Ambient air quality in an urban area and its effects on plants and human beings: a case study of Tiruchirappalli, India

Abstract

Though water and land pollution is very dangerous, air pollution has its own peculiarities, due to its transboundary dispersion of pollutants over the entire world. In any well planned urban set up, industrial pollution takes a back seat and vehicular emissions take precedence as the major cause of urban air pollution. Air pollution is one of the serious problems faced by the people globally, especially in urban areas of developing countries like India. All these in turn lead to an increase in the air pollution levels and have adverse effects on the health of people and plants. Western countries have conducted several studies in this area, but there are only a few studies in developing countries like India. A study on ambient air quality in Tiruchirappalli urban area and its possible effects selected plants and human health has been undertaken, which may be helpful to bring out possible control measures. Keywords: ambient air quality; respiratory disorders; APTI; human health DOI: 10.3126/kuset.v6i2.4007Kathmandu University Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Vol.6. No II, November, 2010, pp.13-19