Peralta, Julianne Kristine B.

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Are Filipinos experiencing ‘wildfire’ pollution every day?

DRIVEN - Atty. Karen V. Jimeno (The Philippine Star) - November 28, 2018 - 12:00am

“Air pollution affects each and every one of us. We need stronger coordination and wider collaboration
so we can once and for all solve our air pollution problem.”
BERKELEY, California —Breathing air is fundamental for human survival. But because breathing comes so
naturally, it’s easy to take air for granted. California’s recent wildfires brought my attention to air
quality. I wrote this column from my home in Berkeley while on “house detention” — we were advised
to stay indoors with all windows closed and to avoid outdoor activities.

The air quality in the Bay Area and Northern California deteriorated to unhealthy/hazardous levels that
it prompted UC Berkeley (my school) to cancel the much-awaited Stanford vs UC Berkeley football game
and suspend classes for the rest of the week until after Thanksgiving.

Based on air quality advisories, the “hazardous” air quality in Berkeley City and the Bay Area reached
200+ Ambient Particulate Matter (APM).

While wildfires are not a serious threat to the Philippines, air pollution is a year-round perennial
problem in the country. A 2018 World Health Organization (WHO) report found that the Philippines
ranked third in the world as having the most number of deaths due to air pollution (after China and
Mongolia). One in four deaths in the Philippines are attributed to air pollution. When the size of
particulate matter in the air is 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) and below, it penetrates into a person’s
respiratory and cardiovascular system leading to serious health problems such as pulmonary disease,
lung cancer, pneumonia, heart disease and stroke.

To put things in perspective, the safe level for PM2.5 is 50 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) of air.
Data from air monitoring stations in 2017 showed alarming figures for air quality in several parts of
Metro Manila such as Quezon City (369 µg/nm), Taft Avenue, Manila (448 µg/nm), Paranaque (433
µg/nm) and Valenzuela (285 µg/nm). These values ranged from 500 to 900 percent beyond the
recommended safe level.

UNICEF’s Air Pollution Report says that outdoor air pollution is most common in low-income, urban
areas and is caused by vehicle emissions, heavy use of fossil fuels, dust, and burning of waste.

In the Philippines, air pollution is a problem that cuts among demographics, affecting rich and poor
people alike. “Air pollution affects each and every one of us. We need stronger coordination and wider
collaboration so we can once and for all solve our air pollution problem,” said Environment Secretary
Roy Cimatu.
The Philippines’ Clean Air Act of 1999 (Republic Act No. 8749) is almost two decades old, yet
enforcement seems to be an issue as the quality of air in the Philippines continues to deteriorate. The
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) says it is working with the Department of
Health and WHO to decrease the environmental health risk of air pollution by improving the linkage of
air quality and health monitoring, reviewing the air quality index, and strengthening the health impact
assessment for projects and activities that may cause air pollution. The DENR’s Air Quality Management
Bureau and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) are working together to track and apprehend smoke
belchers. Smoke belchers are subject to fines, license suspensions or franchise cancellations.

Nonetheless, the continued increase in the number of vehicles in the Philippines may pose challenges to
maintaining healthy levels of air quality. Carbon monoxide, a highly toxic odorless and colorless gas, is
produced from the exhaust of motor engines or combustion of carbon-containing fuels, such as
gasoline.

One of the largest sources of carbon monoxide in the Philippines are vehicle emissions. The emissions
problem in the Philippines is compounded by old, inefficient vehicles that continue to ply the streets.

A 2003 air pollution study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) also found that a large fraction of
Metro Manila’s vehicle emission sources includes motorcycles with inefficient two-stroke engines.

The ADB study’s recommendations included a pilot program for retrofitting particulate traps on diesel
vehicles. Solving the Philippines’ air pollution problems would require a host of solutions — jeepney
modernization, mandatory phaseout of old/fuel-inefficient vehicles, incentives for hybrid vehicles,
construction of mass transit systems, strict enforcement of the Clean Air Act, and other regulatory
measures related to non-vehicle sources of air pollution.

Undoubtedly, these solutions take time to implement. While the Philippines tries to go down the global
ranking of having the third highest deaths caused by air pollution, it should take a precautionary
approach to protect the health of Filipinos in the same way that California has been doing for its
residents. There should be heightened awareness through information dissemination, public
announcements through the news or social media, regular updates on air quality, advisories on when to
avoid outdoor activities (when APM or PM2.5 are at hazardous levels), and provision of masks as a
health intervention (particularly for those publicly commuting in highly polluted areas).

While air is necessary for survival, breathing in polluted air is a threat to the health and existence of
humans. It’s a risk that Filipinos should be aware of, and most Filipinos are exposed to this risk everyday
even without wildfires in the country.

Source:

Jimeno, K.V.(2018). Are Filipinos Experiencing Wildfire Pollution Evert Day. Retrieved from
https://www.philstar.com/business/motoring/2018/11/28/1872203/are-filipinos-experiencing-wildfire-
pollution-every-day
How air pollution is destroying our health

As the world gets hotter and more crowded, our engines continue to pump out dirty emissions, and half the
world has no access to clean fuels or technologies (e.g. stoves, lamps), the very air we breathe is growing
dangerously polluted: nine out of ten people now breathe polluted air, which kills 7 million people every
year.

The health effects of air pollution are serious – one third of deaths from stroke, lung cancer and heart disease
are due to air pollution. This is having an equivalent effect to that of smoking tobacco, and much higher than,
say, the effects of eating too much salt.

Air pollution is hard to escape, no matter how rich an area you live in. It is all around us. Microscopic
pollutants in the air can slip past our body’s defences, penetrating deep into our respiratory and circulatory
system, damaging our lungs, heart and brain.

Air pollution is closely linked to climate change - the main driver of climate change is fossil fuel combustion
which is also a major contributor to air pollution - and efforts to mitigate one can improve the other. This
month, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that coal-fired electricity must end by
2050 if we are to limit global warming rises to 1.5C. If not, we may see a major climate crisis in just 20 years.

Meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement to combat climate change could save about a million lives a year
worldwide by 2050 through reductions in air pollution alone. The economic benefits from tackling air
pollution are significant: in the 15 countries that emit the most greenhouse gas emissions, the health impacts
of air pollution are estimated to cost more than 4% of their GDP.

“The true cost of climate change is felt in our hospitals and in our lungs. The health burden of polluting
energy sources is now so high, that moving to cleaner and more sustainable choices for energy supply,
transport and food systems effectively pays for itself,” says Dr Maria Neira, WHO Director of Public Health,
Environmental and Social Determinants of Health.

Source: How air pollution is destroying our health. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.who.int/air-
pollution/news-and-events/how-air-pollution-is-destroying-our-health