V.S. Deshmukh, V.C. Yadav and D.S. Nimbalkar
Abstract
Workplace air pollutants are more significant despite the fact that they are emitted in small volumes. As they cannot escape easily due to lack of proper ventilation, their concentration often reaches higher levels as compared to outdoor pollutants. Indoor air pollution is more harmful and poses greater health hazards because on an average, a person spends nearly 8 to 12 hours at his/her workplace. Sugar industry is the second largest agro-based industry in India. There are more than 550 sugar mills in the country and it is a major source of livelihood for people living in rural areas. There are many processes in sugar industry which emit fugitive emissions of particulate matter at various locations such as packing house, mill section, bagasse yard, ash handling unit, boiler section etc. In the present study, the work place air was sampled from sugar mill area & sugar godown from four sugar mills in Maharashtra for comparative study of with and without control measures taken industry. It was observed that PM2.5 can be controlled in mill section and sugar packaging house with devices like dust collectors and hoppers. Simple solutions like using barriers can also help to reduce PM2.5 in older mills.