Brick Sector and Air Quality: An Integrated Assessment towards 2020 Challenge of Environment Development 10.32526/ennrj/19/2020203
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Brick sector is a mainstay of the urban economy of Punjab. The traditional technology of brick making emits a lot of toxic gases and smoke particulates into air. Hence, the Government of the Punjab, Pakistan announced a ban on low technology brick kiln operations during winter season by the end of December 2020. Initially, the existing set up of brick kilns and air pollution levels were evaluated before and during lockdown period using spatial application. Further, environmental parameters such as aerosols, carbon monoxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide were determined to analyze the air quality, including metrological factors. Results of the study exhibited that the upper and central regions of Punjab are the major hubs of brick kilns. So, the level of air quality was inconsistent in the study period due to the existence of large mushrooms of brick kilns. Further, despite lockdown the highest concentration of carbon monoxide was recorded in the eastern side of the province, such as Kasur, Lahore, and Sheikhupura. The level of aerosols also fluctuated and shifted its trends in the central and southern part of the province. While SO2 and CO2 level declined and revealed a satisfactory level of air quality during shutdown. On the other hand, no significant relation to metrological factors, such as rain, is involved in the pollution reduction. Conclusively, the findings of the present study encourage the government agencies to realign the stringent control measures to improve the quality of air in the winter months using the experience of quarantine in 2020.
Article Details
Published articles are under the copyright of the Environment and Natural Resources Journal effective when the article is accepted for publication thus granting Environment and Natural Resources Journal all rights for the work so that both parties may be protected from the consequences of unauthorized use. Partially or totally publication of an article elsewhere is possible only after the consent from the editors.
References
Achakzai K, Khalid S, Adrees M, Bibi A, Ali S, Nawaz R, et al. Air pollution tolerance index of plants around brick kilns in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Journal of Environmental Management 2017;190:252-8.
Alam K, Mukhtar A, Shahid I, Blaschke T, Majid H, Rahman S, et al. Source apportionment and characterization of particulate matter (PM10) in urban environment of Lahore. Aerosol and Air Quality Research 2014;14(7):1851-61.
Alam MZ, Armin E, Haque M, Kayesh JHE, Qayum A. Air pollutants and their possible health effects at different locations in Dhaka City. Journal of Current Chemical Pharmaceutical Sciences 2018;8(1):111.
Arif M, Kumar R, Kumar R, Eric Z, Gourav P. Ambient black carbon, PM2.5 and PM10 at Patna: Influence of anthropogenic emissions and brick kilns. Science of the Total Environment 2018;624:1387-400.
Aslam M, Srivastava RS, Minocha AK, Gupta RG. Air pollution hazards from brick kilns. Journal of the Institutions of Engineers (India), Environmental Engineering Division 1994;74:83-7.
Badshah SL, Ullah A, Badshah SH, Ahmad I. Spread of novel coronavirus by returning pilgrims from Iran to Pakistan. Journal of Travel Medicine 2020;27(3):1-3.
Baldasano JM. COVID-19 lockdown effects on air quality by NO2 in the cities of Barcelona and Madrid (Spain). Science of the Total Environment 2020;741:140353.
Bandyopadhyay A, Basak AK, Bandyopadhyay P, Tripathy S. Peak expiratory flow rate in female brick-field workers of West Bengal, India. Ergonomics SA: Journal of the Ergonomics Society of South Africa 2006;18(1):22-7.
Bhanarkar AD, Gajghate DG, Hasan MZ. Assessment of air pollution from small scale industry. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 2002;80(2):125-33.
Blackman A. Informal sector pollution control: What policy options do we have? World Development 2000;28(12):2067-82.
Chen Y, Du W, Zhuo S, Liu W, Liu Y, Shen G, et al. Stack and fugitive emissions of major air pollutants from typical brick kilns in China. Environmental Pollution 2017;224:421-9.
Collivignarelli MC, Abbà A, Bertanza G, Pedrazzani R, Ricciardi P, Miino MC. Lockdown for COVID-2019 in Milan: What are the effects on air quality? Science of the Total Environment 2020;732:139280.
Comunian S, Dongo D, Milani C, Palestini P. Air pollution and COVID-19: The role of particulate matter in the spread and increase of Covid-19's morbidity and mortality. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2020;17(12):4487.
Das B, Gangopadhyay S. An ergonomics evaluation of posture related discomfort and occupational health problems among rice farmers. Occupational Ergonomics 2011;10(1,2):25-38.
Das R. Causes and consequences of land degradation in and around the brick kilns of khejuri CD blocks over Coastal Medinipur in West Bengal. International Journal of Innovative Research and Development 2015;4(2):185-94.
Dantas G, Siciliano B, França BB, da Silva CM, Arbilla G. The impact of COVID-19 partial lockdown on the air quality of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Science of the Total Environment 2020;729:139085.
