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Study of morphological characteristics and elemental composition of respirable particulate matter in an opencast coal mineusing FESEM-EDX

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Abstract

Atmospheric aerosol consists of both natural and anthropogenic origin. Studies have shown that continuous exposure to these particles is associated with a high percentage of death from respiratory and cardiovascular disease. In the present study, the PM10 samples were collected from eight sampling stations around a highly mechanised opencast coal mine in Talcher, India. Identification of the probable sources of PM10 was carried out through morphological analysis using FESEM, and elemental analysis was performed by using EDX analysis. Based on the FESEM-EDX analysis, the seasonal behaviour of PM10 was studied. The FESEM study revealed that the monitoring stations, which were mostly affected by mining activities were found dominated by the big-sized and irregular-shaped particles. On the other hand, monitoring stations mostly affected by transportation activities were affected by small-sized and regular-shaped particles. The EDX analyses showed that elements like C, O, Si, Al, Hg and Fe were the major elemental constituents of PM10 in the study area.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mining Engineering, National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Odisha, 769008, India

    Debi Prasad Tripathy & Tushar Ranjan Dash

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  1. Debi Prasad Tripathy
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  2. Tushar Ranjan Dash
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Correspondence to Debi Prasad Tripathy.

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Editorial handling: Domenico M. Doronzo

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Tripathy, D.P., Dash, T.R. Study of morphological characteristics and elemental composition of respirable particulate matter in an opencast coal mineusing FESEM-EDX. Arab J Geosci 12, 514 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-019-4624-5

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