Measurement of Indoor Air Pollutants in National Museum, Kuala Lumpur

The objective of this study is to assess the level of air quality parameters (NO₂, NO, NO_x SO₂, and O₃) in the National Museum of Kuala Lumpur as well as to identify whether the air quality in the museum is acceptable for the workers of the museum and for the public to visit the museum. The diffusion tube used to collect the sample was provided by Gradko Environmental (Gradko International Ltd., United Kingdom). The tubes were exposed for 479 hours from 17 June, 2015 to 07 July, 2015 at four various location of the museum for example Lobby Entrance Hall (Location 1), Gallery C- The Colonial Era (Location 2), Gallery B - The Malay Kingdom (Location 3) and Archeological Repository (Location 4). The concentration of O₃ and SO₂ were analysed by Ion Chromatography while NO₂ and NO_x were analysed by UV Spectrometry. The values of these parameters were then compared to the permitted values defined in Malaysian Ambient Air Quality Guideline. The results show that the level of SO₂ in Location 1 and Location 2 are 1.98 μg/m³ and 1.81 μg/m³ respectively, whilst the level in both Location 3 and Location 4 were found to be below detection limit of 1.12 μg/m³. The level of O₃ ranges from < 4.10 - 7.65 μg/m³. The highest concentration was found in Gallery C (7.65 μg/m³) whilst the lowest concentration was found in Archeological Repository (<4.10 μg/m³). All locations have relatively high level of NO and NO₂ except for Archeological Repository in which the NO₂ concentration was found to be very low in this location (6.06 μg/m³). NO concentration ranges from 33.2 - 43.9 μg/m³ whilst NO₂ ranges from 6.06 - 50.15 μg/m³. Generally, all measurements conducted in this study were found to be lower than the average value given in the Malaysian Ambient Air Quality Guideline. (author)