What is it about?
Adverse meteorological conditions such as fog/haze are responsible for the increase the high levels of air pollution, especially in terms of fine particulate matter. Elevated ambient concentrations of air pollutants during foggy days were observed, due to high relative humidity (RH), low temperature (T) and stagnant wind conditions. Overall, this study finds that foggy conditions affected PM1–2.5 fractions considerably, and moderately affected levels of CO and VOCs.
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Why is it important?
During fog events, high mass fractions of PM1 (72%) and PM2.5 (82%) in PM10 were observed. However, during normal winter days in January 2015 smaller fractions of PM1 (43%) and PM2.5 (57%) in PM10 were observed. This clearly indicates that fog events were responsible for the creation of additional fine particles (PM1–2.5) in the atmosphere due to adverse meteorological conditions.
Perspectives
The outcomes of this study may be useful to alert the commuters to limit any outdoor activity during foggy days. Overall, this study aims to increase public awareness, especially with respect to those with respiratory and cardiovascular problems, to the risks of enhanced pollution during foggy events. Further study is needed to elucidate the specific chemistry of fog pollution and to determine the role of secondary organic aerosol and health effect during fog events.
SUNIL KUMAR GUPTA
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Adverse impacts of fog events during winter on fine particulate matter, CO and VOCs: a case study of a highway near Dhanbad, India, Weather, September 2017, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1002/wea.3000.
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