Measurement of Air Concentrations of Particulate Matters, Volatile Organic Compounds and Formaldehyde in Lahore

Abstract

Background and Objective: The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including formaldehyde (HCHO) are widely concerned due to their harmful impact on human health by productionof photochemical smog and ozone and have great impacton air quality. High air pollution level in urban areas is one of the major concerns therefore, there is need to develop cost-effective devices for measurement of VOCs in the environment. The objective of the study was to quantify the levels of these hazardous chemicals in air in major areas of Lahore.Methods: This study was a cross-sectional descriptive study. A new multi-item pollution monitoring device (Life Basis DM 106 A) was used to carry out the readings. The areas targeted were busy areas of Lahore including Jail Road, Ferozepur Road, Lytton Road, MAO College, Kacheri, Data Darbar, Bhati Gate, Shahalmi, Davis Road and G.O.R 1.Results: The highest VOC obtained was in the most crowded area of Lahore-the Data Darbar (10 mg/m3) and HCHO measured was also greatest at the Data Darbar area (0.99 mg/m3). However, G.O.R-1 showed the lowest VOCs and HCHOs measured as 0.004 mg/m3 and 0.002 mg/m3 respectively.Among different sizes of PM, there was a significant correlationbetween PM 1.0 and PM 10.0 (p = 0.000), while PM 2.5 showed a significant negative correlation (p = 0.009) with the relative humidity of the area.Conclusion: A thorough knowledge of the concentrations of these pollutants and others like the PM2.5 and PM10 are paramount, in order to protect our communities from ill health.