Air quality

No water, but plenty of bad air. Somehow government is unable to give us the basics of life…

The worse fake news I have encountered, so far, is a meme that claims some of our cities have the cleanest air in Southeast Asia. Citing data from AirVisual World Air Quality Report in 2018, the meme claims 11 of the 15 ci-ties with the cleanest air are ours.

What makes it even more unbelievable is that Makati, Manila, and Mandaluyong have cleaner air than Singapore. Calamba, Valenzuela, Carmona, Parañaque, and Davao are on top of the list. Makati has cleaner air than Balanga?

To put that report in context, the Philippines ranked poorly in the world rankings. Based on the estimated average, the country ranked 48th with a 14.6 PM2.5 concentration. In terms of the country’s capital cities, Manila is at the 42nd spot with a 14.3 PM2.5 concentration.

I found the meme so incredible that I asked Ed Yap, the former president of the Rotary Club of Makati, who established air quality monitoring stations in Metro Manila, for his reactions. He found the report incredible too.

Ed said that not all air quality reports are created equal. It depends on where they put the sensors and how many. And it also depends on time of day data was picked up and vehicular traffic conditions. Metro Manila’s bad air quality is largely car emissions.

Then Ed said, in Pasig and Makati the breeze from Laguna lake is quite strong in the afternoon and that dissipates the particulates specially at this time of the year. This makes air quality within WHO’s safe standards.

I remember once waking up to a Viber message from Ed warning me that “at the air monitoring public service project of Makati Rotary at Ayala Av cor Parkway, the realtime 24/7 reading 6:45 a.m. Wednesday – Poor! PM2.5 reading is 44.9 which is above WHO’s 25. Use your face mask!”

Now, with nothing done to improve air quality, the meme is saying we have air quality at the PM14 level in Mandaluyong and Manila and PM13.7 in Makati.

What’s the real score? I turn once again to Ed who had been on top of this air quality monitoring project of Makati Rotary which he launched during its 50th anniversary two years ago with the signing of a MOA between RCM and UP.

The agreement provides RCM access to the technical expertise of UP’s Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology (IESM). The academics are ensuring the sound operation of the system, including data collation, management, interpretation and dissemination, and development of website and mobile app software.

The systems uses German made GRIMM EDM365C air and meteorological monitoring units capable of automatically and continuously measuring and recording airborne particulate levels for PM10, PM2.5 and PM 10-2.5. It is equipped with meteorological sensors to measure temperature, humidity, wind speed, and direction. The PM2.5 sensors conform to US EPA standards.

The project provides air readings from three strategically located stations. Two are owned by the club in Makati and Edsa, Project 7 in QC. The third is operated by the Lung Center in QC and its readings are fed into the system under a tie up with the club.

Air quality readings with precautionary health advice may be accessed 24/7 in real time through the project website or mobile app (Airtoday.ph). Bad air quality can be life threatening to people with asthma and other respiratory diseases.

According to RCM monitoring, daily PM10 and PM2.5 concentration for 2016 to 2018 exceed the World Health Organization PM10 standard (50 µg/Ncm) for 30 days, five days and 26 days for 2016, 2017, and 2018 respectively. On the other hand, the WHO PM2.5 standard (25 µg/Ncm) was exceeded for 66 days, 24 days and 45 days, 2016, 2017, and 2018 respectively.

DENR used to have air pollution monitoring stations in the metro area, but that was so long ago. I guess the machines all gave up. Bureaucrats have no incentive to keep pollution monitoring equipment working because that will validate their failure.

Ignorance of the true state of air quality breeds complacency. What people don’t know, they can’t complain about.

If you want a visual proof of how bad our air quality is, just go up Sumulong highway in Antipolo in the early morning hours and somewhere after the Valley Golf gate, you can easily get to a vantage point to see for yourself that cloud of gray covering the metro area below.

We wouldn’t put dirty food into our mouths, but we have no choice but to breathe all that dirty air into our lungs. I am certain our life expectancy had been severely shortened by breathing in all that bad air.

Pediatricians have reported having babies just a few months old developing sinusitis. My childhood asthma has been reactivated, my pulmonologist said, by all that bad air.

Other than factories and coal power plants, the major culprit is the large number of motor vehicles perpetually idling in metro traffic jams. The older vehicles like jeepneys are powered by discarded diesel engines from Japan. Discarded mini-steel mills from China are now in the country also spewing pollution.

Greenpeace Philippines said the reason why many cities in the Philippines ranked high in the recent air quality report is because there are not enough air monitoring systems.

Khevin Yu of Greenpeace Philippines explained that: “In fact, the report highlights the urgent need for more comprehensive, governmental, real-time monitoring networks for the public to fully understand the state of air quality in the Philippines.”

 PM2.5 refers to the particulate matter in air measuring up to 2.5 microns in size with a range of chemical compositions and sources. This is the standard used to represent air pollution.

The Rotary Club technical data shows reason for hope. Cleaning our air is within reach. Even Beijing is doing it. Tougher enforcement and strong political will save our lungs.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco