Exposure to Air Pollutants and Its Relation on Lung Function of Kuala Lumpur Central Ktmb Depot’s Worker

Air pollution is defined as the presence of any air pollutants in the air that have the potential to cause health effect or cause harm to the environment. This study was conducted to investigate the exposure levels to air pollutants among workers in a depot, and the relationship between the exposure levels and the respiratory level of the workers in the depot. The methods used in this study included measuring the concentration of air pollutants namely CO, CO2, total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs), PM10 and two types of heavy metals namely lead (PB) and arsenic (As). Lung function test was also done for workers who were exposed. Three sampling points were chosen to measure the concentrations of air pollutants, namely Loco, power generating car (PGC) and coach lines. Kuala Lumpur Central Office Depot was selected as the control station. Low volume sampler and sampling devices were used to measure the concentration of the air pollutants. This study found that there were three air pollutants with concentrations exceeding the standard limits of suspended particles PM10, lead, and arsenic. The highest concentrations of PM10 and Pb recorded were in the PGC line with 0.49 ± 0.03 mg/m3 and 160 ± 5.13 μg/m3, respectively. The highest concentration of As recorded was in coach line with 36.00 ± 15.50 μg/m3. Statistical test results showed that only the concentration of As had a significant difference between the sampling stations. For the lung function test, the values of forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) for the exposed group were below normal. These findings showed that the depot workers had a lower respiratory level compared to the workers at the depot office. Statistical analysis showed a significant difference between spirometry diagnosis of employees who had served more than ten years and spirometry diagnosis of employees who had served for ten years and less. In conclusion, the depot workers who had long exposure to air pollutants had low respiratory levels.