Air Qaulity Monitoring and Effects of Air Pollution on ...

International Journal of Modern Biology and Medicine, 2014, 5(3): 100-110 International Journal of Modern Biology and Medicine ISSN: 2165-0136 Florida, USA Journal homepage: www.ModernScientificPress.com/Journals/IJBioMed.aspx Article

Air Qaulity Monitoring and Effects of Air Pollution on Animal Health in Bhopal India Parvaiz Ahmad Rather*, Ashwani Wanganeo, Basharat Mushtaq, Manzoor Ahmad Wani, Bilal Ahmad Bhat Department of Environmental Sciences and Limnology Barkatullah University Bhopal * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: [email protected] Tel: 09419413955/08518807562 Article history: Received 28 May 2014, Received in revised form 1 September 2014, Accepted 5 September 2014, Published 6 September 2014.

Abstract: Atmospheric concentration of sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides suspended particulate matter (SPM) are on the rise, causing serious air pollution. Emission from stationary sources (fossil fuel combustion gases) and mobile sources (tail pipe) emissions contain pollutants such as Sox, Nox and particulate matter. Sox and Nox when inhaled causes respiratory disease. Very fine particulate matter is suspended in the air and hence called suspended particulate matter. It is considered to cause respiratory diseases and climatic changes. This article describes the role of monitoring of ambient air quality and pollutants emission sources in solving air pollution problems and effects of air pollution on animal health, primarily through monitoring activities. Keywords: SOX, NOX, SPM, RSPM, nRSPM, air pollution, animal health

1. Introduction Clean air is considered to be a basic requirement for human health and wellbeing. Airborne particulate matter (PM) has been a concern for at least the last century, initially as a nuisance dust and more recently as the effects resulting in acute mortality and morbidity. (McClellan et al., 1998)

Copyright © 2014 by Modern Scientific Press Company, Florida, USA

Int. J. Modern Biol. Med. 2014, 5(3): 100-110

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Vehicular traffic on the haul road of mechanized opencast mines has been identified as the most prolific source of fugitive dust emitted from the surface coal mines (Cowherd, 1979). Much research on the health effects of outdoor air pollution has been published in the last decade. Some studies have found increases in respiratory and cardiovascular problems at outdoor pollutant levels well below standards set by such agencies as the US EPA and WHO. Air pollution is associated with large increases in medical expenses, morbidity and is estimated to cause about 800,000 annual premature deaths worldwide (Cohen et al., 2005). Further research on the health effects of air pollution and air pollutant abatement methods should be very helpful to physicians, public health officials, industrialists, politicians and the general public. Reddy et al., (2003), investigated the ambient air quality with respect to suspended particulate matter (SPM), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and oxide of nitrogen (NOx) at four sites in the RaniganjAsansol area in West Bengal, India. It has been observed that the concentrations of the pollutants are high in winter in Comparison to the summer or the monsoon seasons. Results indicates that industrial activities, indiscriminate open air burning of coal by the local inhabitants for cooking as well as coking purposes, vehicular traffic, etc. are responsible for the high concentration of pollutants in this area. Sulfur containing compounds like sulfur dioxide and mercaptans are produced in papermaking, rayon Manufacturing, coke ovens, other industries and from volcanic emissions (Godish, 2003). The rapid industrialization leading to urbanization, unplanned and excessive exploitation of natural resources have been causing pollution problems in cities and towns of developing countries. Man-made and natural sources of emissions have polluted the air with toxic substances. The problem of air pollution is mainly affecting the urban environment all over the world. Emissions (Alam et al., 1999) may be categorized mainly as stationary and mobile sources which include all the activities in an urban environment. Concern about air pollution in urban regions has received increasing importance worldwide, especially pollution by gaseous and particulate matter (Salam et al., 2008; Cachier et al. 2005). Gaseous pollutants have major negative impacts on health. They also play an important role in environmental changes and changes in atmospheric chemistry. SO2 and NO2 form acids through different chemical reactions in the atmosphere, and these acids are subsequently deposited on land and ocean surfaces as acid rain. Numerous studies and the lack of effective policies reveal that air pollution continues to threaten public health (Medina et al., 2009). Coarse and fine soil dust being presumably associated with dust resuspension by road traffic and wind (Almeida et al., 2007).

