Determination of surfactants and levoglucosan from selected vegetation by spectroscopic colorimetric method

Vegetation is one of the natural sources which contribute to the amount of surface active agent into the environment. It is believed that surfactants can be derived from various kinds of sources such as biomass burning or soil and these excessive level of surfactants emitted into the atmosphere can influence both cloud formation and climate. The objective of this study was to determine the concentration of both anionic and cationic surfactants as well as levoglucosan from vegetation and soot and at different weather conditions around the tin mine lakes environment. The samples were prepared by cutting several parts of tropical plant species, namely Cinnamomum Iners, Gliricidia Sepium and Hopea Odorata, which were mainly leaves and stems. After that, samples were allowed to dry in an oven at a temperature of 40°C for 2 h. The concentrations of levoglucosan and surfactant such as methylene blue active substance (MBAS) and disulphine blue active substance (DBAS) were analysed through the colorimetric method. The results showed that higher concentrations for both anionic and cationic surfactants were found in C. Iners leaves which give the concentrations of 86.92 ± 38.99 and 22.33 ± 10.59 µg/g. It was noted that the concentrations of anionic and cationic surfactants in this research were correlated to each other, indicating the possibility of similar sources that affect both levels of surfactants in the vegetation. In addition, the highest level of levoglucosan was dominated by the leaves from G. Sepium species with the concentration of 25.62 ± 12.65 mg/g, respectively. A positive significant correlation (r = 0.8447, 0.8355 and p = 0.0001 < 0.05) between anionic surfactants and levoglucosan was also discovered in this study.