IIT Kharagpur researchers revealed significant increase of ozone pollution in the Antarctic troposphere for the past 25 years, which is a concern as the region is far from the industries and continental emission sources.
A recent scientific study analysed the significant increase of Surface Ozone and Tropospheric Ozone in Antarctica for the past 25 years. The research findings were supported by surface-based and ozonesonde measurements in Antarctica.
“The increasing trend in ozone pollution across Antarctica would have a profound impact on the future climate of one of the most climate-sensitive regions on the Earth, as tropospheric ozone has warming feedback to the Earth’s climate, and that can accelerate melting of sea-ice, changes in water masses, and damages to the ecosystem”, said Prof Jayanarayanan Kuttippurath, the lead researcher and Assistant Professor of Centre for Oceans, Rivers, Atmosphere, and Land sciences at IIT Kharagpur.
The research findings are published in Environmental Science and Technology Journal of the American Chemical Society (https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c08491) on June 16, 2021. In this regards, American Chemical Society made the press release on the same date (https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/presspacs/2021/acs-presspac-june-16-2021/ozone-pollution-has-increased-in-antartica.html).
The increasing pollution in a remote region with no industries, no significant population, very limited anthropogenic activities and about 6500 km away from the equator, is a serious concern and suggests substantial anthropogenic pollution across the latitudes. Dominant sources of ozone are both natural and from human-related sources. The researchers compiled the ozone data measured between 1992 and 2018 at ground level and through the atmosphere, from the lower atmosphere into the ozone layer, at eight stations across Antarctica.
“Making measurements and monitoring the environment at remote locations such as Antarctica is very important because of its remoteness and constant clean air there making it easier to detect even slight changes related to global scale, and thus can expose first signals of global change”, added Prof Virendra Kumar Tewari, the IIT Kharagpur Director.
“The increasing trend in ozone pollution is significant even after accounting for the natural variability, and we find substantial amounts of ozone pollution is being transported from neighbouring regions,” said Mr. Pankaj Kumar, the research scholar from the Centre of Oceans, Rivers, Atmosphere and Land Science of IIT Kharagpur as well as the another lead author of the paper.
The authors acknowledged the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Education (MoE), and Ministry of Earth Science (MoES) for facilitating the study. They also thanked Dr M Ravichandran, the Director of National Centre for Ocean and Polar Research Goa, India for his encouragement and support for this study.
Media Contact: Prof Jayanarayanan Kuttippurath, Assistant Professor
Email: jayan@coral.iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. no.: +91-9475472847
Contact: Paramita Dey, Junior Assistant
Email: media@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. No.: +91-3222-282004
Paper cups are usually lined by a thin layer of hydrophobic film which is made of mostly plastic (polyethylene) and sometimes co-polymers to hold the liquid in the paper cup. Within 15 minutes this microplastic layer degrades as a reaction to hot water, says the first of its kind study conducted in India by Dr. Sudha Goel, Associate Professor at the Dept. of Civil Engineering and research scholars Ved Prakash Ranjan and Anuja Joseph studying Environmental Engineering and Management. 
The researchers followed two different procedures – in the first process, hot ultrapure (MilliQ) water (85–90 ◦C; pH~6.9) was poured into the disposable paper cups, and it was allowed to sit for 15 mins. The homogeneously mixed water was then analyzed for the presence of microplastics as well as additional ions that may have leached into the liquid from the paper cups. In the second process, paper cups were initially dipped in lukewarm (30–40 °C) MilliQ water (pH~6.9). Thereafter the hydrophobic film was carefully separated from the paper layer and exposed to hot MilliQ water (85–90 °C; pH~6.9) for 15 mins. and Changes in the physical, chemical, and mechanical properties of the plastic films were examined before and after exposure to hot water.
Explaining the exposure of 15 minutes, Prof. Goel linked its basis to a survey wherein the respondents confirmed consuming their beverage within 15 mins of obtaining it. 
The samples of paper cups were collected from popular stores across Kharagpur, West Bengal. “Our study indicates most plastic layers lining the paper cups were of HDPE (High-density polyethylene) grade, whereas only very few paper cups were lined with a copolymer of cellulose. However, the release of microplastics into the hot water was consistent in all samples irrespective of their grades,” remarked researcher Ved Prakash Ranjan. 
“Our hypothesis on the degradation of the plastic layer after exposure to hot water was confirmed through images obtained from the atomic force and scanning electron microscopy. Also, another study on the mechanical properties of the plastic film proved its deformation upon exposure to heat,” explained researcher Anuja Joseph.
“Eventually, all this information forms the baseline knowledge for the recently initiated Jal Jeevan Mission of the Government of India. The mission is based on providing safe drinking water to every household of the country within 2024 and the outcome of this provides the information for the location of safe groundwater, which is the primary source of drinking water for most of India,” opined Prof. Abhijit Mukherjee from the Dept. of Geology and Geophysics who is leading the research.
It is to be noted that Eastern India and Bangladesh, which source more than 80% of its drinking water from groundwater sources, are coping with this issue of naturally-sourced arsenic mass poisoning. The studies conducted until now were unable to offer an effective model for policy decisions due to the delineation of the local extent and geochemical mechanisms for arsenic pollution. 
“Our campus is stretched across 2100 acres but the halls of residence are located in a particular area. Think what would we do to our homes at Kgp if thousands of firecrackers are burnt for an entire evening! Instead, in typical IIT KGP style our seniors in the early 1980s turned this challenge into an opportunity and pledged to shun air pollution and replace it with creativity, teamwork, innovation and leading to creating art forms which was named Illumination,” said a proud Akshat Jain, 3rd year UG student of Agricultural and Food Engineering department, who also heads the Public Relations Chair of Technology Students Gymkhana, the student nerve centre of IIT Kharagpur.
This led to a direct, positive impact on the campus environment by preventing unwanted noise and air pollution while at the same time saving large on electricity expenditure on the day of Diwali by going traditional. And then there is the novelty of supporting the livelihood of local shopkeepers selling the materials required for this celebration. 
