Environ Monit Assess (2011) 181:479–489 DOI 10.1007/s10661-010-1843-3 Composition of heavy metals and airborne fibers in the indoor environment of a building during renovation Mohd Talib Latif · Nor Hafizah Baharudin · Puvaneswary Velayutham · Normah Awang · Harimah Hamdan · Ruqyyah Mohamad · Mazlin B. Mokhtar Received: 6 February 2010 / Accepted: 6 December 2010 / Published online: 23 December 2010 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010 Abstract The renovation of a building will cer- tainly affect the quality of air in the vicinity of where associated activities were undertaken, this includes the quality of air inside the building. Indoor air pollutants such as particulate matter, heavy metals, and fine fibers are likely to be emit- ted during renovation work. This study was con- ducted to determine the concentration of heavy metals, asbestos and suspended particulates in the Biology Building, at the Universiti Kebangsaan, Malaysia (UKM). Renovation activities were car- M. T. Latif (B ) · N. H. Baharudin · P. Velayutham School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Malaysia e-mail: talib@ukm.my N. Awang · R. Mohamad Environmental Health Program, Faculty of Allied Health Science, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia H. Hamdan Golden Business Excellences Sdn. Bhd. 45-3, Jalan PJU 5/9, Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara, 47810, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia M. B. Mokhtar Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia ried out widely in the laboratories which were located in this building. A low-volume sampler was used to collect suspended particulate mat- ter of a diameter size less than 10 μm (PM 10 ) and an air sampling pump, fitted with a cellu- lose ester membrane filter, were used for asbestos sampling. Dust was collected using a small brush and scope. The concentration of heavy metals was determined through the use of inductively coupled plasma–mass spectroscopy and the fibers were counted through a phase contrast microscope. The concentrations of PM 10 recorded in the building during renovation action (ranging from 166 to 542 μgm −3 ) were higher than the value set by the Department of Safety and Health for respirable dust (150 μgm −3 ). Additionally, they were higher than the value of PM 10 recorded in indoor envi- ronments from other studies. The composition of heavy metals in PM 10 and indoor dust were found to be dominated by Zn and results also showed that the concentration of heavy metals in indoor dust and PM 10 in this study was higher than levels recorded in other similar studies. The asbestos concentration was 0.0038 ± 0.0011 fibers/cc. This was lower than the value set by the Malaysian Department of Occupational, Safety and Health (DOSH) regulations of 0.1 fibers/cc, but higher than the background value usually recorded in indoor environments. This study strongly suggests that renovation issues need to be considered seri- ously by relevant stakeholders within the univer-