scholarly journals Particulate Oxidative Potential (OP) Associated with Fireworks Activity during Diwali at a site in the Indo-Gangetic Plain

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Lakhani ◽  
Isha Goyal ◽  
Puneet Kumar Verma ◽  
Kandikonda Maharaj Kumari
Keyword(s):  
Hazard Index ◽  
Chemical Species ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Ros Generation ◽  
Oxidative Potential ◽  
Gangetic Plain ◽  
Diwali Festival ◽  
A Site ◽  
Indo Gangetic Plain

Abstract The potential of the atmospheric fine aerosols (PM2.5) to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) during firework activity in Diwali festival was assessed by the dithiothreitol (DTT) assay at a site in the Indo-Gangetic Plain, India. The 12-h mean PM2.5 was found to be 262.9 ±150.7 µg m-3 during the study period which was 4.4 times exceeded the NAAQS limits. Firework activity was also characterized by increased levels of gaseous pollutants (NOx, SO2, CO and O3), and trace metal concentrations like Ba, Pb, Cu, Fe, Mg, K, Al and Mn. Elevated PM2.5-NOx slope for fireworks including traffic emissions suggested significant contribution of fireworks. The highest value of PM ROS activity, volume-based DTT value was 1.37 nmol min-1 m-3 and mass-based DTT value was 11.77 pmol min-1 μg-1, found in the next morning of Diwali, suggesting stronger PM associated ROS activity due to fireworks. A positive association was found between redox-active metals like Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, and V and DTT activity that could be due to the ability of these metals to catalyze ROS generation in ambient air, while Ba, Be and Se in atmosphere as major constituents of firecrackers were also strongly associated with DTT activity. The ozone levels were strongly correlated (r2 = 0.87) with DTTv activity during daytime due to photochemical activities including chemical species associated with fireworks responsible for forming tropospheric O3. Comparison of the daily DTTv activity and hazard index (HI) suggests that the HI may be a poor metric to measure the health effects by which PM exposure can induce deterioration in human health.

scholarly journals Radiative Impact of Fireworks at a Tropical Indian Location: A Case Study

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. P. Singh ◽  
A. K. Srivastava ◽  
S. Tiwari ◽  
S. Singh ◽  
R. K. Singh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Change ◽  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Gangetic Plain ◽  
Scattering Coefficients ◽  
Aerosol Absorption ◽  
Aerosol Scattering ◽  
Radiative Impact ◽  
Diwali Festival ◽  
Indo Gangetic Plain

During Diwali festival, extensive burning of crackers and fireworks is made. Weeklong intensive observational campaign for aerosol study was carried out at a representative urban location in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP), Varanasi (25.3°N, 83.0°E), from October 29 to November 04, 2005 (Diwali on November 01, 2005), to investigate behavioral change of aerosol properties and radiative forcing between firework affected and nonaffected periods. Results show a substantial increase (~27%) in aerosol optical depth, aerosol absorption coefficients, and aerosol scattering coefficients during affected period as compared to non-affected periods. Magnitudes of radiative forcing at top of atmosphere during affected and non-affected periods are found to be +10 ± 1 and +12 ± 1 Wm−2, respectively, which are −31 ± 7 and −17 ± 5 Wm−2, respectively, at surface. It suggests an additional cooling of ~20% at top of atmosphere, ~45% cooling at surface, and additional atmospheric heating of 0.23 Kday−1during fireworks affected period, which is ~30% higher than the non-affected period average.

scholarly journals A Semi-automated Instrument for Cellular Oxidative Potential Evaluation (SCOPE) of Water-soluble Extracts of Ambient Particulate Matter

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudheer Salana ◽  
Yixiang Wang ◽  
Joseph Puthussery ◽  
Vishal Verma
Keyword(s):  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Chemical Species ◽  
Positive Control ◽  
Water Soluble ◽  
Ros Generation ◽  
Ambient Particulate Matter ◽  
Oxidative Potential ◽  
Cellular Assays ◽  
Potential Evaluation ◽  
Automated Instrument

