The Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 11 No 1 (2007): 145 – 153

 

 

PLATINUM, PALLADIUM AND RHODIUM LEVELS IN ROAD DUSTS OF KUALA LUMPUR AND GENTING SEMPAH TUNNEL, PAHANG

 

Hidayah Shahar* and Amran Ab. Majid

 

Schools of Chemical Sciences & Food Technology, Faculty of Science & Technology,

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

 

*Corresponding author: hidayahshahar@gmail.com

 

Abstract

An increasing demand of platinum group elements (PGE) especially platinum, palladium and rhodium in various industries has increased its concentration in the environment. Determination of PGE was measured in selected open and close sites using inductively coupled plasma–optical  emission  spectrometry  (ICP-OES)  and inductively  coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) . Results showed that Pt concentration in road dusts of open sampling area are in the range of not detected (ND) to 200.0 ng/g, while the concentration  of Rh is in the range of 8.02 ng/g to 97.32 ng/g. Pt and Rh in close sampling area, Genting Sempah Tunnel are in the range of not detected (ND) to 105.7 ± 61.1 ng/g and 8.4 ± 1.3 ng/g to 59.0 ± 5.5 ng/g respectively. The ratio of Pt to Rh in road dusts samples ranges from 1.2:1 to 7:1, while the ratio  in catalytic converter samples is 7:1. There is no Pd detected in any of the samples taken. The correlation between Pt, Rh and traffic- related elements with the traffic density of the sampling sites were discussed.

 

Keywords: ICP-OES, platinum, palladium, rhodium

 

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