title: Chemical speciation of respirable suspended particulate matter during a major firework festival in India.
abstract: Ambient respirable particles (PM ≤ 10 μm, denoted by PM(10)) were characterized with respect to 20 elements, 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), elemental and organic carbon (EC and OC) during a major firework event-the "Diwali" festival in Delhi, India. The event recorded extremely high 24-h PM(10) levels (317.2-616.8 μg m(-3), 6-12 times the WHO standard) and massive loadings of Ba (16.8 μg m(-3), mean value), K (46.8 μg m(-3)), Mg (21.3 μg m(-3)), Al (38.4 μg m(-3)) and EC (40.5 μg m(-3)). Elemental concentrations as high as these have not been reported previously for any firework episode. Concentrations of Ba, K, Sr, Mg, Na, S, Al, Cl, Mn, Ca and EC were higher by factors of 264, 18, 15, 5.8, 5, 4, 3.2, 3, 2.7, 1.6 and 4.3, respectively, on Diwali as compared to background values. It was estimated that firework aerosol contributed 23-33% to ambient PM(10) on Diwali. OC levels peaked in the post-Diwali samples, perhaps owing to secondary transformation processes. Atmospheric PAHs were not sourced from fireworks; instead, they correlated well with changes in traffic patterns indicating their primary source in vehicular emissions. Overall, the pollutant cocktail generated by the Diwali fireworks could be best represented with Ba, K and Sr as tracers. It was also found that chronic exposure to Diwali pollution is likely to cause at least a 2% increase in non-carcinogenic hazard index (HI) associated with Al, Mn and Ba in the exposed population.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Monitoring and Management Laboratory, School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India.
authors.forename: Sayantan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarkar
authors.affiliation: Environmental Monitoring and Management Laboratory, School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India. Electronic address: psk@mail.jnu.ac.in.
authors.forename: Pandit S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Khillare
authors.affiliation: Environmental Monitoring and Management Laboratory, School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India.
authors.forename: Darpa S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Jyethi
authors.affiliation: Environmental Monitoring and Management Laboratory, School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India.
authors.forename: Amreen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hasan
authors.affiliation: Environmental Monitoring and Management Laboratory, School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India.
authors.forename: Musarrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Parween
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000145:classification*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D019570:Inhalation Exposure
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants