Appropriate Selection of Ambient Dust Monitoring Parameters for India: Testing of Total Volatile Matter or Benzene Soluble Alternatives

This paper reports the observations based on the analysis of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in Bombay city as a part of the NAQMN pro­gramme (National Air Quality Monitoring Network) covering three sampling sites viz: Bandra (residen­tial), Kalbadevi (commercial) and Parel (indus­trial). SPM samples were collected with Hi-vol sampler over a period of 24-hrs and quantified gravimetrically. They were further analyzed for Benzene Soluble Fractions (BSF) with Volatile Or­ganic Matter (TYM). The levels of total BSF in Bombay were comparable with those of cosmo­politan cities like Calcutta and Delhi. The statistical significance status of correlation between BSF and total SPM was found best in the rainy season. This study highlighted that the rise in SPM values is not accompanied by the proportional rise in BSF and TVM and hence, despite large variations in SPM data, these parameters remain consistent. Less variability in BSF and TVM confirmed that these parameters are not affected by background dust which is the main cause of high fluctuations in SPM values