By Henrylito D. Tacio
Ma-a barangay captain Olivia B. Cal recently filed a complaint against Safecon Industries Inc. and Filmix, which are operating in his area of responsibility. The two companies, according to a report published in a local daily, “allegedly caused air pollution.” As a result, some residents have experienced skin rashes while others suffered respiratory diseases.
If proven that the two companies are really emitting air pollutants, it would just be the tip of the iceberg. Actually, most of the polluted air comes from motor vehicles. As early as 2009, Edge Davao reported on the worsening air pollution in Davao City.
As a matter of fact, “air pollution in Davao City is even worse than in Metro Manila,” said the report, which quoted Engr. Manuel T. Jamonir of the University of the Philippines-Mindanao.
In a presentation before the Rotary Club of East Davao during its 18th regular meeting, Jamonir presented figures from an air quality survey conducted by the Environmental Management Bureau, a line agency of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
The survey showed Davao City’s worsening air quality standard. “In terms of Total Suspended Air Particulates (TSAP), Metro Manila had 132 micrograms per normal cubic meter as of 2008,” the report said. As per DENR, the acceptable standard is pegged at 90 micrograms.
“As early as 2004, however, figures recorded in Davao City were already higher than in Metro Manila. In that year, monitoring stations placed in Agdao showed 335 micrograms while along Quirino and J.P. Laurel avenues, the figures were 249 and 185 micrograms, respectively,” the report further stated.
Breathing polluted air is bad for your health. The late Dr. Juan M. Flavier, during his stint as health secretary, said: “Among the jeepney drivers plying along EDSA, 33 percent have acute bronchitis.”
Even those who ride in air-conditioned vehicles are not spared from breathing air pollutants like lead (which comes mainly from burning leaded gasoline).
“A study conducted by the College of Public Health found that there is hardly any difference in the level of lead in blood and in the frequency of respiratory diseases among jeepney drivers, drivers of air-conditioned buses, and people exposed to polluted air in traffic. So, it doesn’t mean that when we ride in air-conditioned buses, we have already escaped from pollution,” said Dr. Nelia Cortez-Maramba of the University of the Philippines Department of Pharmacology.
Many air pollutants – a mix of gases, droplets, and particles – are able to pass through the lungs into the bloodstream and are eventually transported to the heart and the entire body through blood vessels.
“Because the cardiovascular system is dependent on the functioning of the respiratory system, it is also indirectly affected by the deleterious effects of the pollution on the lungs,” explains the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO).
A study published in Lancet showed that those living near a major road have a higher risk of dying than the rest of the population. It concluded that long-term exposure to traffic-released air pollution may shorten life expectancy.
Other studies also revealed that heart attacks, life-threatening heart rhythms, and thickening of the blood can also be traced to exposure to air pollution. “To make it clear: all these bodily changes spell doom for the Filipinos living in Metro Manila (and other highly-urbanized centers),” warned Dr. Willie T. Ong, a cardiologist who writes a regular column for a national daily.
Perhaps not too many know that air pollution is tied to high blood pressure in pregnancy. Statistics showed that women develop high blood pressure during about one in ten pregnancies. Having so-called gestational hypertension makes it more likely that a woman will need a cesarean section, that she will give birth early and that her baby will be born small.
“Our results suggest air pollution does have some impact on the risk of gestational hypertension,” said epidemiologist Dr. Xiaohui Xu, who led the study at the University of Florida in Gainesville. “This could have some subsequent effects on both maternal and fetal health.”
Smoking has been cited as the primary culprit of lung cancer. But it’s not only smoking that can cause lung cancer — even polluted air. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said that outdoor air pollution increases the risk of developing lung cancer.
In a report released a couple of years back, IARC classified diesel engine exhaust as well as some specific substances found in air pollution as carcinogenic.
“Although the risk of developing lung cancer due to air pollution is relatively much lower compared to smoking, it is a risk factor that needs to be addressed,” pointed out Dr. Enrique T. Ona when he was still the head of the Department of Health.
“No matter how small it may be, considering that practically everyone living in Metro Manila and other big cities are exposed to it, it may be considered a significant risk factor of lung cancer across the whole population affecting a big number of our countrymen,” Dr. Ona added.
Air pollution kills. A global study listed air pollution as one of the top 10 killers in the world, according to a report by the Asian Scientist. In the Philippines, over four percent of all deaths are attributed to air pollution, according to a report released by the World Bank.
Meanwhile, DENR Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje said the requirement for cleaner fuel and stricter emission standards was part of government efforts to improve air quality in the country, particularly Metro Manila.
This is the main reason why he issued DENR Administrative Order (DAO) No. 2015-14, which provides the new vehicle emission standards to be complied with by new and in-use vehicles starting July 1. The Order also enjoins the Department of Energy to ensure the availability of Euro 4 fuels by this date.
Considered the cleaner fuel, Euro 4 has sulfur content of only 50 parts per million (ppm) for both diesel and gasoline, compared with 500 ppm for Euro 2. Benzene in Euro 4 gasoline, on the other hand, is only 1 percent by volume compared to 5 percent in Euro 2.
“Low sulfur fuels will lead to reduced emissions of particulate matter. This particulate matter, along with other pollutants, can penetrate deeply into sensitive parts of the lungs and can worsen existing respiratory and heart diseases,” the environment chief explained in the department’s website.
Indeed, every little bit counts in the fight against air pollution. A study in Europe has found that even very small cuts in pollution can benefit health. One recent study from Harvard University found that people living in cities where air pollution decreased in recent years saw their life expectancy increase an average of five months as a result of cleaner air.
Fresh air is invigorating. In his monthly column in Health and Lifestyle, Richard G. Mendoza wrote: “Good quality clean air may usually be found in abundance in natural outdoor environments, especially around evergreen trees, green plants in mountains and forests, near moving waters such as lakes, oceans, rivers, waterfalls, and after rain.”
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