Monitoring and Analysis of SPM of an Industrial Town of Punjab （India）

Suspended particulate matter （SPM） levels in ambient air were monitored at Mandi Gobindgarh, an industrial town of Punjab, India located on the National Highway-1 during November 2001 to March 2002 covering spring and winter seasons to check the variation of SPM and its constituents in the town. The maximum levels of SPM varied between 594 μg/m^3 to 620 μg/m^3 at selected monitoring sites while the minimum levels varied between 209μg/m^3 to 220 μg/m^3. These values were observed always above the National Ambient Air Quality Standards （NAAQS） set by the State regulatory body. Major sources of SPM were identified as the industrial activity and traffic plying on the national highway. Collected SPM samples were further analyzed for the ignitable matter as loss on ignition （LOI） and organic tarry matter （OTM） content. Ignitable component of the SPM constituted about 45% and tarry matter in the ambient air was about 12%. Effects of meteorological parameters like temperature, wind direction and wind speed on SPM levels are discussed.