Status of Carbonaceous Aerosol at Indoor Environment of a Cafeteria in Delhi, India—A Case Study

The present study investigated the carbonaceous aerosol with respect to organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC) and total carbon (TC) in particulate matter (PM₁₀) in indoor environment of cafeteria located at Netaji Subhash Place, one of the hotspot locations for pollution in northwest district of Delhi during 2014–15 winter season. The collections of samples were carried out during the period of three months (December 2014 to February 2015). PM₁₀ samples were collected by APM 800 samplers (Envirotech Pvt. Ltd., India) on Whatman 37 mm microfiber quartz filter papers for 2–3 hourly bases in the dining area of food court. The flow rate varied from 2.4 lpm to 3 lpm during the period of collection of samples. Indoor PM₁₀ concentrations varied from 1830 to 3212 µg/m³. The concentration of OC, EC and TC in PM₁₀ size of particulate matter varied from 54 to 318, 11 to 71 and 70 to 364 µg/m³, respectively. The percentage contribution of OC and EC in TC were varied from 80 to 90% and 10 to 20%, respectively. The percentage contribution of TC in PM₁₀ varied from 10 to 20%, respectively. The concentration of PM₁₀ at indoor environment of cafeteria was alarmingly high as compared to National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS), 2009. The present study revealed that concentrations of PM₁₀, OC and EC at indoor environment of cafeteria were influenced by indoor and outdoor air pollution, meteorological parameters and guest count.