ABSTRACT
Rising concentration of air pollution and its associated health effects is rapidly increasing in India, and Delhi, being the capital city, has drawn our attention in recent years. This study was designed to analyze the spatial and temporal variations of particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations in a mega city, Delhi. The daily PM2.5 concentrations monitored by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), New Delhi during November 2016 to October 2017 in different locations distributed in the region of the study were used for the analysis. The descriptive statistics indicate that the spatial mean of monthly average PM2.5 concentrations ranged from 45.92 µg m-3 to 278.77 µg m-3. The maximum and minimum spatial variance observed in the months of March and September, respectively. The study also analyzed the PM2.5 air quality index (PM2.5-Air Quality Index (AQI)) for assessing the health impacts in the study area. The AQI value was determined according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) system. The result suggests that most of the area had the moderate to very unhealthy category of PM2.5-AQI and that leads to severe breathing discomfort for people residing in the area. It was observed that the air quality level was worst during winter months (October to January).
ABSTRACT
The present study was designed to analyze the spatial distributions of ground-level ozone (GLO) concentrations in Ranchi (Jharkhand, India) using geostatistical approaches. From September 2014 to August 2015, monthly GLO concentrations were monitored in 40-identified locations distributed in the region of study. In every month, the monitoring was done at three different time periods of the day; 5.30 AM to 7.30 AM, 11.30 AM to 1.30 PM, and 5.30 PM to 8 PM). The time duration was assigned based on the temporal variations of GLO concentrations. The descriptive statistics indicate that the spatial mean ozone concentrations ranged from 23.45 µg m-3 to 53.91 µg m-3 in morning hours, from 82.50 µg m-3 to 126.66 µg m-3 in the day time and from 40.04 µg m-3 to 71.25 µg m-3 in the evening hours. The higher level of spatial variance observed in the months of December (standard deviation: 24.21), July (standard deviation: 29.59) and November (standard deviation: 19.60) for the morning, noon, and evening time, respectively. The effects of meteorological factors (wind speed and wind direction) on the ozone concentrations were also analysed. The study confirmed that wind speed is not the dominant factor for influencing the GLO concentrations. The study also analysed the ozone air quality index (OZAQI) for assessing the health impacts in the study area. The result suggests that most of the area had the moderate category of OZAQI (101-200) and that leads to breathing discomfort for people with lung and heart disease.
ABSTRACT
Fuzzy-analytical hierarchical process (F-AHP) can be extended to determine fuzzy air quality health index (FAQHI) for deducing health risk associated with local air pollution levels, and subjective parameters. The present work aims at determining FAQHI by considering five air pollutant parameters (SO2, NO2, O3, CO, and PM10) and three subjective parameters (population sensitivity, population density and location sensitivity). Each of the individual pollutants has varying impacts. Hence the combined health effects associated with the pollutants were estimated by aggregating the pollutants with different weights. Global weights for each evaluation alternatives were determined using fuzzy-AHP method. The developed model was applied to determine FAQHI in Howrah City, India from daily-observed concentrations of air pollutants over the three-year period between 2009 and 2011. The FAQHI values obtained through this method in Howrah City range from 1 to 3. Since the permissible value of FAQHI (as calculated for NAAQS) for residential areas is 1.78, higher index values are of public health concern to the exposed individuals. During the period of study, the observed FAQHI values were found to be higher than 1.78 in most of the day in the months of January to March, and October to December. However, the index values were below the recommended limit during rest of the months. In conclusion, FAQHI in Howrah city was above permissible limit in winter months and within acceptable values in summer and rainy months. Diurnal variations of FAQHI showed a similar trend during the three-year period of assessment.
