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In-depth characterization of particulate matter in a highly polluted urban environment at the foothills of Himalaya–Karakorum Region

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Abstract

In recent years, the rising levels of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) have an impact on the earth’s system, leading to undesirable consequences on various aspects like human health, visibility, and climate. The present work is carried out over an insufficiently studied but polluted urban area of Peshawar, which lies at the foothills of the famous Himalaya and Karakorum area, Northern Pakistan. The particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 10 µm, i.e., PM10 are collected and analyzed for mineralogical, morphological, and chemical properties. Diverse techniques were used to examine the PM10 samples, for instance, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy along with energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, proton-induced x-ray emission, and an OC/EC carbon analyzer. The 24 h average PM10 mass concentration along with standard deviation was investigated to be 586.83 ± 217.70 µg/m3, which was around 13 times greater than the permissible limit of the world health organization (45 µg/m3) and 4 times the Pakistan national environmental quality standards for ambient PM10 (150 µg/m3). Minerals such as crystalline silicate, carbonate, asbestiform minerals, sulfate, and clay minerals were found using FTIR and XRD investigations. Microscopic examination revealed particles of various shapes, including angular, flaky, rod-like, crystalline, irregular, rounded, porous, chain, spherical, and agglomeration structures. This proved that the particles had geogenic, anthropogenic, and biological origins. The average value of organic carbon, elemental carbon, and total carbon is found to be 91.56 ± 43.17, 6.72 ± 1.99, and 102.41 ± 44.90 µg/m3, respectively. Water-soluble ions K+ and OC show a substantial association (R = 0.71). Prominent sources identified using Principle component analysis (PCA) are anthropogenic, crustal, industrial, and electronic combustion. This research paper identified the potential sources of PM10, which are vital for preparing an air quality management plan in the urban environment of Peshawar.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are very much thankful to the Director Accelerator at the National Centre for Physics, Quaid-i-Azam University (Islamabad) for the PIXE analysis of PM10 samples. It is noted that the Pakistan Meteorological Department (Regional Office Peshawar) provided meteorological data as well as graciously supporting and facilitating the collecting of PM10 data. The authors appreciate the anonymous reviewers’ helpful criticism and improvement of the paper

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal, Dir (Upper), Pakistan

    Bahadar Zeb

  2. Collaborative Innovation Centre for Western Ecological Safety, College of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Khan Alam & Zhongwei Huang

  3. Department of Physics, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, 25120, Pakistan

    Khan Alam

  4. Faculty of Engineering, Environmental Engineering Department, Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University, Gölköy Campus 14030, Bolu, Turkey

    Fatma Öztürk

  5. Department of Computing and Mathematics, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, M15 6BH, UK

    Peng Wang

  6. Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK

    Lyudmila Mihaylova

  7. Institute of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan

    Muhammad Fahim Khokhar

  8. Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

    Said Munir

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  1. Bahadar Zeb
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  2. Khan Alam
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  3. Zhongwei Huang
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  4. Fatma Öztürk
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  5. Peng Wang
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  6. Lyudmila Mihaylova
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  7. Muhammad Fahim Khokhar
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  8. Said Munir
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Contributions

Bahadar Zeb: formal analysis, investigation, and writing original draft; Khan Alam: conceptualization, methodology, validation, writing—review and editing; Zhongwei Huang: formal analysis and investigation; Fatma Öztürk: methodology and formal analysis; Peng Wang: formal analysis and reviewing and editing; Lyudmila Mihaylova: reviewing and editing; Muhammad Fahim Khokhar: methodology and formal analysis; Said Munir: validation.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Khan Alam.

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Zeb, B., Alam, K., Huang, Z. et al. In-depth characterization of particulate matter in a highly polluted urban environment at the foothills of Himalaya–Karakorum Region. Environ Sci Pollut Res (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-33487-4

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