Particulate Matter (PM)

PM is an abbreviation for particulate matter (also known as particle pollution): a word used to describe a combination of solid particles and liquid droplets prevalent in the air. Some particles are big or black enough to be visible to the human eye, such as dust, dirt, soot, or smoke. Others are so minuscule that they can only be seen with an electron microscope.

What are PM10 AND PM2.5?

PM10 particles are inhalable particles with diameters of 10 micrometers or less;

PM2.5 particles are tiny inhalable particles with diameters of 2.5 micrometers or less.

What size are 2.5 micrometers? Consider a single hair on your head. The average human hair is 70 micrometers in diameter, which is 30 times bigger than the smallest microscopic particle.

Sources of Particulate Matter?

These particles can be hundreds of different compounds and come in a variety of sizes and forms.

Some are directly released by a source, such as construction sites, unpaved roads, fields, smokestacks, or fires.

Emissions (from automobiles and vehicles and industrial plant smokestacks)

Wood burning, as in open fires, fireplaces, and domestic wood-burning boilers or stoves, and

Dirt swirls formed as the wind blows.

PM is available in a wide range of sizes. Larger particles are typically derived from the soil. Smaller particles are produced by the combustion of fossil fuels, such as gasoline in automobiles, diesel in trucks, and coal in power plants.

How Particulate Matter (PM) affects human health and the environment?

HUMAN HEALTH

A research study conducted by IIT Delhi attempted to establish a link between ambiguous PM 2.5 exposure and the occurrence of anemia in children under the age of five in India. Anemia was identified in around 63% of the children involved in the study.

The size of particles is closely related to their ability to cause health concerns. Small particles smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter create the most issues since they may penetrate deep into your lungs and, in some cases, into your bloodstream. Consumption of such particles might harm your lungs as well as your heart. Numerous scientific studies have connected particle pollution to a wide range of issues, including:

Non-fatal Heart attacks,
Increased respiratory symptoms, such as irritation of the airways, coughing or difficulty breathing,
Premature death in people with heart or lung disease
Irritation of the nose, throat, and eyes,
Aggravated Asthma,
Irregular heartbeats.

People with heart or lung illness, children, and the elderly are the most vulnerable to particle pollution.

ENVIRONMENT AFFECTS

Wind may carry particles over vast distances before they settle on the ground or in water. The implications of this settling may include:

Acidification of lakes and streams,

Changing the nutrient balance in coastal seas and huge river basins,

Harming vulnerable forests and farm crops,

Reducing ecosystem diversity, and

Contributing to acid rain effects.

National Air Quality index

On September 17, 2014, India's Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change, unveiled the National Air Quality Index Standard (NAQI). The campaign is part of the government's aim to instill a "culture of cleanliness," since air pollution has been a major issue in the country, particularly in metropolitan areas. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) operates the National Air Monitoring Program (NAMP), which includes 240 cities in the country and was established by the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT), and provides data in the public domain in real-time.

There are six AQI categories: Good, Satisfactory, Moderately Polluted, Poor, Very Poor, and Severe.

It takes into account eight pollutants: carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3), PM 2.5, PM 10, ammonia (NH3), and lead (Pb).