Darain KMU, Jumaat MZ, Islam AS, Obaydullah M, Iqbal A, Adham MI, et al. Energy efficient brick kilns for sustainable environment. Desalination and Water Treatment 2016;57(1): 105-14.
Figà-Talamanca I. Occupational risk factors and reproductive health of women. Occupational Medicine 2006;56(8):521-31.
Gomes E, Hossain I. Transition from traditional brick manufacturing to more sustainable practices. Energy for Sustainable Development 2003;7(2):66-76.
Gupta S, Narayan, R. Brick kiln industry in long-term impacts biomass and diversity structure of plant communities. Current Science 2010;201072-9.
Gupta N, Tomar A, Kumar V. The effect of COVID-19 lockdown on the air environment in India. Global Journal of Environmental Science and Management 2020;6:31-40.
Guttikunda SK, Begum BA, Wadud, Z. Particulate pollution from brick kiln clusters in the Greater Dhaka Region, Bangladesh. Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health 2013;6(2):357-65.
Hameed A, Abbas S, Qazi AU, Haider U. Effect of waste glass on properties of burnt clay bricks. Pakistan Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences 2018;22(1):56-63.
Haque MI, Nahar K, Kabir MH, Salam, A. Particulate black carbon and gaseous emission from brick kilns in Greater Dhaka Region, Bangladesh. Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health 2018;11(8):925-35.
Hilten RN, Lawrence TM, Tollner EW. Modeling storm water runoff from green roofs with HYDRUS-1D. Journal of Hydrology 2008;358(3-4):288-93.
Hossain MA, Zahid AM, Arifunnahar M, Siddique MNA. Effect of brick kiln on arable land degradation, environmental pollution and consequences on livelihood of Bangladesh. Journal of Science, Technology and Environment Informatics 2019;6(2):474-88.
Huang X, Ding A, Gao J, Zheng B, Zhou D, Qi X, et al. Enhanced secondary pollution offset reduction of primary emissions during COVID-19 lockdown in China. National Science Review 2020;1-9.
Ismail M, Muhammad D, Khan FU, Munsif F, Ahmad T, Ali S, et al. Effect of brick kilns emissions on heavy metal (Cd and Cr) content of contiguous soil and plants. Sarhad Journal of Agriculture 2012;28(3):403-9.
Iqbal MJ. Bonded labor in the brick kiln industry of Pakistan. The Lahore Journal of Economics 2006;11(1):99-119.
Javid K, Akram MAN, Ranjha MM, Pervaiz S. GIS-based assessment of aridity over Punjab Province, Pakistan, by using climatic indices. Arabian Journal of Geosciences 2020;13(7):1-12.
Joshi SK, Dudani I. Environmental health effects of brick kilns in Kathmandu valley. Kathmandu University Medical Journal 2008;6(1):3-11.
Kamal A, Malik RN, Martellini T, Cincinelli A. Cancer risk evaluation of brick kiln workers exposed to dust bound PAHs in Punjab Province (Pakistan). Science of the Total Environment 2014;493:562-70.
Kataria JR, Usman A, Hussain S, Usman M, Amjad A. Breaking the bonds of poverty: Effectiveness of microcredit in improving the wellbeing of Brick Kilns' Laborers in Pakistan. Research Journal of South Asian Studies 2018;33:253-74.
Kayes I, Shahriar SA, Hasan K, Akhter M, Kabir MM, Salam MA. The relationships between meteorological parameters and air pollutants in an urban environment. Global Journal of Environmental Science and Management 2019;5(3);265-78.
Kazmi SMS, Abbas S, Munir MJ, Khitab A. Exploratory study on the effect of waste rice husk and sugarcane bagasse ashes in burnt clay bricks. Journal of Building Engineering 2016;7:372-8.
Khaliquzzaman M, Harinath AS, Ferdousi SA, Khan SMMH. Thirty years’ quest for emission reduction and energy efficiency improvement of brick kilns in Bangladesh. International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis 2020;8(1):11-22.
Khan R, Vyas H. A study of impact of brick industries on environment and human health in Ujjain City (India). Journal of Environmental Research and Development 2008;2(3):421-5.
Khan AR, Iqbal J, Parveen N, Ahmad F. Brick kiln and sugar mill: Severe environmental health hazards cause respiratory diseases in Tehsil Darya Khan, District Bhakkar, Punjab. Pakistan Journal of Applied Environment Biology Science 2015;5:31-8.
Khan MNA, Liaqat N, Ahmed I, Basit A, Umar M, Khan MA. Effect of brick dust on strength and workability of concrete. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering 2018;414(1):012005.
Khan MW, Ali Y, De Felice F, Salman A, Petrillo A. Impact of brick kilns industry on environment and human health in Pakistan. Science of the Total Environment 2019;678:383-9.
