Risk assessment and apportionment studies of particulate pollution at Ankamaly, South India

In the present world which is engulfed by the ill-effects of air pollution, stringent permissible emission standards to curb pollution are mandatory. Source and risk apportionment studies help to understand the sources and their contributions. Four parameters, lifetime average daily dose, hazard quotient, hazard index, excess cancer risk helped in assessing the risk at sampling site selected at Ankamaly, Kerala. Lifetime average daily dose was found be in the descending order as Fe> K> Na> Ca. Hazard quotient values were found to be greater than one for Mn and Cr, which conveys the non-carcinogenic effects due to pollution. Cu, Ni, and Zn were within safe limits. Chromium was found to be the main risk causing pollutant. Excess cancer risk (ECR) values shoot up to 6.67×10-3 for child and 2.86×10-3 for adults, which shows it is alarming. Risk apportionment was done and the highest contributors to risk were found to be smelting activities (92.4%) followed by wood residue burning (4.2%) and paved road dust (3.2%).