Abstract. Several automated instruments exist to measure the acellular oxidative potential (OP) of ambient particulate matter (PM). However, cellular OP of the ambient PM is still measured manually, which severely limits the comparison between two types of assays. Cellular assays could provide a more comprehensive assessment of the PM-induced oxidative stress, as they incorporate more biological processes involved in the PM-catalyzed reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Considering this need, we developed a first of its kind semi-automated instrument for measuring the cellular OP based on a macrophage ROS assay using rat alveolar macrophages. The instrument named SCOPE – Semi-automated instrument for Cellular Oxidative Potential Evaluation, uses dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) as a probe to detect the OP of PM samples extracted in water. SCOPE is capable of analyzing a batch of six samples (including one negative and one positive control) in five hours and is equipped to operate continuously for 24-hours with minimal manual intervention after every batch of analysis, i.e., after every five hours. SCOPE has a high analytical precision as assessed from both positive controls and ambient PM samples (CoV < 17 %). The results obtained from the instrument were in good agreement with manual measurements using tert-Butyl hydroperoxide (t-BOOH) as the positive control (slope = 0.83 for automated vs. manual, R2 = 0.99) and ambient samples (slope = 0.83, R2 = 0.71). We further demonstrated the ability of SCOPE to analyze a large number of both ambient and laboratory samples, and developed a dataset on the intrinsic cellular OP of several compounds, such as metals, quinones, PAHs and inorganic salts, commonly known to be present in ambient PM. This dataset is potentially useful in future studies to apportion the contribution of key chemical species in the overall cellular OP of ambient PM.

scholarly journals Oxidative Potential Versus Biological Effects: A Review on the Relevance of Cell-Free/Abiotic Assays as Predictors of Toxicity from Airborne Particulate Matter

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (19) ◽  
pp. 4772 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Øvrevik
Keyword(s):  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Biological Effects ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
In Vivo Studies ◽  
Oxidative Potential ◽  
In Cells

Background and Objectives: The oxidative potential (OP) of particulate matter (PM) in cell-free/abiotic systems have been suggested as a possible measure of their biological reactivity and a relevant exposure metric for ambient air PM in epidemiological studies. The present review examined whether the OP of particles correlate with their biological effects, to determine the relevance of these cell-free assays as predictors of particle toxicity. Methods: PubMed, Google Scholar and Web of Science databases were searched to identify relevant studies published up to May 2019. The main inclusion criteria used for the selection of studies were that they should contain (1) multiple PM types or samples, (2) assessment of oxidative potential in cell-free systems and (3) assessment of biological effects in cells, animals or humans. Results: In total, 50 independent studies were identified assessing both OP and biological effects of ambient air PM or combustion particles such as diesel exhaust and wood smoke particles: 32 in vitro or in vivo studies exploring effects in cells or animals, and 18 clinical or epidemiological studies exploring effects in humans. Of these, 29 studies assessed the association between OP and biological effects by statistical analysis: 10 studies reported that at least one OP measure was statistically significantly associated with all endpoints examined, 12 studies reported that at least one OP measure was significantly associated with at least one effect outcome, while seven studies reported no significant correlation/association between any OP measures and any biological effects. The overall assessment revealed considerable variability in reported association between individual OP assays and specific outcomes, but evidence of positive association between intracellular ROS, oxidative damage and antioxidant response in vitro, and between OP assessed by the dithiothreitol (DDT) assay and asthma/wheeze in humans. There was little support for consistent association between OP and any other outcome assessed, either due to repeated lack of statistical association, variability in reported findings or limited numbers of available studies. Conclusions: Current assays for OP in cell-free/abiotic systems appear to have limited value in predicting PM toxicity. Clarifying the underlying causes may be important for further advancement in the field.

scholarly journals Study of MODIS derived AOD at three different locations in the Indo Gangetic Plain: Kanpur, Gandhi College and Nainital

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (10) ◽  
pp. 1479-1493 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Choudhry ◽  
A. Misra ◽  
S. N. Tripathi
Keyword(s):  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Rural Site ◽  
Urban Site ◽  
Gangetic Plain ◽  
Large Variability ◽  
Entire Area ◽  
Aerosol Model ◽  
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer ◽  
A Site ◽  
Indo Gangetic Plain