Khan KA, Mubbin M, ul Haq MI, Hussain N, Maqbool MM, Ahmad M, et al. Air quality index with particulate matter (PM2.5) improved after national lockdown during COVID-19 outbreak across Pakistan. Open Access Journal of Biogeneric Science and Research 2020;3(2):1-6.
Kumbhar S, Kulkarni N, Rao AB, Rao B. Environmental life cycle assessment of traditional bricks in western Maharashtra, India. Energy Procedia 2014;54(0):260-9.
Kumar CS, Parvathi S, Rudramoorthy R. Impact categories through life cycle assessment of coal-fired brick. Procedia Technology 2016;24:531-7.
Kumar P, Hama S, Omidvarborna H, Sharma A, Sahani J, Abhijith KV, et al. Temporary reduction in fine particulate matter due to ‘anthropogenic emissions switch-off’during COVID-19 lockdown in Indian Cities. Sustainable Cities and Society 2020;102382.
Luby SP, Biswas D, Gurley ES, Hossain I. Why highly polluting methods are used to manufacture bricks in Bangladesh. Energy for Sustainable Development 2015;28:68-74.
Maithel S, Uma R. Environmental regulations and the Indian brick industry. Environmental Practice 2000;2(3):230-1.
Mehmood K, Ahmad HR, Abid AA, Guo P. A preliminary assessment and control strategy of size segregated pollutants in urban and peri-urban areas of Metropolitan Faisalabad, Pakistan. Journal of Analytical and Environmental Chemistry 2018;19(2):146-52.
Misra P, Imasu R, Takeuchi W. Impact of urban growth on air quality in Indian cities using hierarchical bayesian approach. Atmosphere 2019;10(9):517.
Mitra A, Ray Chadhuri T, Mitra A, Pramanick P, Zaman S. Impact of COVID-19 related shutdown on atmospheric carbon dioxide level in the city of Kolkata. Parana Journal of Science and Education 2020;6(3):84-92.
Momčilović-Petronijević A, Topličić-Ćurčić G, Ćurčić A. Architecture and ceramic materials, development through time: Adobe and brick. Facta Universitatis-series: Architecture and Civil Engineering 2018;16(3):387-400.
Mondal A, Das S, Sah RK, Bhattacharyya P, Bhattacharya SS. Environmental footprints of brick kiln bottom ashes: Geostatistical approach for assessment of metal toxicity. Science of the Total Environment 2017;609:215-24.
Naveen S. Production and marketing network chain of brick kiln product: A case study of Hyderabad City. International Journal of Managing Value and Supply Chains 2016;7(1):27-37.
Nazir S, Tufail M, NisaW, Ghauri M. Modelling for capture of carbon dioxide using aqueous ammonia from flue gases of a brick kiln. International Journal of Chemical Environment and Engineering 2011;2(3):2013-20.
Nepal S, Mahapatra PS, Adhikari S, Shrestha S, Sharma P, Shrestha KL, et al. Comparative study of stack emissions from straight-line and zigzag brick kilns in Nepal. Atmosphere 2019;10(3):107.
Otmani A, Benchrif A, Tahri M, Bounakhla M, El Bouch M, Krombi MH. Impact of Covid-19 lockdown on PM10, SO2, and NO2 concentrations in Salé City (Morocco). Science of the Total Environment 2020;139541.
Pathak B, Subba T, Dahutia P, Bhuyan PK, Moorthy KK, Gogoi MM, et al. Aerosol characteristics in North-east India using ARFINET spectral optical depth measurements. Atmospheric Environment 2016;125:461-73.
Punjab Brick Kilns Census (PBC). Brick kiln census. Labor and Human Resource Department, Government of Punjab, Lahore [Internet]. 2016 [cited 2020 Jun 10]. Available from: http://dashboards.urbanunit.gov.pk/brick_kiln_dashboard/.
Pervaiz S, Khan FZ, Akram MAN. Impact of COVID-19 lockdown policy on air and automotive industry. Pen Acclaims 2020a;10:1-8.
Pervaiz S, Javid K, Khan FZ, Zahid Y, Akram MA. Preliminary assessment of air during COVID-19 lockdown: An unintended benefit to environment. Environment and Natural Resources Journal 2020b;18(4):363-75.
Peter C, Mohan K, Greens S, George S. Energy efficient production of clay bricks using industrial waste. Heliyon 2018;4(10):1-12.
Pokhrel R, Lee H. Integrated environment impact assessment of brick kiln using environmental performance scores. Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment 2014;8(1):15-24.
Quan J, Tie X, Zhang Q, Liu Q, Li X, Gao Y, et al. Characteristics of heavy aerosol pollution during the 2012-2013 winter in Beijing, China. Atmospheric Environment 2014;88:83-9.
