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Trends in atmospheric particulate matter in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and the vicinity

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Abstract

Dhaka and its neighboring areas suffer from severe air pollution, especially during dry season (November–April). We investigated temporal and directional variations in particulate matter (PM) concentrations in Dhaka, Gazipur, and Narayanganj from October 2012 to March 2015 to understand different aspects of PM concentrations and possible sources of high pollution in this region. Ninety-six-hour backward trajectories for the whole dry season were also computed to investigate incursion of long-range pollution into this area. We found yearly PM10 concentrations in this area about three times and yearly PM2.5 concentrations about six times greater than the national standards of Bangladesh. Dhaka and its vicinity experienced several air pollution episodes in dry season when PM2.5 concentrations were 8–13 times greater than the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline value. Higher pollution and great contribution of PM2.5 most of the time were associated with the north-westerly wind. Winter (November to January) was found as the most polluted season in this area, when average PM10 concentrations in Dhaka, Gazipur, and Narayanganj were 257.1, 240.3, and 327.4 μg m−3, respectively. Pollution levels during wet season (May–October) were, although found legitimate as per the national standards of Bangladesh, exceeded WHO guideline value in 50 % of the days of that season. Trans-boundary source identifications using concentration-weighted trajectory method revealed that the sources in the eastern Indian region bordering Bangladesh, in the north-eastern Indian region bordering Nepal and in Nepal and its neighboring areas had high probability of contributing to the PM pollutions at Gazipur station.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge research grant (code: DIP-2014-017) from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for financial support to the first author. We would like to offer our heartiest gratitude to Dr. Mohammad Nasiruddin, former Project Director of the CASE project, DoE, Dhaka, Dr. M. Khaliquzzaman, Senior Environmental Consultant, World Bank Dhaka Office, and Ms. Shahanaj Rahman, of the DoE, Dhaka, for their assistance, encouragement, and support with information.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, University Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

    Md. Masud Rana & Norela Sulaiman

  2. Norwegian Institute for Air Research, PO Box 100, 2027, Kjeller, Norway

    Bjarne Sivertsen

  3. Centre for Tropical Climate Change System (IKLIM), Institute for Climate Change, University Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

    Md Firoz Khan

  4. Clean Air and Sustainable Environment Project, Department of Environment, E-16, Agargaon, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Sabera Nasreen

Authors
  1. Md. Masud Rana
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  2. Norela Sulaiman
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  3. Bjarne Sivertsen
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  4. Md Firoz Khan
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  5. Sabera Nasreen
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Correspondence to Norela Sulaiman.

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Responsible editor: Gerhard Lammel

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Rana, M.M., Sulaiman, N., Sivertsen, B. et al. Trends in atmospheric particulate matter in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and the vicinity. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 17393–17403 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6950-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6950-4

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