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Monitoring and Assessment of Particulate Matter and Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) around a Petroleum Refinery.

Rao BP, Ansari MF, Pipalatkar P, Kumar A, Nema P, Devotta S

Air Pollution Control Division, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nehru Marg, Nagpur, 440 020, India, ps_rao@neeri.res.in.

Ambient air particulates, both total and respirable fraction collected at number of locations around a petroleum refinery in west coast of India, having crude processing capacity of 12.5 million metric tones per annum, were analyzed and associated PAH concentrations were determined. PAHs in SPM near the refinery varied from 12% to 45% while in urban cities, it varied from 0.45% to 0.65%. The percentage PAHs in RSPM near the refinery varied from 6% to 20% while in urban cities, it varied from 0.5% to 1.45%. The refinery contribution of 11.5%-44.3% PAHs to ambient TSP and 5.5%-18.5% PAHs to ambient RSPM was observed. Non-respirable fraction of ambient TSP near refinery contributed upto 25% PAHs.

Published 6 September 2007 in Bull Environ Contam Toxicol, 79(2): 197-201.
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