Ubiquitous fine particulates can readily be bound to toxic metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and are considered to be a great threat to human health. The purpose of this study was to assess the magnitude of air pollution risks to public health by determining four crucial parameters- inhalable particulates, metals in particulates and PAHs which are associated with PM₁₀ in the air environment of Lucknow, India during 2007-09. The values of PM₁₀ and PM₂.₅ ranged between 102.3-240.5 and 28.0-196.9 μg/m³ whilst the average PM₁₀ was 1.7 times and PM was 1.5 times higher than their respective NAAQS of 100 and 60 μg/m³ respectively. The estimated relative death rate and hospital admissions for each increase in the PM₁₀ levels of 10 μg/m³ ranged from 1.5-8% and from 3.9-8.0% (as per APHEA2 1990) respectively in persons > 65 yrs. Among the locations; AQ, AQ and AQ (with diversified activities and heavy traffic) recorded higher concentrations of both the particulate fractions than the AQ (residential area with low traffic). The average concentrations of Fe, Pb, Ni, Cu, Cr, Cd in PM₁₀ were 219.4, 40.6, 35.1, 27.3, 22.2 and 16.2 ng/m³ and that in PM₂.₅ were 54.3, 33.9, 38.5, 29.4, 8.4, and 1.17 ng/m³ respectively Regression analysis revealed that correlation of metals with PM₂.₅ was stronger than PM. The ratio of metals adsorbed on surface of particles (PM₂.₅:PM₁₀) reveals that PM₂.₅ has more affinity for Ni, Cu and Pb and PM₁₀ for Cd, Fe and Cr. Health risk due to carcinogenic metals bound to respirable particulates was predicted by estimating excess cancer risk (ECR). The highest ECR value was estimated for Cr, 266.70 × 10⁻⁶, which was associated with PM10 and 100.92 × 10⁻⁶ which was associated with PM₂.₅, whereas lead has the lowest ECR value. Amongst PAHs, benzo(a)pyrene (51.96 ± 19.71 ng/m) was maximum in PM₁₀ samples. Maximum concentrations of PM₁₀, PM₂.₅, metals and PAHs were detected during winter, and the lowest was during monsoon. The higher prevalence of diseases among the population may be due to high concentration of particulates coated with toxic metals and PAHs present in air environment.

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The PM(10) concentration (μg/m(3)) in Lucknow city at 4 locations in three different seasons ranged between 148.6-210.8 (avg. 187.2 ± 17.1) during summer, 111.8-187.6 (avg. 155.7 ± 22.7) during monsoon and 199.3-308.8 (avg. 269.3 ± 42.9) during winter while PM(2.5) ranged between 32.4-67.2 (avg. 45.6 ± 10.9), 25.6-68.9 (avg. 39.8 ± 4.6) and 99.3-299.3 (avg. 212.4 ± 55.0) during respective seasons. The mass fraction ratio of PM(2.5) ranged between 0.22-0.92 (avg. 0.42 ± 0.26) and was significantly high during winter season indicating their composition.

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Noise monitoring using "Cirrus sound level" was carried out for 30 min at a height of 1.5 m and 1 m away from the chest during October, 2002 covering 73 locations of ~781 MW power plant. Event Leq and LN cycle were studied to identify the noisy machines and to generate baseline data.exposure. However, prolong exposure to industrial noise can't be neglected which may be the cause of neurobehavioral change, psychological stress and unhappiness in daily life without showing the symptoms of chronic / acute

Mobilization of heavy metals around coal power plants due to improper disposal of fly ash (FA) and wastewater have led to release of pollutants into the environment. For protection of inimitable natural resources, application of economical and effective technologies is needed such as phytoremediation is cost-effective, ecofriendly and a better option for elimination of metal from contaminated sites. Twelve plant species were sampled from ash dyke of Singrauli and screened for accumulation of metals for this study. Mobilization ratio of metals from soil to plant was evaluated to determine translocation factor. CILLAS analyzer, Raman spectroscopy and SEM-EDX were used for characterization of particle size, functional groups and morphology of fly ash. Results showed mean metal concentrations in contaminated soil for Fe, Mn, Cr, Zn, Ni, Cu, Cd and Pb were 909.4, 60.6, 9.5, 134.8, 13.6, 26.7, 2.9 and 25.4 µg g respectively. Enrichment factors for soil, root and shoot for a contaminated site were 1.9, 3.8 & 4.3 for Zn and 2.7, 3.5 & 3.8 for Cd. Six hyper-accumulators with absorption efficiency >1 viz. I. carnea, S. nigrum, S. munja, T. angustifolia, C. dactylon and P. hysterophorus were identified which may be cultivated successively to reclaim and restore damaged agricultural land.