Identification of trace element in ambient air case study: Industrial estate in Waru, Sidoarjo, East Java

Metal is one of the air pollutants found in air particulates. The presence of heavy metals in air can be due to human activities or natural factors. Heavy metals can affect human health, causing respiratory disease and even death. The purpose of this study was to determine daily particulate matter (PM) concentrations in ambient air at the Waru Industrial Estate, analyze the results, and then characterize and estimate the locations of pollutant sources. PM was collected for 24-hour periods with gent stacked filter units. Filters were analyzed via X-ray fluorescence (XRF) to find concentrations of metal particles. The measurement data were analyzed via principal component analysis (PCA) and the conditional probability function (CPF) method in order to identify and estimate the industrial pollutant sources that contribute to these metal particles being in the ambient air. Results arrange PM_2.5 concentrations from 2.65 to 32.68 µg m^–3, with an average daily concentration of 17.67 ± 7.29 µg m^–3, whereas PM₁₀ concentrations ranged from 14.69 to 72.27 µg m^–3, with an average daily concentration of 40.70 ± 13.78 µg m^–3. The elements identified with XRF were Na, Mg, Al, Si, S, K, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cl. The PCA results explain that there are four main components (factors) which then become a potential source of pollutants, namely the first is a marker of industrial activity. the second indicates the activity of the metal smelting industry. third shows the contribution of sea salt. Fourth shows the biomass combustion emissions. The results of the CPF method show that the first factor originates from north to northeast with a probability of 0.5. The second factor comes from west to southwest with a probability of 0.4. The third factor comes from northeast to east with a probability of 0.4–0.45.