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Jana A, Singh A, Adar SD, D'Souza J, Chattopadhyay A. In-utero exposure to multiple air pollutants and childhood undernutrition in India. JOURNAL OF EXPOSURE SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENTAL EPIDEMIOLOGY 2023:10.1038/s41370-023-00591-5. [PMID: 37563211 DOI: 10.1038/s41370-023-00591-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Revised: 07/25/2023] [Accepted: 07/25/2023] [Indexed: 08/12/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Several studies have been conducted to understand the impact of socioeconomic and maternal factors on child undernutrition. However, the past literature has not directly examined the joint impacts of fuel use and ambient pollution and have primarily focused on PM2.5. OBJECTIVE This study explored the individual and community-level associations of both indoor (cooking fuel type) and ambient air pollution (PM2.5, NO2 and SO2) during maternal gestation on child undernutrition. METHODS This study analysed stunting, being underweight, and anaemia of children aged 0-59 months (n = 259,627) using the National Family Health Survey. In-utero exposures to ambient PM2.5, NO2, and SO2 were measured using satellite data and self-reported fuel type was a marker of indoor pollution exposure. The study used univariate and bivariate Moran's I, spatial lag model and multivariable logistic regression models after adjusting for other covariates to understand the effect of pollution on in-utero exposure and child health status at the individual and community-levels. RESULTS Higher concentration of indoor and ambient air pollution was found in the Northern and parts of Central regions of India. Estimates of spatial modelling show that each 1 μg/m-3 increase in maternal exposure to ambient PM2.5 across the clusters of India was associated with a 0.11, 9 and 19 percentage points increase in the prevalence of stunting, underweight and anaemia, respectively. The results of multi-pollutant model show that a higher ambient PM2.5 exposure during pregnancy was linked to higher odds of stunting (AOR:1.38; 95% CI:1.32-1.44), underweight (AOR:1.59; 95% CI:1.51-1.67) and anaemia (AOR:1.61; 95% CI:1.52-1.69) in children. Weaker but similar associations were observed for NO2, but not with SO2. Indoor pollution exposure during in-utero periods was also significantly associated with childhood undernutrition and this association was modified by ambient PM2.5 levels, where exposure to both indoor and ambient air pollution had even greater odds of being undernourished. IMPACT STATEMENT Our research on multi-pollutant models has revealed the initial proof of the individual impacts of indoor and outdoor pollution (PM2.5, NO2, and SO2) exposure during fetal development on children's nutrition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arup Jana
- Department of Population & Development, International Institute for Population Sciences, Deonar, Mumbai, 400088, India
| | - Akancha Singh
- Department of Population & Development, International Institute for Population Sciences, Deonar, Mumbai, 400088, India
| | - Sara D Adar
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Jennifer D'Souza
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Aparajita Chattopadhyay
- Department of Population & Development, International Institute for Population Sciences, Deonar, Mumbai, 400088, India.
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Dumka UC, Kaskaoutis DG, Verma S, Ningombam SS, Kumar S, Ghosh S. Silver linings in the dark clouds of COVID-19: Improvement of air quality over India and Delhi metropolitan area from measurements and WRF-CHIMERE model simulations. ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION RESEARCH 2021; 12:225-242. [PMID: 36915905 PMCID: PMC9996264 DOI: 10.1016/j.apr.2020.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2020] [Revised: 11/04/2020] [Accepted: 11/06/2020] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
The current study examines the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown (25th March until May 17, 2020) period in particulate matter (PM) concentrations and air pollutants (NOx, SO2, CO, NH3, and O3) at 63 stations located at Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana states within the Delhi-NCR, India. Large average reductions are recorded between the stations in each state such as PM10 (-46 to -58%), PM2.5 (-49 to -55%), NO2 (-27 to -58%), NO (-54% to -59%), CO (-4 to -44%), NH3 (-2 to -38%), while a slight increase is observed for O3 (+4 to +6%) during the lockdown period compared to same periods in previous years. Furthermore, PM and air pollutants are significantly reduced during lockdown compared to the respective period in previous years, while a significant increase in pollution levels is observed after the re-opening of economy. The meteorological changes were rather marginal between the examined periods in order to justify such large reductions in pollution levels, which are mostly attributed to traffic-related pollutants (NOx, CO and road-dust PM). The WRF-CHIMERE model simulations reveal a remarkable reduction in PM2.5, NO2 and SO2 levels over whole Indian subcontinent and mostly over urban areas, due to limitation in emissions from the traffic and industrial sectors. A PM2.5 reduction of -48% was simulated in Delhi in great consistency with measurements, rendering the model as a powerful tool for simulations of lower pollution levels during lockdown period.
