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Health impact assessment from exposure to trace metals present in atmospheric PM10 at Ahmedabad, a big city in western India

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Abstract

Many toxicological studies revealed the deleterious effects on human health induced by trace metals in ambient particulate matter (PM). This study reports the season-dependent water-soluble and total metal mass in PM10 collected simultaneously over five microenvironments in a semi-arid urban region, Ahmedabad, located in western India. The mineral dust fraction in PM10 over Bapunagar, Narol, Paldi, Income Tax, and Science City was estimated to be around 39, 45, 47, 44, and 31% during summer (May–June 2017) and 24, 55, 28, 27, and 28% during winter (December 2017–January 2018), respectively, corroborating mineral dust is perennial in the air over Ahmedabad. The PM2.5/PM10 mass ratios over all the sites were higher during winter (40–60%) as compared to those during summer (30–40%), indicating the contribution from the anthropogenic sources to PM mass. Among the metals monitored, the estimated considerable amount of high masses of Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd, and Sb during winter can be ascribed to the anthropogenic inputs based on the estimated enrichment factors (EF). In contrast to the crustal source, these metals might have been possibly emitted from several other man-made sources, which were found to be more water-soluble during both seasons. As per the standards of incremental excess lifetime cancer risk (IELCR), it is estimated that the atmospheric mass concentration of carcinogenic metals such as Cr, Co, and As was higher in all these sites, whereas the metals such as Pb, Ni, and Cd are also found over the industrial site (Narol) in addition to the above-said metals. Notably, people are highly susceptible to these metals, leading to the potential risk of cancer during both seasons.

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Funding

This study was funded by the Forests and Environment Department, Government of Gujarat.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gujarat Environment Management Institute (GEMI), Forests and Environment Department, 3rd floor, Block No. 13, Dr. Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Old Sachivalaya, Sector 10, Gujarat, 382010, Gandhinagar, India

    Utsav Gandhi, Nitasha Khatri, Viral Brahmbhatt & Ashutosh Kumar Jha

  2. Geosciences Division, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India

    Anil Patel & Neeraj Rastogi

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  1. Utsav Gandhi
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  2. Nitasha Khatri
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  3. Viral Brahmbhatt
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  4. Ashutosh Kumar Jha
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  5. Anil Patel
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Correspondence to Nitasha Khatri.

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Gandhi, U., Khatri, N., Brahmbhatt, V. et al. Health impact assessment from exposure to trace metals present in atmospheric PM10 at Ahmedabad, a big city in western India. Environ Monit Assess 193, 663 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-021-09452-w

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