Influence of different microenvironments on respirable particulate matter in pre-school of Kuala Terengganu,Malaysia

Respirable particulate matter (rsp) is one of the major indoor air pollutants that can cause infection on respiratory system especially for children less than six years of age. as children spent almost 90% of their daily time indoor either at home or pre-schools,there is a need to identify the influence of surrounding activities on indoor rsp concentration. failure to do so will amplify the chance of long-term and short-term respiratory system problems for these young children and reduced their learning environment and comfort. in this study,samples of rsp concentration for both indoor and outdoor at five selected pre-schools with different surrounding activities in kuala terengganu were collected. sampling was conducted during learning session (8.00 am to 12.30 pm) for three consecutive working days. the results showed that there were statistically significant influence of surrounding activities (p<0.05) on indoor respirable particulate matter in pre-school. coastal area had been identified as having the strongest influence (r2 = 0.97) followed by heavy industry (r2 = 0.96),planned residential (r2 = 0.91),commercial (r2 = 0.88) and rural area (r2 = 0.83),respectively. we conclude our findings by confirming the imperative influence of surrounding activities on indoor concentrations of respirable particulate in selected pre-schools in kuala terengganu. © penerbit umt.