Abstract. Moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors, onboard Terra and Aqua, have been observing the Earth since start of 2000 and mid 2002, respectively. The present study provides a comparison of Collection 5 (C005), aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrieved by MODIS, with AERONET-observed AOD over Kanpur (an urban site), Gandhi College (a rural site) and Nainital (a relatively clean site) in the Indo Gangetic Plain (IGP). The results show that at Kanpur, MODIS retrievals are well within the prelaunch uncertainty ± 0.05 ±0.15 τ, and a good correlation (R2 > 0.7 for both Terra and Aqua). Nainital also shows good retrieval (R2 > 0.8 for Terra and R2 > 0.68 for Aqua), as more than 66% of total collocations are within the prelaunch uncertainty. However, it is seen that there is significant overestimation in this case, especially in the months of winter. Gandhi College poses a challenge to MODIS retrieval, as here <57% of MODIS-retrieved AOD values lay within the prelaunch uncertainty and the correlation is very poor (R2 ~ 0.5 for Aqua and R2 ~ 0.4 for Terra); also there is persistent underestimation in this case. Small value of slope shows that assumed model results in underestimation, and large intercept values for the linear regression fit show that errors due to surface reflectance are high here. Our comparison shows that MODIS retrieval works well over Kanpur, and Nainital with winter as an exception. However, MODIS retrieval is poor for Gandhi College which is a rural area. The aerosol properties at Kanpur are currently used as representative of the entire subcontinent in the MODIS C005 algorithm, which is not an accurate assumption. The large variability in land use and climate over India makes it a site too complex for a single aerosol model to be used over the entire area. Therefore further study with as many sites as possible over the Indian subcontinent would help provide more realistic modeling for the Indian subcontinent.

scholarly journals Chemical composition of pre-monsoon air in the Indo-Gangetic Plain measured using a new air quality facility and PTR-MS: high surface ozone and strong influence of biomass burning

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 5921-5941 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Sinha ◽  
V. Kumar ◽  
C. Sarkar
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Atmospheric Chemistry ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Surface Ozone ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Ambient Air Quality ◽  
Gangetic Plain ◽  
Indo Gangetic Plain

Abstract. One seventh of the world's population lives in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) and the fertile region sustains agricultural food crop production for much of South Asia, yet it remains one of the most under-studied regions of the world in terms of atmospheric composition and chemistry. In particular, the emissions and chemistry of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that form surface ozone and secondary organic aerosol through photochemical reactions involving nitrogen oxides are not well understood. In this study, ambient levels of VOCs such as methanol, acetone, acetaldehyde, acetonitrile and isoprene were measured for the first time in the IGP. A new atmospheric chemistry facility that combines India's first high-sensitivity proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer, an ambient air quality station and a meteorological station, was used to quantify in situ levels of several VOCs and air pollutants in May 2012 at a suburban site in Mohali (northwest IGP). Westerly winds arriving at high wind speeds (5–20 m s−1) in the pre-monsoon season at the site were conducive for chemical characterization of regional emission signatures. Average levels of VOCs and air pollutants in May~2012 ranged from 1.2 to 2.7 nmol mol−1 for aromatic VOCs, 5.9 to 37.5 nmol mol−1 for the oxygenated VOCs, 1.4 nmol mol−1 for acetonitrile, 1.9 nmol mol−1 for isoprene, 567 nmol mol−1 for carbon monoxide, 57.8 nmol mol−1 for ozone, 11.5 nmol mol−1 for nitrogen oxides, 7.3 nmol mol−1 for sulfur dioxide, 104 μg m−3 for PM2.5 and 276 μg m−3 for PM10. By analyzing the one-minute in situ data with meteorological parameters and applying chemical tracers (e.g., acetonitrile for biomass burning) and inter-VOC correlations, we were able to constrain major emission source activities on both temporal and diel scales. Wheat residue burning caused massive increases (> 3 times the baseline values) for all the measured VOCs and primary pollutants. Other forms of biomass burning at night were also a significant source of oxygenated VOCs and isoprene (r2 with acetonitrile &amp;geq;0.5 for nighttime data), which is remarkable in terms of atmospheric chemistry implications. Surface ozone exceeded the 8 h national ambient air quality limit of 100 μg O3 m−3 (~50 ppbv) on a daily basis, except for 17 May 2012, when a severe dust storm event (PM2.5 > 800 μg m−3; PM10 > 2700 μg m−3) characterized by long-range transport from the west impacted the site. The novel data set and results point to the occurrence of high primary emissions of reactive VOCs. They also highlight the urgent need for establishing more comprehensive observational facilities in the IGP to constrain the spatial and seasonal variability of atmospheric chemical constituents. Such efforts will enable a mechanistic-level understanding of the in situ chemical processes controlling the formation of surface ozone, a necessary step for effective ozone mitigation and improvement of the regional air quality.

