Multivariate Urban Air Quality Assessment of Indoor and Outdoor Environments at Chennai Metropolis in South India

• Published in: Atmosphere 2022-10, Vol.13 (10), p.1627
• Main Authors: Karuppasamy, Manikanda Bharath, Natesan, Usha, Karuppannan, Shankar, Chandrasekaran, Lakshmi Narasimhan, Hussain, Sajjad, Almohamad, Hussein, Dughairi, Ahmed Abdullah Al, Al-Mutiry, Motrih, Alkayyadi, Ibrahim, Abdo, Hazem Ghassan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abrasion; Aerosols; Air conditioners; air conditioning filter samples; Air monitoring; Air pollution; Air quality; Air quality assessments; Airborne particulates; Anthropogenic factors; Buildings; Cities; Commercial buildings; Construction materials; Data collection; Distribution; ecological risk; Ecological risk assessment; Effluents; Emissions; Environmental aspects; Environmental monitoring; Environmental quality; Fossil fuels; gaseous emissions; Gaseous pollutants; Heavy metals; Highways; Human influences; Indoor air; Indoor air pollution; Indoor air quality; Indoor environments; Industrial areas; Industrial development; Industrial plant emissions; Industrial pollution; Iron and steel plants; Magnetism; Manufacturing; Mechanical components; Megacities; Metals; mineral magnetism; Minerals; Monitoring systems; Outdoor air quality; Particle size; Particles; Particulate emissions; Particulate matter; Pollutants; Pollution control; Pollution monitoring; Power plants; Quality assessment; Quality control; Quality standards; Residential areas; Residential buildings; Roadsides; Schools; Suspended particulate matter; Tires; toxic elements; Urban air; Urban air quality; Vehicle emissions; Ventilation
• ISSN: 2073-4433; 2073-4433
• DOI: 10.3390/atmos13101627

The present study examines indoor and outdoor environmental particulate matter and gaseous pollutants in order to evaluate the urban air quality, the sources and pathways of pollutants, and its impact on Chennai megacity, South India. A total number of 25 air conditioner filter particulate matter samples collected from residential buildings, schools, colleges, commercial shopping malls, and buildings near urban highways were studied for indoor air quality. Similarly, outdoor air quality assessments have been done in various parts of the Chennai metropolis, including the Manali-Industrial area, the Velachery-Residential site, and the Alandur Bus Depot, as well as collected air quality data sets from the Central Pollution Control Board at continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations. The suspended atmospheric particles where the highest concentration (47%) occurred were mostly located in the roadside environments followed by commercial areas (42%), which indicates the increase in air pollution in the roadside areas. Further, environmental magnetism and ecological risk indices were studied from the collected data set. The study predicts that the air pollutants were predominantly from anthropogenic sources, such as vehicle emissions, effluents from power plants, abrasion of tires, steelworks, burning of fossil fuels and construction materials, etc. As a result, the current study suggests 68% of indoor pollutants were from the anthropogenic input, 18% from the pedogenic origin, and 14% from high heavy metal pollution at the sampling sites. This indicates that raising the ventilation rate via mechanical components significantly enhances the indoor air quality. These findings might be valuable in improving urban air quality, reducing traffic-related pollutants, and improving environmental quality.