Carlos was a healthy baby when he was growing up in a small barangay in Davao City. When his father was promoted as a manager in a company where he is working, the family moved to Manila. Two years after their arrival in the metropolis, Carlos developed asthma – much to the surprise of his parents.
Carlos is not alone in bearing the brunt of air pollution in the metropolis. Studies conducted by the College of Public Health of the University of the Philippines a couple of years back showed that jeepney drivers are exposed eight to 10 hours daily to pollution. High levels of carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and other lung irritants are slowly but unknowingly being inhaled by these transport workers.
Jeepney drivers are not alone. Traffic policemen and metro aides are also susceptible to lung infections due to their exposure to smog and fumes. Aside from catching tuberculosis, inhaling the harmful substances from polluted air can cause blood poisoning, headaches, nausea, and blurred vision.
Children are not spared. The UP study showed that children who were exposed to high levels of fumes experienced hallucination, headache, dullness, restlessness, irritability, less of memory and ability to concentrate. Some of them also developed asthma like Carlos.
Studies have shown that in terms of lost wages, medical treatment, and premature loss of life, the costs of air pollution to urban residents are staggering – about US$1.5 billion a year!
Davao City is perhaps one of the cities in the Philippines that is spared – as of now – from the fumes of air pollution. The recent headline of EDGE Davao reads: “DAVAO CITY’S AIR QUALITY SAFE”.
The news report, written by Tiziana Celine S. Piatos, said: “Davao City remains pretty much a safe zone in terms of air quality of air that its population is exposed to.” The source of information was Engr. Melvin M. Dapitanon, an official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
The observation was based from the data collected through the emission inventories. “We can determine through emission inventories which sources from the city has the biggest chunk on creating air pollution in the city,” Dapitanon was quoted as saying.
According to Dapitanon, the trend of the air quality index is based from suspended particulate matter (spm) or microgram per normal cubic meter (ncm). Based on their study, Davao City’s condition is “good and fair.”
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 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.
Unknowingly, 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.
In the fight against air pollution, every little bit counts. 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, after all, 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.”
