{"id":353045,"date":"2025-12-31T15:15:38","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T09:45:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=353045"},"modified":"2025-12-31T15:20:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T09:50:56","slug":"ammonium-sulphate-as-a-pollutant-in-delhi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/ammonium-sulphate-as-a-pollutant-in-delhi\/","title":{"rendered":"Ammonium Sulfate as a Pollutant in Delhi"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>News:<\/strong> A significant portion of Delhi\u2019s fine particulate matter, about one-third of the annual PM2.5 load, is made up of secondary pollutants, including ammonium sulphate.<\/p>\n<h2>About Ammonium Sulfate as a Pollutant in Delhi<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_353053\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-353053\" style=\"width: 416px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-353053 \" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Source-Time-of-India.jpg?resize=416%2C265&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Ammonium Sulphate as a Pollutant in Delhi\" width=\"416\" height=\"265\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Source-Time-of-India.jpg?resize=300%2C191&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Source-Time-of-India.jpg?resize=1024%2C652&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Source-Time-of-India.jpg?resize=768%2C489&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Source-Time-of-India.jpg?w=1248&amp;ssl=1 1248w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 416px) 100vw, 416px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-353053\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source &#8211; Time of India<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Ammonium sulfate<\/strong> is a <strong>secondary inorganic aerosol<\/strong>, meaning it is <strong>not emitted directly<\/strong> but <strong>forms in the atmosphere through chemical reactions<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Formation Process: <\/strong>Ammonium sulfate forms when <strong>precursor gases<\/strong> such as <strong>sulphur dioxide (SO\u2082)<\/strong> and <strong>ammonia (NH\u2083)<\/strong> react in the atmosphere.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Sulphur dioxide (SO\u2082)<\/strong> primarily comes from <strong>coal-fired power plants<\/strong>, with additional sources including <strong>oil refineries, heavy industries, brick kilns, diesel combustion, and shipping<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>SO\u2082 gets <strong>oxidised into sulfate<\/strong>, which then reacts with ammonia.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ammonia sources<\/strong> include <strong>agricultural activities, fertilizer use, livestock waste, sewage systems, landfills, biomass burning, diesel vehicles with catalytic converters, and certain industrial processes<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The resulting ammonium sulfate particles are <strong>microscopic<\/strong>, <strong>airborne for days<\/strong>, and can <strong>travel long distances<\/strong>, contributing to <strong>transboundary pollution<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Seasonal Impacts: <\/strong><strong>Humidity, fog, and low winter temperatures<\/strong> accelerate chemical reactions, allowing secondary aerosols to form <strong>within hours<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>In India, ammonium sulfate contributes <strong>49% of PM2.5 during post-monsoon<\/strong>, <strong>41% in winter<\/strong>, and only about <strong>21% during summer and monsoon<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It <strong>accounts for nearly one-third of Delhi\u2019s annual PM2.5 load<\/strong>, rising sharply during <strong>post-monsoon and winter months<\/strong> when pollution episodes are severe.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Regional and National Implications: <\/strong>Delhi\u2019s ammonium sulfate problem is influenced by <strong>regional emissions<\/strong> from coal-heavy states such as <strong>Chhattisgarh (42%), Odisha (41%), Jharkhand (40%), Telangana (40%)<\/strong>, as well as <strong>Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and West Bengal<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>Secondary aerosols formed <strong>hundreds of kilometres away<\/strong> combine in the atmosphere to affect Delhi-NCR.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Key Drivers in Delhi:<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>Coal power plants<\/strong> (SO\u2082 source), <strong>Agricultural and industrial ammonia emissions, <\/strong><strong>Vehicle emissions (NOx), <\/strong><strong>High humidity and low winter temperatures and s<\/strong><strong>tagnant atmospheric conditions<\/strong> that facilitate long-range transport and chemical reactions<\/li>\n<li>India is currently <strong>the world\u2019s largest SO\u2082 emitter<\/strong>, mainly due to coal-based power generation.<\/li>\n<li>In 2025, the government <strong>exempted nearly 78% of coal-fired thermal power plants from installing flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) systems<\/strong>, weakening SO\u2082 controls at the source.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Health and Air Quality Concerns:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Ammonium sulfate <strong>penetrates deep into the lungs<\/strong>, increasing risks of <strong>respiratory and cardiovascular diseases<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Delhi consistently records some of the <strong>highest PM2.5 levels globally<\/strong>, with an <strong>annual average of 91.6 \u00b5g\/m\u00b3 in 2024<\/strong>, making it the <strong>most polluted national capital<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Experts recommend that <strong>secondary aerosol formation<\/strong> should be a key focus of the <strong>National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)<\/strong>, rather than only controlling PM10.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: A significant portion of Delhi\u2019s fine particulate matter, about one-third of the annual PM2.5 load, is made up of secondary pollutants, including ammonium sulphate. About Ammonium Sulfate as a Pollutant in Delhi Ammonium sulfate is a secondary inorganic aerosol, meaning it is not emitted directly but forms in the atmosphere through chemical reactions. Formation&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/ammonium-sulphate-as-a-pollutant-in-delhi\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Ammonium Sulfate as a Pollutant in Delhi<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10366,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,4182,1738,12039],"tags":[11872,10500],"class_list":["post-353045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-environment","category-science-and-technology-daily-factly-articles","category-knolls","tag-9pm-daily-factly","tag-indian-express","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10366"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353045\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}