction site, Penor, Pahang. Two different data, particulate matter concentration and meteorology data (Malaysian Meteorological Department) were analysed together in Rstudio to map the PM2.5 pattern distribution. The meteorology data were analysed under the WRPLOT software, automating the process of calculating wind direction and frequency, and produced other information such as wind rose pattern, frequency distribution and wind rose graph. Rstudio, an integrated development environment, analyzed the PM2.5 concentration together with meteorological data in openair package, in constructing the coding instruction using the core function and mandatory variables. The WRPLOT result was found that the total of 15% wind was blown from the south, 9% wind blown from south-southwest, 8% wind blown from north and 39.96% wind blown from other directions. Most of the wind speed are presented at the construction site were between 0.5 to 2.10 m/s and between 2.10 to 3.60 m/s. The Rstudio was interpreted that 24% of PM2.5 dispersed from the South-southwest with 14%, most the frequency of count by wind direction 5 to 10 μg/m3, 18% of PM2.5 dispersed from the East, with 8%, most the frequency of count by wind direction 0 to 5 μg/m3, 13% of PM2.5 dispersed from two different wind direction, North-northeast and Southwest, where 6% and 4% most the frequency of count by wind direction, with 0 to 5 μg/m3 and 5 to 10 μg/m3 respectively. On top of that, the bivariate polar showed that about 0 to 8 μg/m3 of PM2.5 distributed to the North (N), Northwest (NW), Southwest (SE), and Northeast (NE) areas in the range of 4 m/s to 18 m/s within 6 months from June to November 2020. The spread of PM2.5 occurs with the presence of wind where the time of the presence of this wind is difficult to predict and it cannot be controlled. Activities in the construction area is a very significant source of PM emissions and it should be regulated by emphasizing stricter regulations in the construction area. However, if viewed from a legal point of view, the continuous monitoring of PM2.5 and PM10 is not placed in any legal act or guidelines under government agencies such as CIDB, DOE, JKR or local authority. Finally, the use of Rstudio as a statistical computing is able to provide the results of the spread of PM with a clearer visual and the environmental impact can be controlled by controlling the activities that occur in the construction area.