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Short-term degradation of air quality during major firework events in Delhi, India

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Abstract

The effect of firework events on air quality was assessed from ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) collected during the Diwali period in two consecutive years, i.e., November 2015 and October 2016. The extensive firework activities led to the short-term degradation of air quality during the Diwali days. PM2.5 samples were chemically characterised for elements, water-soluble ionic species, organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC). Ba, K, Sr, S, Mg and Na showed significant increases in concentration on Diwali days compared to pre-Diwali days which revealed their association with firecrackers. Concentration of SO42−, NO3−, Cl−, K+ and NH4+ ions contributed to the increases in PM2.5 concentration on Diwali days. Higher OC/EC ratios indicated the formation of secondary organic carbon during the Diwali period. This study concludes that the high PM2.5 level during Diwali 2016 was a result of contribution from fireworks on the Diwali night, trans-regional movement of pollutants due to crop residue burning, low wind speed (0.15 m s−1), and high humidity. It was observed that short-term exposure to Diwali is plausible to generate 1.3% increase in non-carcinogenic hazard index due to elements Al and Ba during Diwali 2016, whereas no significant variation was observed for the carcinogenic risk due to Pb. However, in 2015, the increase in non-carcinogenic hazard index was appreciably lower as compared to 2016.

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Abbreviations

NOAA:

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

READY:

Real-time Environmental Applications and Display System

USEPA:

United States Environmental Protection Agency

IMPROVE:

Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environment

CPCB:

Central Pollution Control Board

NASA:

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

UTC:

Universal Time Coordinated

TSP:

Total suspended particulate

ITO:

Income Tax Office

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Prof. Nupur Prakash, Vice Chancellor, IGDTUW, Delhi for her consistent guidance and inspiration. The work was supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. First author also acknowledges the award of JRF from DST Research grant. The authors also wish to thank Advanced Instrumentation Research Facility (AIRF), JNU, New Delhi for providing EDXRF facilities. The authors gratefully acknowledge the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) for the provision of the HYSPLIT transport and dispersion model and/or READY website (http://www.ready.noaa.gov) used in this publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women, New Delhi, 110006, India

    Shivani & Ranu Gadi

  2. National Physical Laboratory, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, 110012, India

    Mohit Saxena, Sudhir Kumar Sharma & Tuhin Kumar Mandal

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  1. Shivani
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  2. Ranu Gadi
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  3. Mohit Saxena
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  4. Sudhir Kumar Sharma
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  5. Tuhin Kumar Mandal
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Correspondence to Ranu Gadi.

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Responsible Editor: M. Telisman Prtenjak.

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Shivani, Gadi, R., Saxena, M. et al. Short-term degradation of air quality during major firework events in Delhi, India. Meteorol Atmos Phys 131, 753–764 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-018-0602-9

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