MONITORING OF BENZENE SOLUBLE ORGANIC FRACTION (BSOF) IN AMBIENT AIR IN KANPUR, INDIA

Anindita Bhattacharya and Alka Tangri*

ABSTRACT

Mixing ratio of BSOF (toluene and xylene) were measured for the first time in ambient air of Kanpur City, Uttar Pradesh, India at five sites (residential, industrial, commercial, refueling pump station and traffic intersection) from March to June 2023. Day-time and night-time sampling was done at five selected sites during working time and four emission sources to provides for analysis, using Ultra RAE3000 (VOC monitor) under operating condition for the identification of BSOF concentration in ambient air, as parts per million (ppm) quantity is often found in environment samples. The concentration ranges of BSOF 0.189 ppm (residential), 0.018 ppm (industrial), 0.078 ppm (Commercial), 0.762 ppm (refueling pump station) and 0.276 ppm (traffic intersection), respectively. The observed concentrations of toluene was 0.289 and xylene was 0.294 ppm. The significant difference observed between the five sites for the residential, industrial, commercial, refueling pump station and traffic intersection areas implies that the five areas have different emission sources. This is also indicated by the significant differences observed between day-time and night-time BSOF concentrations. The four months variation indicates a decrease in concentration of BSOF during summer season of the reactive o-xylene compound. We conclude that air pollution as measured by BSOF levels do not necessarily predict but instead may predict mortality rates. Due to the toxic effect of the BSOF studied, an assessment for health risk due to exposure to the population were calculated. These results are useful in the design of emission source control measures for BSOF in Kanpur, India.

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