Composition and source apportionment of dust fall around a natural lake Mohd Talib Latif 1,2, ⁎ , Sofia Aida Ngah 1 , Doreena Dominick 1,3 , Intan Suraya Razak 1 , Xinxin Guo 4 , Thunwadee Srithawirat 5 , Idris Mushrifah 1,6 1. School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia 2. Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia 3. Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia 4. Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, 31900 Kampar, Perak, Malaysia 5. Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Pibulsongkram Rajabhat University, Phitsanulok 65000, Thailand 6. Pusat Penyelidikan Tasik Chini (PPTC), Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history: Received 12 September 2014 Revised 19 November 2014 Accepted 28 February 2015 Available online 6 May 2015 The aim of this study was to determine the source apportionment of dust fall around Lake Chini, Malaysia. Samples were collected monthly between December 2012 and March 2013 at seven sampling stations located around Lake Chini. The samples were filtered to separate the dissolved and undissolved solids. The ionic compositions (NO 3 - , SO 4 2- , Cl - and NH 4 + ) were determined using ion chromatography (IC) while major elements (K, Na, Ca and Mg) and trace metals (Zn, Fe, Al, Ni, Mn, Cr, Pb and Cd) were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The results showed that the average concentration of total solids around Lake Chini was 93.49 ± 16.16 mg/(m 2 ·day). SO 4 2- , Na and Zn dominated the dissolved portion of the dust fall. The enrichment factors (EF) revealed that the source of the trace metals and major elements in the rain water was anthropogenic, except for Fe. Hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis (HACA) classified the seven monitoring stations and 16 variables into five groups and three groups respectively. A coupled receptor model, principal component analysis multiple linear regression (PCA-MLR), revealed that the sources of dust fall in Lake Chini were dominated by agricultural and biomass burning (42%), followed by the earth's crust (28%), sea spray (16%) and a mixture of soil dust and vehicle emissions (14%). © 2015 The Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. Keywords: Trace metal Major element Anion Source apportionment Lake Chini Malaysia Introduction Lakes are sensitive areas due to the potential exposure to pollutants from various sources. Pollutants can enter the water body of a lake through the connecting rivers, run-off water and from atmospheric deposition (Honkonen and Rantalainen, 2013). The limited water movement within a lake influences the degree of pollution within a lake environment. High concentrations of pollutants can decrease the biodiversity of the lake ecosystem and change the physical environment surrounding the lake (Lydersen et al., 2002; Dudgeon et al., 2006). High amounts of soil and particle intrusion increase the amount of pollutants and at JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES 33 (2015) 143 – 155 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail: talib@ukm.my (Mohd Talib Latif). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jes.2015.02.002 1001-0742/© 2015 The Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-environmental-sciences