Organic matter determination for street dust in Delhi

Abstract

The organic matter of street dust is considered as one of the causes for high human mortality rate. To understand the association, the street dust samples were collected from four different localities (industrial, residential, residential-commercial, and commercial) situated in the greater Delhi area of India. The loss-on-ignition method was used to determine the organic matter (OM) content in street dust. The OM content, potassium, calcium, sulfate, and nitrate concentrations of street dust in Delhi, India is measured to understand the spatial variation. Correlation analysis, analysis of variance, and factor analysis were performed to define the sources. The dust OM level ranges from 2.63 to 10.22 %. It is found through correlation and factor analysis that OM is primarily contributed from secondary aerosol and vehicular exhaust. The OM levels suggest that the use of a residential-commercial site for commercial purposes is polluting the street dust and creating the environmental and human health problems.

Extent of air pollution in Kandy area, Sri Lanka: morphological, mineralogical and chemical characterization of dust

“…Organic materials made up of functional groups, such as COO-, would create complexes with heavy metals that are more bioavailable than the metal itself (Alloway, 1995). The organic matter content of road dust in the study area (Table 2) is higher than that of road dust in the Colombo metropolitan area (CMA), Sri Lanka (Herath et al, 2015), Delhi, India (Shandilya et al, 2013), West Midlands, United Kingdom (Shilton et al, 2005) and Manchester, England (Robertson et al, 2003).…”

Spatial Distribution and Pollution Level of Heavy Metals in Street Dust of the City of Suwałki (Poland)

“…The average OM content in the dust was 2.24% and ranged from 0.70 to 7.90% and its variability (CV) was at a high level of 68.33%. The high variability of OM content suggests mixed source impacts [ 30 ]. The contents found are similar to those obtained by Robertson et al [ 31 ], Shilton et al [ 32 ], and O’Shea et al [ 33 ].…”

“…Similar correlations have been shown and suggested by the common source of the metals studied [ 2 ]. A correlation coefficient of less than 0.2 was considered insignificant [ 30 ]. Cr and Cu correlated with motor vehicle traffic volume at r > 0.50, which explains their direct origin.…”