Monitoring and analyzing the effect of heavy metals in air based on ecological and health risks in Coimbatore

Abstract Earlier, there were limited number of small-scale factories and they were operated only for certain hours a day. Therefore, the level of air pollution was moderate. But when those factories are converted into a large-scale factory the industrial air pollution created a major impact. The studies say that 6 out of 10 people in Coimbatore region inhales polluted air that outdo the WHO data limit. Air quality index can convey the people how polluted the air is. Industries are the major source for worsening air quality. Higher the air quality greater the health concern. To estimate the air quality in the industrial areas of Coimbatore city the air pollutants like ammonia (NH3), Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5), Sulphur dioxide (SO2), Particulate matter10 (PM10), Carbon mono oxide (CO) and Trioxygen (O3) are monitored regularly to do the analysis and also the suspended particulate matter (SPM) are collected in the industrial areas of five stations. The collected SPM undergoes analysis for heavy metal contents like Zinc (Zn), Ferrous (Fe), Copper (Cu), Lead (Pb), Nickel (Ni) and Chromium (Cr). All the ten samples were wrapped in a polythene sleeve and taken to air pollution division, Environmental Scientific Research Department, Government college of Technology, Coimbatore. The result shows that the prominent pollutant present in Coimbatore city is Carbon monoxide (CO) and also the higher possibility of Particulate matter10 (PM10). In heavy metal content analysis, the result shows that the concentration of zinc (Zn) is greater than that of other metal contents in Coimbatore city. The order for concentration of heavy metals that we got from our analysis is Zn>Cu>Fe>Cr>Ni>Pb.The concentration of Zinc (Zn) is higher because in most of the industries iron and steel plays a major role. Zinc (Zn) act as protective coating for those products. Air pollution is one of the deadly environmental threat for death. It is accountable that the death from heart attacks, strokes, breathing disorder and other respiratory disease are more than 7 million for every year. This states that the death due to air pollution causing diseases are greater than tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria combined. As per the medical analysis the causes of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases are mainly due to the heavy metal content present in the air.