Particulate Matter from Stone Crushing Industry: Size Distribution and Health Effects

A cluster of 50 stone crushing units located at Pammal, in suburban Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu State, India, is a source of high levels of dust generation in the vicinity of the crushers and in the communities surrounding them. Ambient air quality network consisting of 26 sampling locations were operated to continuously monitor the total and respirable particulate matter concentrations (TSP and PM10). The daily average ambient concentrations of TSP and PM10 varied from 342 to 2,470 and 90 to 1,200 mg/m3, respectively, near the source, while the average concentrations varied from 86 to 257 and 39 to 138 mg/m3 in ambient air. The average PM2.5 concentration varied from 41 to 388 mg/m3 at the source, whereas the concentration varied from 17 to 48 mg/m3 in ambient air. Personal samplers were also employed to quantify the TSP and RPM in the work environment and they varied from 22.5 to 80.5 and 13.5 to 53.7 mg/m3, respectively. Both ambient concentrations and occupational exposure levels exceeded the Indian National Standards at most of the locations. Pulmonary function tests performed on workers showed that the average values of pulmonary function in these workers are significantly lower than the average values reported for normal South Indian healthy males.