A comparative study of indoor and outdoor air quality and associated potential health effects in Gurugram, India

Abstract

Deteriorating air quality remains a leading reason for global human illness and death. This study aims to investigate and compare inside and outside ambient air quality in 15 locations of Gurugram, India. Research technique adopted comprised of extracting outdoor air quality parameter values via Air Quality Index reporting stations for the entire year 2022. Parallel to that, indoor air quality parameter values of houses close to those monitoring stations were recorded through low-cost IoT based AirCubic sensors (T1595) as PM2.5, PM10, relative humidity (RH) and carbon monoxide (CO). After statistical evaluation, it was found that there were significant variations in outdoor and indoor air quality with maximum variations seen in colder season. The study revealed that PM levels were generally lower inside homes than outsides, while CO and RH concentrations were higher indoors. However, these levels often exceeded the acceptable thresholds set by both Indian national and global air quality standards, that could potentially result in harmful health effects, as well as increased risk of short and long-term illnesses, and even death. It may be concluded that more research, extensive air quality monitoring, data sharing, citizen awareness, and better technical and policy inputs are required to maintain healthy air quality for a sustainable lifestyle.