Assessment of Population Exposure to Coarse and Fine Particulate Matter in the Urban Areas of Chennai, India.

Ramachandran Prasannavenkatesh,Ramachandran Andimuthu,Divya Subash Kumar,Palanivelu Kandasamy,Malini Ponnusamy,Parthasarathy Radhapriya,Geetha Rajadurai

doi:10.1155/2015/643714

Ramachandran Prasannavenkatesh, Ramachandran Andimuthu + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/643714

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Journal: TheScientificWorldJournal	Publication Date: Jan 1, 2015
Citations: 38	License type: CC BY 3.0

Affiliation: Anna University, Chennai

Abstract

Research outcomes from the epidemiological studies have found that the course (PM10) and the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are mainly responsible for various respiratory health effects for humans. The population-weighted exposure assessment is used as a vital decision-making tool to analyze the vulnerable areas where the population is exposed to critical concentrations of pollutants. Systemic sampling was carried out at strategic locations of Chennai to estimate the various concentration levels of particulate pollution during November 2013–January 2014. The concentration of the pollutants was classified based on the World Health Organization interim target (IT) guidelines. Using geospatial information systems the pollution and the high-resolution population data were interpolated to study the extent of the pollutants at the urban scale. The results show that approximately 28% of the population resides in vulnerable locations where the coarse particulate matter exceeds the prescribed standards. Alarmingly, the results of the analysis of fine particulates show that about 94% of the inhabitants live in critical areas where the concentration of the fine particulates exceeds the IT guidelines. Results based on human exposure analysis show the vulnerability is more towards the zones which are surrounded by prominent sources of pollution.

Highlights

There is an increased concern among policy makers regarding the escalation of particulate pollutants in urban cities around the world
A recent study from the Berkeley University shows that Chennai ranks in the fourth position in terms of grams of pollution inhaled per gram of pollution emitted among the mega cities in India [23, 24]. This present study focuses on the evaluation of human exposure to coarse and fine PM of Chennai using population-weighted exposure level (PWEL) algorithm
The results reveal that all the zones have a positive impact to the particulate pollution after the human exposure weighting

Summary

Introduction

There is an increased concern among policy makers regarding the escalation of particulate pollutants in urban cities around the world. The coarse particulate matter (PM10: particles with aerodynamic diameter 2.5–10 μm) and the fine PM (PM2.5: particles with aerodynamic diameter lesser than 2.5 μm) are hazardous to climate and health [1] These particulates in outdoor air pollution were recently designated as Group I carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer [2]. Air pollution exposure assessment studies are limited in developing countries like India, due to their widespread geographical coverage, increased urban population sprawl, and limited number of air pollution monitoring stations. These gaps can be reduced by implementing various geospatial modeling approaches. Relevant studies have already been reported for China on its various climatic regions and cities such as Lanzhou, Beijing, and Mainland China using geospatial

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