Assessment of suspended particulate matter and heavy metal analysis during Diwali festival

Abstract

Diwali is an important festival of India and a lot of firecrackers bursting take place in every part of the country during festive occasions. Short term effect of firecrackers on ambient air quality was assessed by monitoring suspended particulate matter (SPM) and heavy metal analysis (Fe, Zn, Pb, Mn and Ni) during Diwali festival at an urban-industrial city Raipur, India from 3rd November to 11th November 2018. The daily average SPM concentrations were found about two times higher on 7th November (Diwali-425.64 µg/m3) and 8th November (next day of Diwali- 417.92 µg/m3) as compared to 3rd November (pre Diwali day- 247.56 µg/m3). Heavy metal analysis (Fe, Zn, Pb, Mn and Ni) was carried out using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and found the same concentration trend in the order of Fe>Zn>Pb>Mn>Ni during day and night time. Significant increment in SPM and heavy metal concentrations has been observed post-Diwali. Back trajectory analysis revealed that trajectories at surface level (50 and 1000 m a.g.l) originated from local sources, depicting local anthropogenic activities like burning of firecrackers and industrial activities as major pollution source. Wind rose diagram depicts higher SPM concentration, when the wind was northeasterly. The present study reveals that pollution levels were considerably increased during Diwali and firecrackers bursting played a major role by contributing to air pollution.