Ongoing Research (brief description)

1. Ambient air quality
• Fine PM emissions from passenger cars
  Vehicle survey through video recording at different intersections has been conducted in Kanpur city . The recording will be used to determine fractions of High Duty and Light Duty vehicles (HDV and LDV) operating on city intersections. This will be followed with parking lot survey for passenger cars and 2W in Kanpur city to determine the nature of the vehicle technologies observed. Parked vehicle surveys allow careful inspection of vehicles so that the engine technology, model year, control equipment, and fuel type used can be established. Vehicle registration data from RTO has been assessed for linkage between air quality model and Vehicle density in Kanpur. Manuscript assessing the change in vehicle number and impact on pollutant emissions at major intersections over the past decade is in preparation. Efforts are being made to measure in vehicle exposure under varying ventilation conditions.
• PCBs in ambient air
Main objective of this work is to collect air samples to check occurrence of 32 priority PCBs, and to determine their levels in gas/particle phase. We are also investigating the factors controlling PCBs concentration in ambient air. Assessment of risk posed by inhalation of PCBs to exposed population is also being attempted. Sampling has been conducted for second time near Electric substations in Kanpur and efforts are being made to extend the project to other cities. This has been part of a Master's thesis and work on journal manuscript is in progress.
Accomplishments
• Shown that PCBs occur in significant amount in ambient air particles in Kanpur city and congener distribution matches that reported for technical Arochlors used in transformer oil.

• Identifying sources of air pollution in Kanpur and Lucknow
Determination of AQI for several locations and Lucknow revealed that situation in Kanpur has worsened over time and residential areas are at higher risk from air pollution. Efforts are underway to determine sources of pollution through Wind Rose diagrams for locations with High AQI in Kanpur and Lucknow. Work on journal manuscript is in progress. This has been part of a Masters' thesis and SURGE projects. One manuscript has been published (Kumar 2014) and work on another is in progress. Similar work is being carried out in other cities, mainly Delhi, and manuscripts are under review.
Accomplishments
• AQI in residential locations is worse than in commercial locations. Particulate Matter is the primary 'responsible' pollutant for poor air quality.
2. Indoor air quality
• PAH emissions from Incense burning
Project aims to determine levels and types of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) from incense burning in temples, both in vapor and particulate phase. The particle size distribution and the concentrations of PAHs in incense smoke is being studied using a custom-designed combustion chamber and in situ samples have been collected from temples. Physical characterization of incense smoke has been part of a Masters' thesis and chemical characterization as part of another thesis is in progress.
Accomplishments
• PAHs are found to occur primarily in the finer particles and regular exposure can cause significant cancer risk. Work on manuscript is in progress.
• Emissions from cooking fumes
The objective is to assess the health risks posed by inhalation of cooking fumes to people working in the kitchen. Focus of the study is to determine the PAHs concentration in indoor air, factors influencing PAHs emission which mainly includes effect of cooking processes, ventilation conditions and types of food cooked. Samples have been collected inside the kitchen near the cooking stove in hostel messes and levels of PAHs evaluated in both particulate and vapor phase. Currently, data collected is being analyzed and to find the relationship between particulate and vapor phase PAHs. This work has been part of two Master's thesis.
Accomplishments
• PAH amount and distribution on particles varies with type of food cooked and cooking process employed. Levels are found to be higher in finer particles and exposure through inhalation can cause significant health risk. Work on journal manuscript is in progress.
• Air Quality in schools:
Measurement of the levels of PM, CO, NOx within the school premises, mainly in class rooms, and on school buses to assess exposure levels to school children. Project is titled 'Let kids breathe clean air' and is Part of national level study organized by University of Hong Kong and Clean Air Asia.
3. Impact of Agricultural activity on air quality
Fipronil is widely used as insecticide to protect crops against pests and is considered as toxic to people exposed during spraying in agricultural fields. The main focus of this study is to determine the levels of Fipronil in air and its impact on people's health due to occupational exposure. Study was conducted as collaborative effort with IPFT Gurgaon, Haryana. Samples collected have been analyzed for phase distribution, and size segregated disctribution of fipronil on particles. Health risk due to exposure through inhalation has been assessed.
Accomplishments
• For the first time, occurrence of fipronil in air post spray application has been reported. Levels were found to be significant in particle phase and could be detected in ambient air near application location even 6 days after application. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Doctoral Research

University Graduate Fellow and Research Assistant (08/2001 - 12/2007)

U. S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, MD & University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD

Project based on investigating factors impacting the levels, phase distribution, and spatial and temporal trends of pesticides in the atmosphere of the Delmarva Peninsula (read more)

  Accomplishments

•      Discovered that spray irrigation is an unknown source of    Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) to the atmosphere.

•      Determined that wet deposition contributes only up to 17% of the annual pesticides load in the Chesapeake Bay.

•      Discovered that average measured concentrations of legacy organochlorine pesticides in Delmarva Peninsula rain are 2 to 10 times higher than in the Great Lakes.

Masters Research

Institute Research Assistant (05/2000 - 02/2001)

Engler-Bunte Institute for Water Chemistry, University of Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany

Project based on examining the usefulness of miniaturized Biofilm Reactors (mBFRs) in predicting the biodegradation of organic contaminants in wastewater treatment plants.

 (read more) 

Accomplishments

• Demonstrated that miniaturized biofilm reactors are useful in elucidating the biodegradation pathways of organic pollutants in wastewater treatment plants under both oxic and anoxic

Specialized Training

• AERMOD (Air Dispersion Modeling) 2007.

• SAS (Statistical Analysis Software) 2004.

• HYSPLIT (Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory Model) June 2010.

Professional Affiliation

•  Indian National Science Academy (INSA)

• Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC)

• American Chemical Society (ACS)

• Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA)