Welcome!

I am Chowdhury Arafat Hossain, a nascent Environmental Researcher with an ongoing MS in Environmental Engineering. Currently, I am working as a Research Assistant of Bureu of Research, Testing & Consultation under Associate Professor Dr.Provat Kumar Saha.

The environment of Bangladesh, especially the air, is very polluted, which is not drawing as much attention as it should have. As a developing country with limited resources, even with increased concern, a few funds can be allocated to improve the pollution scenario. Moreover, solutions to any problem whose effects are not readily visible face these challenges. Therefore, I am driven to conduct research that raises awareness and devises innovative, cost-effective solutions, ultimately working towards a more sustainable and resilient future. To align with my goal, I aspire to pursue a PhD in the disciplines of Environmental Health Science and Engineering.

Environmental Health Science & Engineering

Publications

Seasonal Variation of PM2.5 Concentration in the Air of Dhaka: An Analysis with Recommendations

Presented in: ICPACE 2023 (RUET) Conference

Md Shoaib Chowdhury1,Chowdhury Arafat Hossain2, and Sanjeev Delwar2

1Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, North South University (NSU), Dhaka, Bangladesh(shoaib.chowdhury@northsouth.edu)

2Graduate Student, Department of Civil Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh (c.a.hossain.buet14@gmail.com;sanjeevdelwar@yahoo.com)

Abstract

Air pollution has been recognized as one of the most environmental hazards and public health concerns, particularly for urban dwellers. On the basis of average annual PM2.5 concentration, IQ-Air in their 2021 World Air Quality Report ranked Dhaka as the second most polluted city in the world with an average PM2.5 concentration of 78.11μg/m3. This study analyzes monthly and seasonal variation of PM2.5 concentration in the air of Dhaka and its likely effects on human health based on a continuous air monitoring station (CAMS #3-Darus-salam) data of recent years (between 2013-2022). The CAMS data are extracted and statistical analysis of monthly and seasonally varying average concentrations of PM2.5 are performed and the mean values are compared with the local and international ambient air quality standards (i.e., DoE, US-EPA standards) to determine the effects of PM2.5on public health in Dhaka city. Finally, based on a systematic review of literature, major sources (i.e., road, motor vehicles, industry/brick kiln, construction activities etc.) of PM2.5 in the air of Dhaka are identified and policy-level recommendations are provided to improve the quality of air (i.e., to reduce the extent of PM2.5 pollutant) in Dhaka city.

The Impact of Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) on Daily Hospital Visits in Khulna City, Bangladesh

Conference Proceedings of 5th Annual Paper Meet and 2nd Civil Engineering Congress, 2022

ABSTRACT

In low-income countries, the health risks of fine ambient particles (PM2.5) remain largely unexplored. Here, we investigated the relationship between PM2.5 and daily hospital visits in Khulna city of Bangladesh. We analyzed the association between daily fine Particulate Matter Concentration (PM2.5) and hospital visits data using a generalized additive model. We found a statistically significant association between the number of daily hospital visits and PM2.5 concentration. Generally, the number of outdoor patients is higher on days with a higher PM2.5. A 10% increase in current-day PM2.5 concentration was associated with a 0.36% (CI: 0.263% to 0.47%) increase in total patient visits. A high PM2.5 concentration for two days in a row has a more significant impact on daily hospital visits. A 10% increase in PM2.5 concentration average of current-day and past two days was associated with a 0.4% (CI: 0.17 - 0.65%) increase in total patient visits. The relative risk of hospital visits increases substantially when the PM2.5 concentration is greater than 65 µg/m3 on a particular day or for two consecutive days. This study further highlights the substantial health risks of ambient air quality on morbidity.

Completed Research Projects

(Writing Manuscripts)

Performance Characterization and Calibration of PurpleAir II SD version - Low-Cost Particulate Matter (PM2.5) sensor- towards Federal Equivalent Method (FEM).