2. Study Area



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The location of Bhopal falls in the north western portion of Madhya Pradesh. If seen in the map of India; Bhopal occupies the central most region of the country. Bhopal the capital of Madhya Pradesh state lies with in north latitude of 23.16 and east longitude of 77.36 the city of Bhopal shares its border with two large and picturesque lakes. Bhopal has an average elevation of 427 meters (1401 ft). Bhopal is located in the central part of India, and is just north of the upper limit of the Vindhya mountain ranges. Located on the Malwa plateau, it is higher than the north Indian plains and the land rises towards the Vindhya Range to the south. The city has uneven elevation and has small hills within its boundaries. The major hills in Bhopal comprise of Idgah Hills and Shyamala Hills in the northern region and Arera Hills in the central region. The municipality covers 298 square kilometers. It has two very beautiful big lakes, collectively known as the Bhoj Wetland. These lakes are the Upper Lake (built by King Bhoj) and the Lower Lake. Locally these are known as the BadaTalab and ChotaTalab respectively. The catchment area of the Upper Lake is 361 km² while that of the Lower Lake is 9.6 km². The Upper Lake drains into the Kolar River. The Van Vihar National Park is a national park situated besides the Upper Lake.

CLIMATE Bhopal has a humid subtropical climate, with cool, dry winters, a hot summer and a humid monsoon season. Summers start in late March and go on till mid-Jun, the average temperature being around 30 °C with the peak of summer in May, when the highs regularly exceed 40 °C. The monsoon starts in late June and ends in late September. These months see about 40 inches (1020 mm) of precipitation, frequent thunderstorms and flooding. The average temperature is around 25 °C and the humidity is quite high. Temperatures rise again up to late October when winter starts, which lasts up to early March. Winters in Bhopal are cool, sunny and comfortable, with average daily temperatures around 16 °C (61°F) and little or no rain. The winter peaks in January when temperatures may drop close to freezing on some nights. Lowest temperature ever recorded was 5oC. Total annual rainfall is about 1146 mm (46 inches) Source: Indian Metrological Department (2013). Ambient air quality was monitored from August to September during 2013 at two sites in Bhopal for priority parameters total suspended particulate matter (TSPM), respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM), Nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide. The two sampling sites namely near life science building (site 1) and Hoshangabad road outside Barkatullah University main campus (site 2) .the description of the sites is given in Fig. 1. Bhopal has a humid subtropical climate, with cool, dry winters, a hot summer and a humid monsoon season. Summers start in late March and go on till midJun, the average temperature being around 30 °C with the peak of summer in May, when the highs regularly exceed 40 °C. The average temperature is around 25 °C and the humidity is quite high. Copyright © 2014 by Modern Scientific Press Company, Florida, USA


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Fig. 1: The locations of sampling sites

Fig. 2: Monthly precipitation and temperature in study area (source: Indian Metrologicaldepartment, 2013) Copyright © 2014 by Modern Scientific Press Company, Florida, USA


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3. Materials and Methods Air quality parameters TSPM, PM10, SO2, NO2 were monitored by using high volume Respirable Dust Sampler (Envirotech instrument APM 460NL). Hourly values for all values for all pollutants were measured at each site. The particulate matter (PM10) collected on fiber glass filter was determined by weighing the filter before and after exposure to ambient air. TSPM was determined from the sum of PM10 and particles larger than PM10. The mass of PM larger than PM10 was determined from the initial and final weights of dust cup viol. The samples of SOx and NOx were collected in glass impugners using sodium arsenate and sodium tetrachloromercurate absorption solutions respectively. NO2 and SO2 in the sample were determined by modified West and Gaek (1956) method. Samples were kept in refrigerator until analysis to minimize volatilization.

4. Results Monitoring of different air pollutants namely suspended particulate matter (SPM), respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM), Sulfur dioxide (SO2) and Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) was carried out at two sites in Barkatullah university campus Bhopal and following results were recorded during the study period. Sulphur dioxide (SO2) The variation in SO2 at different sites is presented in Table 1. At site-I SO2 concentration showed slight variation between the two sites (Fig. 3). The minimum SO2 values of 0.75 µg/m3 was recorded in August 2013, while the maximum value of 0.78 µg/m3was recorded during September 2013, with a mean value of 0.76 µg/m3. However, site-II recorded the minimum SO2 concentration of 3.93µg/m3 during August 2013 against a maximum value of 18.65µg/m3 was recorded in September 2013, with the mean of11.29 µg/m3.

