Composition of heavy metals and airborne fibers in the indoor environment of a building during renovation

Our plain-English summary of Composition of heavy metals and airborne fibers in the indoor environment of a building during renovation, by M.T. Latif, N.H. Baharudin, P. Velayutham, et al (Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2011).

The study

• Authors: M.T. Latif, N.H. Baharudin, P. Velayutham, N. Awang, H. Hamdan, R. Mohamad, M.B. Mokhtar
• Journal: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
• Published: 2011;181(1-4):479-89
• Cited by: 12 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

The renovation of a building will certainly affect the quality of air in the vicinity of where associated activities were undertaken, this includes the quality of air inside the building. Indoor air pollutants such as particulate matter, heavy metals, and fine fibers are likely to be emitted during renovation work. This study was conducted to determine the concentration of heavy metals, asbestos and suspended particulates in the Biology Building, at the Universiti Kebangsaan, Malaysia (UKM). Renovation activities were carried out widely in the laboratories which were located in this building. A low-volume sampler was used to collect suspended particulate matter of a diameter size less than 10 μm (PM₁₀) and an air sampling pump, fitted with a cellulose ester membrane filter, were used for asbestos sampling. Dust was collected using a small brush and scope. The concentration of heavy metals was determined through the use of inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy and the fibers were counted through a phase contrast microscope. The concentrations of PM₁₀ recorded in the building during renovation action (ranging from 166 to 542 μg m⁻³) were higher than the value set by the Department of Safety and Health for respirable dust (150 μg m⁻³). Additionally, they were higher than the value of PM₁₀ recorded in indoor environments from other studies. The composition of heavy metals in PM₁₀ and indoor dust were found to be dominated by Zn and results also showed that the concentration of heavy metals in indoor dust and PM₁₀ in this study was higher than levels recorded in other similar studies. The asbestos concentration was 0.0038 ± 0.0011 fibers/cc. This was lower than the value set by the Malaysian Department of Occupational, Safety and Health (DOSH) regulations of 0.1 fibers/cc, but higher than the background value usually recorded in indoor environments. This study strongly suggests that renovation issues need to be considered seriously by relevant stakeholders within the university in order to ensure that the associated risks toward humans and indoor environment are eliminated, or where this is not feasible, minimized as far as possible.

In plain English

This study measured air and dust in five Biology Building laboratories at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia during renovation. The building was not completely evacuated, and no critical barrier with air filters or air flow devices separated work areas from occupied zones. The authors sampled airborne particles smaller than 10 micrometres (PM10), settled dust, and airborne fibers, counted by phase contrast microscopy. The article calls these asbestos fibers but names no specific asbestos mineral and reports only counting them. PM10 ranged from 166.7 to 541.7 micrograms per cubic metre in the laboratories and 166.7 to 458.3 in the corridor. All of these values exceeded the 150 set by the Malaysian DOSH for respirable dust. Zinc was the most abundant of the four metals measured, in both airborne particles and dust. Average fiber concentrations at the five laboratory stations ranged from 0.0022 to 0.0038 fibers/cc. This was below the DOSH value of 0.1 fibers/cc but above a cited outdoor background value of 0.0003 fibers/cc. The authors regarded these fiber levels as having the potential to cause disease, naming asbestosis and mesothelioma.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Environmental monitoring study. Airborne particles (PM10), settled indoor dust and airborne fibers were sampled during building renovation. Lead, cadmium, zinc and copper were measured, and fibers were counted by phase contrast microscopy (NIOSH 7400).
• Who was studied: Five laboratories in the Biology Building, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, renovated between November 2008 and February 2009, plus the corridor outside them.
• Exposure: Renovation work, including demolition, cutting, sand-blasting, cementing and painting. The building was not completely evacuated, and no critical barrier with air filters or other air flow devices was installed between work areas and occupied zones. The article refers to asbestos fiber samples but names no specific asbestos mineral.
• Main results:
  • PM10 ranged from 166.7 to 541.7 micrograms per cubic metre in the laboratories and from 166.7 to 458.3 in the corridor.
  • Even the lowest PM10 values in both the laboratories and the corridor exceeded the 150 micrograms per cubic metre recommended by the Malaysian DOSH for respirable dust.
  • In airborne particles, zinc was highest: 2,499 to 3,785 ng per cubic metre in the laboratories and 1,500 to 3,434 ng per cubic metre in the corridor.
  • All four metals in airborne particles were higher in the laboratories than in the corridor.
  • In settled indoor dust, zinc concentrations were the highest of the metals measured.
  • There was no significant correlation between metals in indoor dust and metals in airborne particles (p greater than 0.05).
  • Average airborne fiber concentrations at the five laboratory stations ranged from 0.0022 plus or minus 0.0002 to 0.0038 plus or minus 0.0011 fibers/cc.
  • The fiber concentrations were below the Malaysian DOSH regulation value of 0.1 fibers/cc.
  • The average fiber concentration exceeded an outdoor background value of 0.0003 fibers/cc taken from an earlier study.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors regarded the airborne fiber concentrations, which were higher than indoor background levels reported by other studies, as having potential to cause disease, naming asbestosis and mesothelioma.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Air Sampling.

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