Introduction: The Indian festival of Diwali, which is celebrated in October/November with firecrackers, is a potential contributory factor to the rapid and transitory buildup of PM2.5/ PM10 particles. This research seeks to assess the influence of Diwali firework emissions on PM2.5/PM10 concentrations in Chennai, India, a tropical urban area.
Methods: This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the concentration of PM10 and PM2.5 measured during Pre-Diwali, Diwali, and Post-Diwali using secondary data collected from 2017 to 2023 from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board in Chennai across four stations. The data were statistically analyzed using SPSS version 24.
Results: The findings indicate that the average levels of PM10 and PM2.5 during Diwali were approximately eight times and seven times greater than the established NAAQ standards, respectively. The PM10 mass concentration reached peak levels, ranging from 995 to 1985 μg/m3 (2022), which is significantly above the safe limits. However, a big drop was seen in pollutant levels in 2020 across all areas due to the imposition of COVID-19 curbs. The highest PM10 levels were observed between 8 PM and 11 PM, and the highest PM2.5 levels were observed between 7 PM and 9 PM in the measured years. Also, according to the Delta C (the difference between post- and pre-Diwali pollution levels) analysis, the variability in Delta C was not explained by the concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 during Diwali.
Conclusion: The Indian government should strictly enforce the use of non-polluting crackers to prevent additional environmental degradation.