scholarly journals Characterizing Emissions from Agricultural Diesel Pumps in the Terai Region of Nepal

Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sagar Adhikari ◽  
Parth Mahapatra ◽  
Vikrant Sapkota ◽  
Siva Puppala
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Ambient Air Pollution ◽  
Environmental Implications ◽  
Gangetic Plain ◽  
Carbon Mass Balance ◽  
Carbon Mass ◽  
Fuel Mixtures ◽  
Indo Gangetic Plain

Diesel irrigation pumps are a source of air pollution in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP). The environmental implications of these pumps are often overlooked and very rarely addressed in the IGP. Few studies in the past have estimated the amount of diesel consumed by irrigation pumps in the IGP or other proxy variables to estimate the amount of emissions. A considerable amount of uncertainty remains in calculating emission factors (EF) using real-time measurements. We measured pollutants from nine diesel irrigation pumps in the southern ‘Terai’ belt of Nepal. Fuel-based EF were then estimated using the carbon mass balance method. The average EF for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), CO2, CO and black carbon (BC) were found to be 22.11 ± 3.71, 2218.10 ± 26.8, 275 ± 17.18 and 2.54 ± 0.71 g/L, respectively. Depending upon the pump characteristics (age, design, make, hours used, etc.) and fuel mixtures, the EF of PM2.5, BC and CO had larger inter-variability. This study provides estimates for an under-represented source of ambient air pollution which will assist in the development of better emission inventories and informed policy making.

scholarly journals A semi-automated instrument for cellular oxidative potential evaluation (SCOPE) of water-soluble extracts of ambient particulate matter

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 7579-7593
Author(s):  
Sudheer Salana ◽  
Yixiang Wang ◽  
Joseph V. Puthussery ◽  
Vishal Verma
Keyword(s):  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Chemical Species ◽  
Positive Control ◽  
Water Soluble ◽  
Ros Generation ◽  
Ambient Particulate Matter ◽  
Oxidative Potential ◽  
Cellular Assays ◽  
Potential Evaluation ◽  
Automated Instrument

Abstract. Several automated instruments exist to measure the acellular oxidative potential (OP) of ambient particulate matter (PM). However, cellular OP of the ambient PM is still measured manually, which severely limits the comparison between two types of assays. Cellular assays could provide a more comprehensive assessment of the PM-induced oxidative stress, as they incorporate more biological processes involved in the PM-catalyzed reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Considering this need, we developed a semi-automated instrument, the first of its kind, for measuring the cellular OP based on a macrophage ROS assay using rat alveolar macrophages. The instrument named SCOPE – semi-automated instrument for cellular oxidative potential evaluation – uses dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) as a probe to detect the OP of PM samples extracted in water. SCOPE is capable of analyzing a batch of six samples (including one negative and one positive control) in 5 h and is equipped to operate continuously for 24 h with minimal manual intervention after every batch of analysis, i.e., after every 5 h. SCOPE has a high analytical precision as assessed from both positive controls and ambient PM samples (coefficient of variation (CoV)<17 %). The results obtained from the instrument were in good agreement with manual measurements using tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BOOH) as the positive control (slope =0.83 for automated vs. manual, R2=0.99) and ambient samples (slope =0.83, R2=0.71). We further demonstrated the ability of SCOPE to analyze a large number of both ambient and laboratory samples and developed a dataset on the intrinsic cellular OP of several compounds, such as metals, quinones, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and inorganic salts, commonly known to be present in ambient PM. This dataset is potentially useful in future studies to apportion the contribution of key chemical species in the overall cellular OP of ambient PM.

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