Author(s)

Khageshwar Singh Patel^1*, Sapana Gupta¹, Shobhana Ramteke¹, Keshaw Prakash Rajhans¹, S. Nava², F. Lucarelli²

¹School of Studies in Chemistry/Environmental Science, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur, India.
²Department of Physics, University of Florence and INFN, via Sansone, Florence, Italy.

Asbestos exposure is known to cause asbestosis i.e. lung cancer (mesothelioma) with increased risk of diseases i.e. gastrointestinal, colorectal, throat, kidney, esophageal, and gallbladder cancer. Therefore, in the present work, the concentration of SiO₂ associated to the coarse and fine particulates in the ambient air of most industrialized area of central India i.e. Raipur city (capital of Chhattisgarh state) is described. The concentration of SiO₂ in ambient air associated to the PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 was ranged from 6.6 to 102 and 0.2 to 15 μg/m³ with mean value of 30.0 ± 6.0 and 4.3 ± 0.8 μg/m³, respectively. The seasonal, spatial and temporal variations of SiO2 in the air are described.

Ambient Air, Particulate Matter, Silica, Trace Elements

Patel, K. , Gupta, S. , Ramteke, S. , Rajhans, K. , Nava, S. and Lucarelli, F. (2016) Silica Particulate Pollution in Central India. Journal of Environmental Protection, 7, 170-175. doi: 10.4236/jep.2016.72015.