Figure: Sensor to Sensor (10 in Wet & 20 in Dry Season) Consistency

PurpleAir is a low-cost particulate matter (PM) measuring sensor. It quantifies PM1.0, PM2.5 & PM10 ambient concentrations and reports particle counts. It also measures ambient meteorological parameters(Relative Humidity, Temperature, Dew point, Air Pressure). Low-cost particulate sensors are susceptible to error due to ambient climatic conditions. The PurpleAir has also shown sensitivity and is not yet recognized as a reference grade by US EPA or other counterparts and requires further studies. US EPA has guidelines and stated assessment metrics for different Air Quality sensors. The project aims to evaluate and characterize the performance in colocation with reference grade instrument (BAM 1020) at Darussalam CAMS, Dhaka.

Characterizing Particulate Air Pollution in Rural Areas of Bangladesh Using Network of Low-Cost Sensors (PurpleAir II- SD Version)

Figure: Comparision of Rural PM2.5 Concentration with nearby CAMS and US Embassy

While air quality monitoring is a key component of improving air quality management, Bangladesh's current air quality monitoring coverage is abysmal. Recently, the Department of Environment (DoE) of Bangladesh has established 16 (sixteen) continuous air monitoring stations (CAMS) in 11 major cities of Bangladesh to monitor urban air quality. Bangladesh's current monitoring program (DoE CAMS Station) is mostly urban-focused. Most of Bangladesh's existing academic research on air pollution is urban-focused. Air quality monitoring in rural areas is always overlooked though numerous studies have shown that regional secondary particulate formation, transboundary, and long-range transported pollutants are essential drivers of PM2.5 exposures (Carl Malings et al. 2020). Furthermore, substantial household uses of solid fuels in rural Bangladesh are a dominant source of PM2.5 (J.P. Majra et al. 2011).

In this project, 10 PurpleAir Sensor is being used to Quantify PM2.5 Concentration in rural areas, which otherwise would remain unexplored. The project aims to eradicate the widely prevalent fallacy that Air pollution is a problem in urban areas.

Research Projects Ongoing

NSF-IRES: U.S.-Bangladesh collaboration to improve air quality

Under the supervision of Dr. Bari, a Professor at the University of Albany, a cohort of 8 students came to our lab to conduct research on the Air quality of Bangladesh. I was involved in mentoring them, on behalf of Dr. Provat, with my prior experiences with PurpleAir and newly gathered experience on ObservAir BC Sensor and Kindwell MPM. For successful completion of the projects, I had to plan with and co-ordinate among professors, mentor setting up the sensors and provide logistics support as per the individual project's requirement. Now they have leaved Bangladesh but the study is being continued by us-me and undergraduate students under the supervision of Dr. Provat. The details of the projects can be found in the Project Webpage. I am actively researching the following projects of this joint venture-

Project 1: Development of a calibration framework for low-cost PM2.5 monitoring system in a megacity of Bangladesh.

Project 4: Air pollution mapping in Dhaka City using low-cost sensors.

Project 5: Understanding residential indoor air quality exposure in Dhaka using multipollutant sensors. [Map]

Project 7A: Estimation and Characterization of Landfill Emissions

Used Methods:

Sensors:

TelosAir Duet

TVoC, CO2,PM

Kindwell MPM

CH4,H2S,NO2,SO2, O3,PM

ObservAir BC

Black Carbon

PurpleAir

Magic CPC

Ultrafine PM

Satelite:

Copernicus-Sentinel 5P

HCHO, CO, CH4, NO2,O3

Mobile Monitoring with the Sensor Set-up

Mapping for site selection

Deployment, Data Colletion & Processing training

Academic Projects

(MSc Thesis- 18 Credit) ongoing

Effect of Ambient Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) on Hospitalizations from Cardiovascular and Respiratory Morbidities in Bangladesh.

