Burning of Municipal Solid Waste: An Invitation for Aerosol Black Carbon and PM2.5 Over Mid–Sized City in India

Abstract

Waste management is the main concern of most cities in developing countries. The proper procedure is needed to reduce Municipal solid waste, that’s why burning is the cheaper way to decrease solid waste. The main aim of this study is to assess the concentration of Black Carbon and PM2.5 during the MSW burning sites in Jamshedpur. The continuous measurement was taken during the burning period in three phases at Industrial, Urban, and Rural waste burning sites having respective average BC concentrations observed as 145 ± 46, 101 ± 33 & 95 ± 33 μg m−3, and PM2.5 as 1391 ± 358, 998 ± 319, 957 ± 313 μg m−3. BC and PM2.5 concentrations show significant diurnal variations with maximum average concentration at the midnight phase due to large temperature fluctuation (lower mixed layer height) in the atmosphere. This evaluation during burning period exceeds regular day estimates by around 5–6 times. The rate distinction of BC by the Aethalometer model indicates that source apportionment of BC is more sensitive in assessing BCBB (biomass burning) with an average fraction of 82% at 880 nm because waste trash burning in the dump yard was mostly solid. Pearson correlation analysis shows strong correlations between BC and PM2.5 concentration that is primarily attributable to well-known nearby sources such as vehicular emissions.