Risk Assessment of Particulate Matter (PM 2.5 and PM 10 ) During Winter Crop at the Agricultural Site of Delhi, India

Abstract In Indian cities, airborne particulate matter, PM 2.5 , is related with regional or across border problem and that of PM 10 with local-land urban problem. The present study was carried out for risk assessment of PM 10 and PM 2.5 and its associated carbonaceous component and heavy metals of an experimental agriculture farm site of Delhi, India. In our studies, at the agricultural site which is surrounded by heavy traffic and industries related sites, concentrations of both PM 10 and PM 2.5 varied significantly from 136.34 to 176.66 µg/m 3 and 56 to 162 µ/m 3 respectively. However, the concentrations of NOx were relatively higher during the months of February and March. The concentrations of O 3 in the present study, were observed to be the highest in February. In general, the Hazard index for both adults and children population was reported to be < 1, which indicated the probability of non-carcinogenic risks to both populations as negative.