16 th International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology Rhodes, Greece, 4 to 7 September 2019 CEST2019_00749 Risk assessment and apportionment studies of particulate pollution at Ankamaly,South India Keerthi R. 1 , Selvaraju N. 2,* , Varghese L.A. 3 1 Research Scholar, Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Kozhikode, Kerala-673601, India, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8986-024X, keerthichem20@gmail.com 2 Assistant Professor, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam -781039, India 3 Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Kozhikode, Kerala-673601, India, lityalen@nitc.ac.in *corresponding author, e-mail:selva@iitg.ac.in Abstract In the present world which is engulfed by the ill-effects of air pollution, stringent permissible emission standards to curb pollution are mandatory. Source and risk apportionment studies help to understand the sources and their contributions. Four parameters, lifetime average daily dose, hazard quotient, hazard index, excess cancer risk helped in assessing the risk at sampling site selected at Ankamaly, Kerala. Lifetime average daily dose was found be in the descending order as Fe> K> Na> Ca. Hazard quotient values were found to be greater than one for Mn and Cr, which conveys the non-carcinogenic effects due to pollution. Cu, Ni, and Zn were within safe limits. Chromium was found to be the main risk causing pollutant. Excess cancer risk (ECR) values shoot up to 6.67×10 -3 for child and 2.86×10 -3 for adults, which shows it is alarming. Risk apportionment was done and the highest contributors to risk were found to be smelting activities (92.4%) followed by wood residue burning (4.2%) and paved road dust (3.2%). Keywords: Human health risk; Excess cancer risk; Inhalation; Chromium; India 1. Introduction Airborne particles are associated with health problems (Keerthi et al. 2018; Lin et al. 2018). Symptoms can be immediate or long term. Presence of pollutants may cause skin, eye, and nose irritations whereas some others move with the respired air and finally gets into the bloodstreams. Pollution can reduce visibility and interfere with the serenity of nature. A study reported that particulate matter pollution can even cause sleep apnea, premature labor and birth deformities and infertility in adults (Cai et al. 2017). To improve the quality of air, control measures have to be taken at the source itself. For that prioritization of sources has to be carried out which in turn requires source and risk apportionment studies (Ghosh et al. 2018; Murillo et al. 2013; Liu et al. 2008; Yatkin and Bayram 2008). These studies predict critical sources whose emissions when controlled can bring a drastic improvement in the air quality. This paper discusses risk assessment studies being conducted for the first time at Kerala, South-India. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1. Sampling site, protocol, and analysis Sampling was done at Ankamaly (10.1849° N, 76.3753° E), Ernakulam-one of the fastest growing cities in India. This particular site was selected based on certain criteria like wind direction, accessibility, continuous power supply, convenience and according to the standard protocols. Under the Koppen climate classification, Ernakulam comes under a tropical monsoon climate with very little variation. There are two major seasons- summer and monsoon. Summer starts by March and ends by May with the commencement of South-Western Monsoon rain. Sampling was carried out using Dual Channel Ambient Dust Sampler (Instrumex Model No. IPM-FDS-2510) with a flow rate kept at 16.67 Liter per minute. Filter papers collected from the sampler after weighing were properly packed and sent for analysis of elements and ions. Elements (Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Zn, Sn, Sb) were analyzed using Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometer (ICP-AES-Thermo Electron IRIS INTREPID II XSP DUO) and Ions (K + , Na + , SO 4 2- , NH 4 + and NO 3 - ) using Ion chromatography (Metro-Ohm ® Model:930-COMPACT IC). 2.2 Risk assessment Under this section the parameters studied for risk assessment will be discussed. (Prakash et al. 2018; Singh and Gupta 2016)