Rajarathnam U, Athalye V, Ragavan S, Maithel S, Lalchandani D, Kumar S, et al. Assessment of air pollutant emissions from brick kilns. Atmospheric Environment 2014;98:549-53.
Ramasamy D. Enchanted improvements in air quality across India: A study from COVID-19 lockdown perspective. Adalya Journal 2020;9(5):101-25.
Raza A, Qamer MF, Afsheen S, Adnan M, Naeem S, Atiq M. Particulate matter associated lung function decline in brick kiln workers of Jalalpur Jattan, Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Zoology 2014;46(1):237-43.
Rupan S. Air Quality Impacts of Brick Kilns in India: A Report Analyzing the Production Limitations, its Impacts on Local Air Quality and Subsequent Adaptable Measures for Improvement [dissertation]. Sustainable Environmental Systems Pratt Institute; 2017.
Sanjel S, Thygerson SM, Khanal SN, Joshi SK. Environmental and occupational pollutants and their effects on health among brick kiln workers. Open Journal of Safety Science and Technology 2016;6:81-98.
Sanjel S, Khanal SN, Thygerson SM, Carter WS, Johnston JD, Joshi SK. Respiratory symptoms and illnesses related to the concentration of airborne particulate matter among brick kiln workers in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2017;29(1):9.
Salve PR, Satapathy DR, Katpatal YB, Wate SR. Assessing spatial occurrence of ground level ozone around coal mining areas of Chandrapur District, Maharashtra, India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 2007;133(1-3):87-98.
Saikia J, Narzary B, Roy S, Bordoloi M, Saikia P, Saikia BK. Nanominerals, fullerene aggregates, and hazardous elements in coal and coal combustion-generated aerosols: An environmental and toxicological assessment. Chemosphere 2016;164:84-91.
Schmidt CW. Modernizing artisanal brick kilns: A global need. Environmental Health Perspectives 2013;121(8):a242-9.
Shahzad M, Ali Z. Cleaning of Dalwal-Punjab coal by using shaking table. Pakistan Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research Series A: Physical Sciences 2018;61(1):56-8.
Shaikh S, Nafees AA, Khetpal V, Jamali AA, Arain AM, Yousuf A. Respiratory symptoms and illnesses among brick kiln workers: A cross sectional study from rural districts of Pakistan. BMC Public Health 2012;12(1):1-6.
Shi X, Brasseur GP. The response in air quality to the reduction of Chinese economic activities during the COVID‐19 outbreak. Geophysical Research Letters 2020;e2020GL088070.
Skinder BM, Sheikh AQ, Pandit AK, Ganai BA. Brick kiln emissions and its environmental impact: A Review. Journal of Ecology and the Natural Environment 2014;6(1):1-11.
Sikder AHF, Begum K, Parveen Z, Hossain MF. Assessment of macro and micro nutrients around brick kilns agricultural environment. Information Processing in Agriculture 2016;3(1):61-8.
Spinrad P. The Ozone weekend effect [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2020 Mar 25]. Available from: https://engineering. berkeley.edu/news/2009/03/the-ozone-weekend-effect/.
Suresh R, Kumar S, Mahtta R, Sharma S. Emission factors for continuous fixed chimney bull trench brick kiln (FCBTK) in India. International Journal of Advanced Engineering, Management and Science 2016;2(6):239494.
Tahir SNA, Rafique M. Emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from burning of biomass in brick kilns. Environmental Forensics 2009;10(4):265-7.
Tusher TR, Ashraf Z, Akter S. Health effects of brick kiln operations: A study on largest brick kiln cluster in Bangladesh. South East Asia Journal of Public Health 2018;8(1):32-6.
Wahid A, Ahmad SS, Ahmad MN, Khaliq B, Nawaz M, Shah SQ, et al. Assessing the effects of hydrogen fluoride on mango (Mangifera indica L.) in the vicinity of a brick kiln field in southern Pakistan. Fluoride 2014;47(4):307-14.
Weyant C, Athalye V, Ragavan S, Rajarathnam U, Lalchandani D, Maithel S, Bond TC. Emissions from South Asian brick production. Environmental Science and Technology 2014;48(11):6477-83.
Unni JC. Social effects of Covid-19 pandemic on children in India. Indian Journal of Practical Pediatrics 2020;22:102-4.
Zhang MK, Fang LP. Effect of tillage, fertilizer and green manure cropping on soil quality at an abandoned brick making site. Soil and Tillage Research 2007;93(1):87-93.
Zhong M, Saikawa E, Avramov A, Chen C, Sun B, Ye W, et al. Nepal ambient monitoring and source testing experiment (NAMaSTE): Emissions of particulate matter and sulfur dioxide from vehicles and brick kilns and their impacts on air quality in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 2019;19(12):8209-28.