Risks to health from ambient particulate matter (PM_2.5) to the residents of Guwahati city, India: An analysis of prediction model

Abstract

The smaller cities in India are facing acute problems due to air pollution but remain unaccounted due to lack of effort in highlighting them through studies. Ambient pollution data and climate data of one tier 2 Indian city, Guwahati, were collected for three years, i.e., 2016–2018 and analyzed. It showed that the winter season was very harsh from the air pollution point of view as almost 99% of the time the ambient PM₁₀ concentrations were recorded to be more than 100 µg m ^− 3. Based on a derived and validated MLR equation, the PM_2.5 level for the non-monitored areas of the city was predicted. The non-carcinogenic health risk assessment of PM_2.5 was done with the help of hazard quotients (HQs) of the city and presented as a GIS-based map. During the winter, the city faced acute health risks because the computed HQ values were found to be more than ‘1’ in most of the areas of the city. Considering the high mortality burden associated with air pollution exposure in India, the policy-makers need to initiate focused policy prescriptions to curb air pollution concentrations for the smaller cities as well.

Keywords:

• PM concentrations
• small city
• multiple linear regression
• health risk assessment

Acknowledgments

The authors sincerely appreciate the State Pollution Control Board, Assam, and Regional Meteorological Department, Guwahati, for air pollution and meteorological information, respectively.

Notes

1 Government of India has laid down NAAQS for twelve air pollutants including PM_2.5 for the effective management of ambient air quality and to reduce the damaging effects of air pollution.