Study on Air Quality and Influences on Human Respiratory Health among Residents who Occupy Buildings at Former Landfill Site

The former landfill site produces various combinations of gases that can cause health problems. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of air quality on the residents' respiratory health that occupy buildings at the former landfill site at Taman Sri Manja, Petaling Jaya, Selangor compared with the control which in PPR Air Panas located at Setapak, Kuala Lumpur. Methods that are used for this study are gas sampling using aeroqual and multi-log gas detector. High-volume sampler (HVS) was used for PM₁₀ determination. The open plate method was used to determine total count formed by microorganisms. Questionnaire forms and peak flow meter were used to determine the value of Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR) of 196 respondents in the case study and 190 respondents in control. Results showed that all the parameters including gases, PM10, heavy metals and total count of microbes under the estimated standard value have no significant difference between the case study and control. There is significant difference (p=0.031) of PEFR (L/min) value between respondent at case (347.54 ± 89.50) and control (326.97 ± 97.90). Respiratory symptoms score also showed significant differences (p=0.04) between respondents at case (1.38 ± 0.36) and control (1.30 ± 0.37) location. Although there was significant difference (p<0.05) between the average value of peak flow meter and the expected value, but the value for both case and control study are between the range of 20% under the expected value which indicated normal respiratory health status. As conclusion, there was a significant difference of PEFR average value in case and control study. The presence of pollutants contributed to the high respiratory symptom score at the case location compared to control.