Industries in Delhi: Air pollution versus respiratory morbidities

Industrialization has been contributing to the economic development of countries all over the globe but on the other side of the coin, it is also causing deterioration of the environment as well as human health. Air pollution in industrial areas has emerged as a hasten issue in recent years due to its aggravated effects on health and wellbeing. The objectives of the study are to analyze the concentrations of air pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, NO2 & CO) in industrial areas of Delhi and to assess the association among meteorological variables, air pollutants, and respiratory diseases of industrial workers and their family members. To map these pollutants concentration, Kriging and Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) interpolation techniques were employed. The results showed that several industrial areas were cloaked with all these four pollutants in varied ranges and different seasons. The increase in the number of registered and operating industries in Delhi, and the consequential rise in the air pollutants' concentrations followed the quadratic polynomial trend. Spearman's rho correlation technique revealed that the respiratory disease entries of workers and their families depicted a statistically strong negative correlation with temperature, rainfall, and wind speeds while a strong positive association with PM2.5, NO2, and CO. (c) 2021 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.