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Affiliation(s)
- U C Dumka
- Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences, Nainital, 263001, India
| | - D G Kaskaoutis
- Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, Palaia Penteli, 15236, Athens, Greece
- Environmental Chemical Processes Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, 71003, Crete, Greece
| | - Shubha Verma
- Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, 721302, India
| | | | - Sarvan Kumar
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Prof. Rajendra Singh (Rajju Bhaiya) Institute of Physical Sciences for Study and Research, Veer Bahadur Singh Purvanchal University, Jaunpur, 222003, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Sanhita Ghosh
- Advanced Technology Development Centre, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, 721302, India
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Sur K, Verma VK, Pateriya B. Variation of tropospheric NO 2 over Indo-Gangetic plain during COVID-19 outbreak in India. SPATIAL INFORMATION RESEARCH 2021; 29:841-855. [PMCID: PMC8019090 DOI: 10.1007/s41324-021-00399-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2020] [Revised: 03/22/2021] [Accepted: 03/24/2021] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a gaseous air pollutant which primarily gets in the air when fossil fuels such as coal, oil, gas or diesel are burned at high temperatures through industries, power plant, automobiles and locomotive. Continuous exposure to elevated concentration of NO2 may impose development of asthma and potentially increase in susceptibility to respiratory infections in humans. The present study examined impact of lockdown due to COVID-19 in terms of spatial and temporal variation of tropospheric NO2 in Indo-Gangetic plain. The results showed steep reduction in tropospheric NO2 as a result of ceased industrial and economic activities. Analysis of Sentinel-5P satellite data was carried out for specific period during 2019–2020 at a regional scale and for major industrial cities. Tremendous positive impact of lockdown in atmospheric condition is observed, wherein NO2 concentration has gone down by 20–40% in all major cities except few exceptions were noticed. The concomitant impact of Covid-19 has ensued pragmatic constructive impact on environment and climate, due to drop in NO2 emissions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Koyel Sur
- Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC), Ludhiana, India
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Bhardwaj S, Soni R, Gupta SK, Shukla DP. Mercury, arsenic, lead and cadmium in waters of the Singrauli coal mining and power plants industrial zone, Central East India. ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT 2020; 192:251. [PMID: 32215781 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-020-8225-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2019] [Accepted: 03/17/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The present investigation is an attempt to assess the contamination of heavy metals in the ground and surface water of the Singrauli industrial belt area. Pollution indices like heavy metal index (HPI), contamination index (CD) and heavy metal evaluation index (HEI) are used for the evaluation of heavy metal pollution (arsenic As, mercury Hg, cadmium Cd, and lead Pb). Contour maps are constructed to interpret metal spatial distribution. Further, the land-use/land-cover (LULC) maps for the year 2000, 2010 and 2016 are prepared using Landsat satellite data. A total of 48 water samples (Groundwater (27), Surface water (21)) are analysed for heavy metal concentration. Eighty-eight percent of groundwater and 90% of surface water samples are contaminated with Hg. Similarly, high concentrations of Pb and Cd were found in the samples. Surprisingly, all the water samples have As concentration above the WHO permissible limit of 10 ppb. Further, 95% of the samples have an HPI value greater than 100 indicating high heavy metal contamination. CD value denotes contamination of 89% of the samples with heavy metals (As, Hg, Cd, Pb). Through spatial distribution, it can be interpreted that most of the contaminated samples lie near thermal power plants, ash ponds, and coal mines. LULC (land use/land cover) study shows a significant decrease in water bodies by (108 km2), agricultural land by (54 km2) and bare/fallow land by (51 km2) from 2000 to 2016. During these 16 years, there has been a fourfold increase in the overburden, a threefold increase in dumping yards, a 2.5 times increase in urban areas, and a twofold increase in mining areas. Both the environment and the water quality are deteriorating at an alarming rate. Such scientific investigations are relevant for risk management studies of potable water. The knowledge acquired from such assessment shall be considered with utmost priority by concerned authority considering degrading water quality in the study area. Hence, this study is applicable for designing action plans and control measures to reduce water resource pollution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shefali Bhardwaj
- School of Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Room No. 301, A-4 Building, IIT Mandi, South Campus, Kamand, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, 175005, India
| | - Richa Soni
- School of Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Room No. 301, A-4 Building, IIT Mandi, South Campus, Kamand, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, 175005, India
| | - Sharad Kumar Gupta
- School of Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Room No. 301, A-4 Building, IIT Mandi, South Campus, Kamand, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, 175005, India
| | - Dericks P Shukla
- School of Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Room No. 301, A-4 Building, IIT Mandi, South Campus, Kamand, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, 175005, India.
