Assessment of sources and health impacts of PM10 in an urban environment over eastern coastal plain of India

Abstract

Aerosol health impacts are gaining considerable attention from the scientific community. Our study's primary purpose was to identify the source regions of PM10 and quantify its long-term health effects at an eastern Indian urban site Bhubaneswar from July 2018 to June 2019. The seasonal average of PM10 surface observations displayed higher values in winter, followed by post-monsoon, summer and monsoon. Eastern India, Northern India, and South-East Asia emerged as potential source regions of PM10 contributors to the study location using source-receptor models. The health endpoints, (i) incidence of chronic bronchitis in adults, (ii) post neonatal infant mortality and, (iii) prevalence of bronchitis in children, were estimated employing the World Health Organization developed model, AirQ+. The attributable proportion, the excess number of attributable cases, and the excess number of attributable cases per 100,000 population for three endpoints showed the highest impact during the winter season. Winter impact is 3 to 5 times higher compared to the rest of other seasons. This study highlights the health impact of PM10 on the population of Bhubaneswar, especially during winter. Thus, it is imperative to give considerable focus to controlling and mitigating air pollution at the investigation location.