Fig. 3: Variation in concentration of SO2 at the two sites during the study period. Copyright © 2014 by Modern Scientific Press Company, Florida, USA


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Table 1: Variation in various parameters of air quality at site-1 during August- September 2013 RSPM (µg/m3) 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.01

Month August September Mean SD

NRSPM (µg/m3) 0.02 0.03 0.03 0.01

TSPM (µg/m3) 0.03 0.05 0.04 0.01

NOx

SOx

0.30 0.33 0.31 0.02

0.75 0.78 0.76 0.02

Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) The values of NO2 at different sites are shown in Table 2. The highest concentration of NO2 was recorded in the month of September (0.33 µg/m3) at site I and in the month of September (12.27 µg/m3) at site II. However the lowest values were 0.30 and 0.44 respectively at site1 and site 2.The mean values of NO2 concentration were recorded as 0.31 at site1 and 6.35 at site 2 (Fig.4) Table 2: Variation of different parameters of air quality at site-2 during August- September 2013 RSPM (µg/m3) August 0.03 September 0.01 Mean 0.02 SD 0.01 Month

NRSPM (µg/m3) 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.00

TSPM NOx SOx (µg/m3) (µg/m3) (µg/m3) 0.07 0.44 3.93 0.09 12.27 18.65 0.08 6.35 11.29 0.09 8.36 10.41

Fig. 4: Variation in concentration of NOx at the two sites during the study period. Respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM) The data reveals that 0.01 µg/m3 and 0.02 µg/m3 concentration of RSPM was recorded in the month of August and September respectively at site 1. Site 2 recorded highest RSPM Value 0.03 µg/m3 and lowest 0.01 µg/m3 in the month of August and September respectively. The mean values of RSPM at site 1 was 0.01 µg/m3 and at site 2 was 0.02 µg/m3. (Fig. 5).



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Fig. 5: variations in concentration of RSPM at the two sites during the study period.

Non Respirable suspended particulate matter (NRSPM) The highest concentration of NRSPM at site1 was 0.03 µg/m3 and the lowest concentration was 0.02µg/m3. The data recorded at site two shows that both the samplings showed same concentration of NRSPM (0.04 µg/m3). The mean values 0.03 µg/m3 and 0.04 µg/m3 , of NRSPM was recorded at sites 1 and 2 respectively (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6: variation in concentration of NRSPM at the two sites during the study period.

Total Suspended particulate matter (TSPM) The data reveals that highest (0.05 µg/m3) and lowest (0.03 µg/m3) concentration of TSPM was recorded in the month of August and September respectively at site I (Fig. 7). Site II recorded highest TSPM value (0.07µg/m3) and lowest (0.06 µg/m3) in the months of August and September respectively. The mean values of TSPM at site1 were 0.04 µg/m3 and at site 2 was 0.06 µg/m3.



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Fig. 7: Variation in concentration of TSPM at the two sites during the study period

5. Discussion A major threat to the clean air in our study area is posed by the alarming increase in the vehicular emission by the growing transport. A large variety of pollutants are emitted by petrol and diesel engine motor vehicles. These include oxides of nitrogen (NO2), Sulfur dioxide (SO2), and particulates (PM10 and PM 2.5). From the present study it was observed that the lowest concentration of SPM was found in the month of August because of rain as the sampling was done in monsoon period. The low value of SPM can also be attributed to a little drizzle that had occurred before one day of sampling. The rainfall also restricts the re-emission of the dust from the road surfaces and washes of the atmospheric particulate matter. The suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentration was found much lower in the month of august (0.07µg/m3) due to the precipitation a day before sampling. The overall value of SPM indicated that the recorded concentration of SPM at site 2 (national highway within municipal limits) was higher than site 1(university campus) due to the heavy traffic. The site wise estimation of SPM levels indicate that on an average basis, site II recorded highest levels of SPM which may be attributed to high density of vehicles and nearness to a taxi stand. (Kulandisamy et al., 2001) studied that higher concentration of diesel vehicles, and high rate of combustion of domestic fuels. (Joshi and Chan 2000) concluded that the unmanaged expansion of the market, lack of parking areas and frequent traffic jams in the market area and combustion of fuels in the hotels and restaurants are the main factors for fairly higher levels SPM. The motor vehicles emit significant amount of SPM through combustion and also blowing up the dust present on the roadside at higher speeds contribute to value of SPM. Copyright © 2014 by Modern Scientific Press Company, Florida, USA


