Abstract

As the vehicle fleet continues to grow, motor vehicle emissions are becoming major air pollution problem. In "megacities" in the developing countries due to rise in motor vehicle air quality has deteriorated and have severe effects on human health and mortality.. Air pollutants increase the risk of infections of the respiratory tract, affect the cardiac and pulmonary system, lead to allergies, affect asthmatics and may also act as cancer precursors. Acute respiratory disease is responsible for some 4 million deaths a year of children under five in developing countries, second only to infant diarrhoea in its impact on mortality.

We plan to develop smart devices for environmental monitoring which should have high selectivity properties, good detection limits, in-situ measurement and of low cost so that they can be attractive for use in the developing countries. Such devices are essential to improve environmental policing and regulatory testing in addition to improving the cost effectiveness of environmental monitoring. The prime objective of this project is to determine the appropriate technology for urban air quality monitoring in the developing countries and propose action that can improve air quality