Aerosol pollution may rise by 5%, likely to impact health, finds study

Ranchi: A study by two research scholars from Bose Institute, Kolkata, has found that aerosol pollution is likely to rise by five per cent in Jharkhand, which is in the ‘highly vulnerable’ (red zone) category. The researchers said the reliance on thermal power plants should be enhanced to reduce emissions.
Associate professor Abhijit Chatterjee and PhD scholar Monami Dutta drew inferences from aerosol pollution trends in India from 2005–2019 and other sources.
High aerosol amounts include particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) as well as sea salt, dust, black and organic carbon. If inhaled, these can be harmful for health.
Aerosol optical depth (AOD) is the quantitative estimate of the aerosol present in atmosphere and it can be used as a proxy measurement of PM2.5, the study, ‘A deep insight into state-level aerosol pollution in India’, said. Jharkhand falls under the red zone category with over 0.5 AOD.
“The level may rise by 5%, pushing the AOD over 0.6 next year,” it added.
“The value of AOD ranges from 0 to 1. 0 indicating a crystal-clear sky with maximum visibility. A value of 1 indicates very hazy conditions. The AOD value of less than 0.3 falls under the green zone (safe) category,0.3-0.4 is blue zone (less vulnerable), 0.4-0.5 is orange (vulnerable) and over 0.5 is the red zone (highly vulnerable),” the study added.
Chatterjee, principal author, said: “The increase in the AOD level might seem small but Jharkhand is already at high risk. This may push the state towards extreme vulnerability in future.”
The study has cited emissions from thermal power plants (TPP) as one of the major sources of aerosol pollution. Solid fuel burning is the second highest contributor, followed by vehicular emissions. “Jharkhand needs to achieve 70%-80% reduction in TPP emissions to reach a threshold value of 0.4,” Monami Dutta said.
Sashikar Samantha, chairman of the Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board, told TOI that though he was yet to analyse the study, they are working to achieve zero emission.