While the association between short-term exposure to PM2.5 and hospitalizations is well-studied in developed countries, such studies are limited in developing countries [11]. In recent times, epidemiological studies in various Chinese cities reported a strong association of PM2.5 with hospital visits, respiratory and cardiovascular morbidity, and mortality. Such studies in South Asian countries and global air pollution hotspots, including Bangladesh, are minimal. Sherris et al. (2021) [12] also showed the acute effects of PM2.5 on children and adults in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Rahman et al. (2021)[13, 14] reported a statistically significant association between PM2.5 levels and respiratory and cardiovascular morbidity in Dhaka city. However, Bangladesh has no nationwide or multicity assessment quantifying the association between PM2.5 and case-specific morbidity. Despite this, the impact can largely vary across pollution levels, socio-economic factors and demographics, and disease type. This study aims to address that knowledge gap, investigate the association between the variation of daily ambient PM2.5 levels and hospital admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in different major cities in Bangladesh, and perform a meta-analysis to quantify the impacts at the national scale. Multicity and national analysis provide useful policy-relevant insights to reduce the impacts of PM2.5-related hospitalizations.

Locations of Hospitals and CAMS

Dhaka City

Loli-Plot of Analysis on Dhaka City

Delivered Academic Projects

Course Project of CE 6302-GIS in Environmental Modeling

I am looking for a Mentoring Co-Author to make it a publication.

Assessment of Drought Risk In the North-West Area of Bangladesh

Climatic factors may not only determine agricultural droughts' occurrence and intensity. Soil moisture is a fundamental land surface indicator representing drought conditions in agricultural areas, and soil moisture change considerably impact agricultural production. A near-real-time drought monitoring approach developed with Terra–Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer can be used to show soil moisture at a broad spatial scale (MODIS). Temperature Vegetation Dryness Index (TVDI) is a method that combines land surface reflectance and thermal characteristics. The ratio of LST differences across pixels with a particular NDVI value in a sufficiently wide research area is termed TVDI. The TVDI can be calculated using either the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) or the enhanced vegetation index (EVI) in combination with LST data. The difference between the pixels' minimum LST and the LST of one pixel is the numerator, while the difference between the pixels' maximum and minimum LSTs is the denominator. Drought-related TVDI is higher, while wet-related TVDI is low. In this work, the TVDI is used to track drought conditions in Bangladesh's most drought-prone areas (NWB) throughout the pre-monsoon season from 2015 to 2022. The study aims to depict areas with a high risk of drought, link any possible patterns, and validate TVDI for monitoring the risk and predicting future hazards.

(BSc Thesis- 6 credits)

COMPARISON OF PARAMETRIC PROPERTIES OF CEMENT MORTARS MADE WITH PARTIAL REPLACEMENT OF CEMENT BY FLY ASH AND RICE HUSK ASH

ABSTRACT

The use of supplementary cementing materials has become an integral part of high-strength and high-performance mix design for concrete and mortar, which can be economical. Natural materials, by-products, or industrial waste with cementitious properties must be tested by comparing parametric properties. Rice Husk Ash and Fly Ash are potential cementitious materials, and Which of these two supplements (Rice Husk Ash and Fly Ash) better serves the necessity was the question of the study. This study aims to find the maximum proportion of fly ash and rice husk ash that can be efficiently used as a substitute for OPC cement while giving higher strength than conventional cement mortar mix and compare Fly Ash Mortar and Rice Husk Ash Mortar properties with different Parameters of cement. In this research, OPC cement was replaced by different proportions of Fly Ash & Rice Husk Ash in the range of 5%, 10%, 15% & 20% by weight for OPC-43 grade mortar. Mortar mixtures were made, 60 samples were produced, tested, and the result was compared in terms of different parametric properties to the conventional cement. As a result, the compressive strength after 28 days had increased for 15% replacement of fly ash and 5% replacement of Rice Husk Ash.

Google Sites

Report abuse