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The higher levels of respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM) recorded at site II may be attributed to higher level of vehicular emission in the surrounding area. (Annon, 1980, 1997, Sailueng et al., 2000, Kukkonan et al., 2001) also referred that Vehicular emission is the dominant source of RSPM along the road side. The particulate matter emitted through mechanical wear and tear, re-suspension of dust from road and blowing of dust particles by the action of wind tend to increase the RSPM levels. The high value of RSPM at site II can be due to the presence of plying of diesel vehicles and the presence of a taxi stand in the vicinity of the sampling site 2. From the present study, it was observed that the average value of SO2 at the two study sites does not exceed the permissible limits given in the Table 1. Highest level of SO2 (18.65µg/m3) was recorded in the month of September. It can be attributed to the high vehicular density particularly on the diesel based vehicles (trucks and buses). SO2 emission is higher from the diesel vehicles as compared to the petroleum vehicles. The lowest value SO2 was recorded in the month of august due to the prevalence of heavy precipitation a day before sampling, which result in the better dispersion of SO2 and resulting in lower values of SO2. The average values of NOx at the study sites do not exceed the 4 hourly levels specified by NAAQS, as given in the tables 1-3. The monthly profile of NOX levels indicate that highest levels of NOx (12.27 µg/m3) were Recorded in the month of September .The lowest concentration (0.44µg/m 3) was recorded in the month of August. The occurrence of higher value of NOx in the month of September may be due to higher vehicular density. The site wise profile of NOx levels revealed that the mean value of N0X were highest at site 2 (6.35 µg/m3), which may be due to the higher vehicular density at this site. (USEPA, 2006) found that all major vehicles emit NOx emissions occur from diesel vehicles. Lowest concentration of NOX recorded at site I can be due to the areas openness to wind dispersion and the lesser vehicular density. Increase in the levels of standards of air pollutants may cause several diseases in animals like; Lesions caused by air pollution in production animals mainly include inflammatory processes (Anderson et al). Horses could show severe hyper reactivity to organic dust and will display asthma like attacks after exposure (McPherson et al 1979). 1000 ppm for less than 24 hours caused mucosal damage, impaired ciliary activity and secondary infections in laboratory animals (Dodd and Gross 1980). Chronic exposure of 5µg/m3 caused serious loss of pulmonary functions in operators of grain elevators (Enerson et al 1985). The values of different parameters observed during the present study falls below the upper limit of CPCB standards (Table 4) and hence do not lead any effect on animals. Copyright © 2014 by Modern Scientific Press Company, Florida, USA


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Table 4: Revised national ambient air standards (2013)

Pollutant

Time Weighted Average

SO2 mg/m3

Industrial Area

24 Hours** 24 Hours** 24 Hours** 24 Hours**

NO2mg/m3 PM10 mg/m3 RSPM mg/m3

Concentration in Ambient Air Sensitive Area Values of Residential (notified by present Area Central study sites Government)

120

80

30

18.65

120

80

80

12.27

500

200

100

0.04

500

100

60

0.09

** 24 hourly or 08 hourly or, 04 hourly monitored values, as applicable, shall be compiled With 98% of the time in a year, 2% of the time, they may exceed the limits but not on two consecutive days of monitoring.

Table 5: diseases caused by the excess of pollutants in air Air Quality Standards source: CPCB Industrial Residential Ecological Area Area sensitive zone

S/N

Parameter

1

SOX (µg/m3)

120

80

30

2

NOX (µg/m3)

120

80

80

3

NRSPM (µg/m3)

500

200

100

4

RSPM (µg/m3)

500

60

60

Diseases in Animals Suffocation, Lung embolism, reproductive failure, damage veins of brains, skin disease, chronic bronchits. Impaired lung function, damages Internal enzyme system, Asthma, Disturbances in blood circulation , Skin diseases Asthma, Suffocation, Lesions, Damages respiratory track, Tumor. Cough, Whooping cough, cough, Lesions, Tumor.

6. Conclusion During our present study we concluded that no disease was found in animals due to air pollution because all the parameters were found in range as per the given standards of the National Ambienent Air Quality Monitoring Standards. Copyright © 2014 by Modern Scientific Press Company, Florida, USA


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Acknowledgement I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my family for the financial support they provide me during my research, especially my brother-in-law Mr. Bashir Ahmad Wani and my dear sister Fahmeeda begum and last but not least my sweet mother Saja Begum.

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