Emissions and accumulation of metals in the atmosphere due to crackers and sparkles during Diwali festival in India

In India, Diwali is known as one of the most famous festivals. On the occasion of this festival, people burn crackers and sparkles to express their happiness. The burning of these fireworks leads to metal pollution in air. In this study, metal concentrations in ambient air were observed to be very h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Atmospheric environment (1994) 2004-09, Vol.38 (27), p.4421-4425
Main Authors: Kulshrestha, U.C., Nageswara Rao, T., Azhaguvel, S., Kulshrestha, M.J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air pollution
Applied sciences
Atmospheric pollution
Dispersed sources and other
Emission
Exact sciences and technology
Festival
Fireworks
Metals
Pollution
Pollution sources. Measurement results
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Summary:In India, Diwali is known as one of the most famous festivals. On the occasion of this festival, people burn crackers and sparkles to express their happiness. The burning of these fireworks leads to metal pollution in air. In this study, metal concentrations in ambient air were observed to be very high as compared to background values on previous days. For some metals the concentrations were observed to be higher than reported at industrial sites. The order of concentration of metals on the day of festival was observed to be in the order—K>Al>Ba>Mg>Fe>Sr>Na>Ca>Cu>Mn>As>V>Ni>Bi. Interestingly, the concentrations of Ba, K, Al and Sr went up to 1091, 25, 18 and 15 times higher than the previous day of Diwali. This study indicated that burning of crackers and sparkles on Diwali is a very strong source of air pollution which contributes significantly high amount of metals in air.
ISSN:1352-2310
1873-2844
DOI:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2004.05.044