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Characteristics of fine particles from incense burning at temple premises of Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

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Abstract

The impact of incense burning on ambient air quality was investigated by measuring the concentrations of fine particles (PM2.5), elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), and their oxidative potential (OP) at three temple premises in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. These temples, namely, Bajrabarahi, Bagalamukhi, and Bhadrakali, are located in three distinct environments: forest, residential, and roadside, respectively. During the incense burning event days, the PM2.5 concentration at Bhadrakali (431.4 μgm−3) was significantly higher than that measured at the Bagalamukhi (135.2 μgm−3) and Bajrabarahi (84.7 μgm−3) temple premises. This observation is consistent with the fact that Bhadrakali Temple had the highest intensity of incense burning. Additionally, the temple premises were also influenced by vehicular emissions from transportation facilities. Carbonaceous aerosols significantly increased during incense burning events, indicating that incense burning contributes significantly to the formation of primary and secondary OC. Moreover, the OP of PM2.5 during the incense burning event days was higher compared to non-event days (p < 0.05), suggesting an elevated health risk due to the increased concentration and toxicity of fine particles. These findings highlight the substantial impact of incense burning on air quality in temple premises, emphasizing the need to implement effective strategies to mitigate the associated health risks.

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Funding

This research was partially supported by the Faculty Research Grant (Award No. FRG-076-077-S&T-1) of University Grant Commission of Tribhuvan University, Nepal. It was also supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant from the Korean Government (MIST; the Ministry of Science and ICT) (NRF-2019RA2C3007202) and Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science, Patan Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University, Lalitpur, Nepal

    Shila Maskey, Nisha Shrestha & Amisha Acharya

  2. School of Earth Science and Environmental Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), 123 Cheomdangwagi-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju, 61005, Republic of Korea

    Jasmita Khadgi & Kihong Park

  3. Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Amod Pokhrel

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  1. Shila Maskey
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  2. Jasmita Khadgi
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  4. Amisha Acharya
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Contributions

Shila Maskey: Conceptualization, Methodology, Data Curation and Analysis, Visualization, Manuscript writing; Nisha Shrestha: Field Sampling, Analysis; Amisha Acharya: Field Sampling; Jasmita Khadgi: Sample Analysis; Data Analysis, Visualization, Manuscript reviewing and editing; Amod Pokhrel: Data reviewing; Kihong Park: Supervision, Manuscript review and editing.

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Correspondence to Shila Maskey.

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Maskey, S., Khadgi, J., Shrestha, N. et al. Characteristics of fine particles from incense burning at temple premises of Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Environ Monit Assess 195, 1382 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11918-y

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