TITLE:
Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Aerosols in Sonepat—A National Capital Region of India
AUTHORS:
Sudesh Chaudhary, Naresh Kumar
KEYWORDS:
Air Pollution, PM10, Heavy Metals, Cations
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Air Pollution,
Vol.6 No.2,
June
14,
2017
ABSTRACT: Considering the mounting evidences of the effects of air pollution on health, the present study was undertaken to assess the ambient air quality status in Sonepat region. The PM10 aerosol samples were collected from three sampling sites (DCRUST: Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology, University campus, Sector 14: residential cum commercial area, and traffic intersection along National Highway number 1) during January to July 2014 and studied for air quality, metal concentrations and their monthly variations. In addition, free fall dust samples were studied for soluble cations. PM10 concentration was found to be ranging from 120.00 μg/m3 to 569.59 μg/m3, 66.56 μg/m3 to 312.45 μg/m3 and 80.95 μg/m3 to 262.47 μg/m3 at NH-1, Sector-14 and DCRUST respectively. The concentrations of Na+,, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+ at sector 14 Sonepat were 52.115 ppm, 6.755 ppm, 13.989 ppm, 105.845 ppm and 72.574 ppm, respectively. At DCRUST site, the concentrations of Na+, , K+, Ca2+, Mg2+ were 207.583 ppm, 0.550 ppm, 50.573 ppm, 90.659 ppm and 85.024 ppm, respectively. The heavy metals concentrations of Zn, Cu and Cr at NH-1 was 36 ppm, 17.5 ppm and 95.7 ppm, respectively. The concentration of Zn, Cu and Cr at NH-1 was found to be varying from not detected to 19.7 ppm, 2.1 ppm to 16.54 ppm and 7.24 ppm to 24.1 ppm, respectively. Thus, it was recommended that an integrated assessment of air pollution and health risk should be carried out in Sonepat region at regular intervals of time.