Ambient air pollution is a major cause of various diseases which accounts for an estimated 4.2 million deaths per year globally. During the recent decade's volatile organic compounds such as benzene, toluene, and xylene gained interest in the field of indoor and outdoor air quality. These are responsible for a numerous adverse health effects like asthma, dizziness, fatigue, eye, nose, and throat irritation. Thus, an investigation of ambient benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX) was conducted at metropolitan (municipal) and bucolic sites of Gorakhpur for a span of one year to determine the contagion levels. Sampling and analysis of BTX were performed using a methodology based on NIOSH method 1501. BTX were sampled by drawing air through activated coconut shell charcoal tubes, using a low-flow SKC Model 220 sampling pump at the flow rate of 250ml/min for 20-24hrs. The air suction rate was verified every week using calibrated rotameters with an accuracy of ±1%. The samples were extracted with carbon disulphide by occasional agitation and the aromatic fraction was subjected to GC-FID.Total mean concentration of BTX was 32.19µg/m 3 from all the samples and the total range was from 4.3µg/m 3 to 54.7µg/m 3 with the median of 26.3µg/m 3 . The maximum levels of total BTX were found to be 40.5µg/m 3 in winters, followed by 29.6µg/m 3 in summer and 26.3µg/m 3 in monsoon season. The average BTX concentration was highest at bucolic site (19.1µg/m 3 ) followed by municipal site (8.7µg/ m 3 ). At both the sites, maximum B/T ratio was found in winter season whereas the X/B ratio was found to be lowest. Toluene against benzene plot shows R 2 value of 0.92 and 0.94 at municipal and bucolic sites, respectively. At both the sites, the estimated integrated lifetime cancer risk (ILTCR) for benzene exceeded the threshold value of 1E-06 whereas the individual hazard quotients (HQ) for BTX did not exceed unity at any of the sites.
Transportation has turned into an escalating source that causes severe adverse effects on air quality. Over the last few decades, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of publications on traffic-related volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which indicates that automobiles in urban regions are the dominant source of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene, commonly called BTEX. A monitoring program was designed and implemented to characterize roadside levels of BTEX during November, 2014-February, 2015 at Gorakhpur-a terai belt of north India, on both weekdays and weekends. Samples of the air were collected at two sites namely, Nausad Traffic Junction (NTJ) and Golghar Traffic Junction (GTJ). Besides this, air samples were also collected at different distances (3 m, 10 m, 20 m, 30 m respectively) from the road. BTEX were sampled by SKC activated charcoal tubes and analyzed by GC-FID (Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detector). Total BTEX concentration ranged from 9.8-61.3 µg m-3 at roadside sites, Gorakhpur. The total mean BTEX at Golghar traffic junction (GTJ) and Nausad traffic junction (NTJ) were 36.6 µg m-3 and 18.1 µg m-3 respectively. The concentrations of BTEX were plotted against distance from the road. The coefficient of determination (R 2 values) for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene were found to be 0.65, 0.98, 0.98 and 0.92 respectively. The average T/B and X/E ratios of both the sites together were 2.3 and 1.2 respectively. The higher traffic volume and traffic congestion on weekdays lead to remarkably higher BTEX levels than those observed on Sunday at both the sites. Toluene was found to be dominant followed by benzene, xylene and ethylbenzene. Appropriate traffic management and vehicle emission control should be applied to reduce the VOC pollution in the city.
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