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Siddiqui A, Halder S, Chauhan P, Kumar P. COVID-19 Pandemic and City-Level Nitrogen Dioxide (NO 2) Reduction for Urban Centres of India. JOURNAL OF THE INDIAN SOCIETY OF REMOTE SENSING 2020; 48:999-1006. [PMCID: PMC7374949 DOI: 10.1007/s12524-020-01130-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2020] [Accepted: 07/15/2020] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Air pollution poses a grave health risk and is a matter of concern for researchers around the globe. Toxic pollutants like nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a result of industrial and transport sector emissions and need to be analysed at the current scenario. After the world realised the effect of COVID-19 pandemic, countries around the globe proposed complete lockdown to contain the spread. The present research focuses on analysing the gaseous pollution scenarios, before and during lockdown through satellite (Sentinel-5P data sets) and ground-based measurements (Central Pollution Control Board’s Air Quality Index, AQI) for 8 five-million plus cities in India (Delhi, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru and Pune). The long-term exposure to NO2 was also linked to pandemic-related mortality cases across the country. An average of 46% reduction in average NO2 values and 27% improvement in AQI was observed in the eight cities during the first lockdown phase with respect to pre-lockdown phase. Also, 53% of Corona positive cases and 61% of fatality cases were observed in the eight major cities of the country alone, coinciding with locations having high long-term NO2 exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asfa Siddiqui
- Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Indian Space Research Organisation, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001 India
| | - Suvankar Halder
- Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Indian Space Research Organisation, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001 India
| | - Prakash Chauhan
- Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Indian Space Research Organisation, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001 India
| | - Pramod Kumar
- Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Indian Space Research Organisation, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001 India
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Singh RP, Kumar S, Singh AK. Elevated Black Carbon Concentrations and Atmospheric Pollution around Singrauli Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plants (India) Using Ground and Satellite Data. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2018; 15:ijerph15112472. [PMID: 30400662 PMCID: PMC6267488 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph15112472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2018] [Revised: 10/22/2018] [Accepted: 10/31/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The tropospheric NO2 concentration from OMI AURA always shows high concentrations of NO2 at a few locations in India, one of the high concentrations of NO2 hotspots is associated with the locations of seven coal-fired Thermal Power plants (TPPs) in Singrauli. Emissions from TPPs are among the major sources of black carbon (BC) soot in the atmosphere. Knowledge of BC emissions from TPPs is important in characterizing regional carbonaceous particulate emissions, understanding the fog/haze/smog formation, evaluating regional climate forcing, modeling aerosol optical parameters and concentrations of black carbon, and evaluating human health. Furthermore, elevated BC concentrations, over the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) and the Himalayan foothills, have emerged as an important subject to estimate the effects of deposition and atmospheric warming of BC on the accelerated melting of snow and glaciers in the Himalaya. For the first time, this study reports BC concentrations and aerosol optical parameters near dense coal-fired power plants and open cast coal mining adjacent to the east IGP. In-situ measurements were carried out in Singrauli (located in south-east IGP) at a fixed site about 10 km from power plants and in transit measurements in close proximity to the plants, for few days in the month of January and March 2013. At the fixed site, BC concentration up to the 95 μgm−3 is observed with strong diurnal variations. BC concentration shows two maxima peaks during early morning and evening hours. High BC concentrations are observed in close proximity to the coal-fired TPPs (>200 μgm−3), compared to the outside domain of our study region. Co-located ground-based sunphotometer measurements of aerosol optical depth (AOD) show strong spatial variability at the fixed site, with AOD in the range 0.38–0.58, and the highest AOD in the range 0.7–0.95 near the TPPs in transit measurements (similar to the peak of BC concentrations). Additionally, the Angstrom exponent was found to be in the range 0.4–1.0 (maximum in the morning time) and highest in the proximity of TPPs (~1.0), suggesting abundance of fine particulates, whereas there was low Angstrom exponent over the surrounding coal mining areas. Low Angstrom exponent is characterized by dust from the unpaved roads and nearby coal mining areas. MODIS derived daily AOD shows a good match with the MICROTOPS AOD. The CALIPSO derived subtypes of the aerosol plot shows that the aerosols over Singrauli region are mainly dust, polluted dust, and elevated smoke. The preliminary study for few days provides information about the BC concentrations and aerosol optical properties from Singrauli (one of the NO2 hotspot locations in India). This preliminary study suggests that long-term continuous monitoring of BC is needed to understand the BC concentrations and aerosol optical properties for better quantification and the estimation of the emission to evaluate radiative forcing in the region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ramesh P Singh
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866, USA.
