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Source apportionment of surfactants in marine aerosols at different locations along the Malacca Straits

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Abstract

This study aims to determine the source apportionment of surfactants in marine aerosols at two selected stations along the Malacca Straits. The aerosol samples were collected using a high volume sampler equipped with an impactor to separate coarse- and fine-mode aerosols. The concentrations of surfactants, as methylene blue active substance and disulphine blue active substance, were analysed using colorimetric method. Ion chromatography was employed to determine the ionic compositions. Principal component analysis combined with multiple linear regression was used to identify and quantify the sources of atmospheric surfactants. The results showed that the surfactants in tropical coastal environments are actively generated from natural and anthropogenic origins. Sea spray (generated from sea-surface microlayers) was found to be a major contributor to surfactants in both aerosol sizes. Meanwhile, the anthropogenic sources (motor vehicles/biomass burning) were predominant contributors to atmospheric surfactants in fine-mode aerosols.

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Acknowledgement

This study was funded by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Malaysia (MOSTI) research grant, E-Science Fund 04-01-02-SF0752. We would like to thank Mrs. Caroline Brimblecombe, Ms. K Alexander and Ms. Fatimah Ahamad for proof reading this manuscript.

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  1. School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

    Nur Ili Hamizah Mustaffa, Mohd Talib Latif, Masni Mohd Ali & Md Firoz Khan

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  1. Nur Ili Hamizah Mustaffa
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  2. Mohd Talib Latif
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  3. Masni Mohd Ali
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  4. Md Firoz Khan
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Correspondence to Mohd Talib Latif.

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Responsible editor: Constantini Samara

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Mustaffa, N.I.H., Latif, M.T., Ali, M.M. et al. Source apportionment of surfactants in marine aerosols at different locations along the Malacca Straits. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 6590–6602 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2562-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2562-z

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