Airborne lead pollution in the city of Varanasi, India

Abstract

Monitoring of lead in ambient air was undertaken in the city of Varanasi, India, over a period of 2 yr from January 1988 to December 1989. Air samples were collected from 10 sampling sites and analysed by the Atomic Absorption Spectrometry method. Lead levels in India are found to be low compared to western countries. The highest concentration of Pb was recorded at Andhra Pul, a busy crossing in the city and lowest at Sarnath, i.e. about 10 km away from the city centre. The experimental results obtained, show that the automobile emission is the predominant source for lead pollution in the city. The concentrations follow a log-normal distribution at most of the sites. © 1994.