| | - Sarvan Kumar
- Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Dr. Homi Bhabha Road, Pashan, Pune 411008, India.
| | - Abhay K Singh
- Atmospheric Research Lab., Department of Physics, BHU, Varanasi 221005, India.
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Khokhar MF, Nisar M, Noreen A, Khan WR, Hakeem KR. Investigating the nitrogen dioxide concentrations in the boundary layer by using multi-axis spectroscopic measurements and comparison with satellite observations. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2017; 24:2827-2839. [PMID: 27838904 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-016-7907-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2015] [Accepted: 10/12/2016] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
This study emphasizes on near surface observation of chemically active trace gases such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2) over Islamabad on a regular basis. Absorption spectroscopy using backscattered extraterrestrial light source technique was used to retrieve NO2 differential slant column densities (dSCDs). Mini multi-axis-differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) instrument was used to perform ground-based measurements at Institute of Environmental Sciences and Engineering (IESE), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) Islamabad, Pakistan. Tropospheric vertical column densities (VCDs) of NO2 were derived from measured dSCDs by using geometric air mass factor approach. A case study was conducted to identify the impact of different materials (glass, tinted glass, and acrylic sheet of various thicknesses used to cover the instrument) on the retrieval of dSCDs. Acrylic sheet of thickness 5 mm was found most viable option for casing material as it exhibited negligible impact in the visible wavelength range. Tropospheric NO2 VCD derived from ground-based mini MAX-DOAS measurements exceeded two times the Pak-NEQS levels and showed a reasonable comparison (r 2 = 0.65, r = 0.81) with satellite observations (root mean square bias of 39 %) over Islamabad, Pakistan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Fahim Khokhar
- Institute of Environmental Sciences and Engineering (IESE), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Sector H-12, 444000, Islamabad, Pakistan.
| | - Munazza Nisar
- Institute of Environmental Sciences and Engineering (IESE), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Sector H-12, 444000, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Asma Noreen
- Institute of Environmental Sciences and Engineering (IESE), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Sector H-12, 444000, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Waseem Razzaq Khan
- Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Khalid Rehman Hakeem
- Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, 43400, Selangor, Malaysia.
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia.
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Lu Z, Streets DG. Increase in NOx emissions from Indian thermal power plants during 1996-2010: unit-based inventories and multisatellite observations. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2012; 46:7463-70. [PMID: 22732062 DOI: 10.1021/es300831w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Driven by rapid economic development and growing electricity demand, NO(x) emissions (E) from the power sector in India have increased dramatically since the mid-1990s. In this study, we present the NO(x) emissions from Indian public thermal power plants for the period 1996-2010 using a unit-based methodology and compare the emission estimates with the satellite observations of NO(2) tropospheric vertical column densities (TVCDs) from four spaceborne instruments: GOME, SCIAMACHY, OMI, and GOME-2. Results show that NO(x) emissions from Indian power plants increased by at least 70% during 1996-2010. Coal-fired power plants, NO(x) emissions from which are not regulated in India, contribute ∼96% to the total power sector emissions, followed by gas-fired (∼4%) and oil-fired (<1%) ones. A number of isolated NO(2) hot spots are observed over the power plant areas, and good agreement between NO(2) TVCDs and NO(x) emissions is found for areas dominated by power plant emissions. Average NO(2) TVCDs over power plant areas were continuously increasing during the study period. We find that the ratio of ΔE/E to ΔTVCD/TVCD changed from greater than one to less than one around 2005-2008, implying that a transition of the overall NO(x) chemistry occurred over the power plant areas, which may cause significant impact on the atmospheric environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zifeng Lu
- Decision and Information Sciences Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, United States.
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