NOW BRACE FOR WORSE AIR POLLUTION AFTER REVELRY
[PHOTO - Residents sit in front of buildings at the financial district of Makati as it is enveloped by smog caused by pyrotechnics and firecrackers as seen from Taguig yesterday. AP]
MANILA, JANUARY 2, 2011 (STAR) By Rhodina Villanueva - Air pollution after the New Year revelry is expected to worsen in the following days, environmental group EcoWaste Coalition said yesterday.
Apart from releasing carbon dioxide, pyrotechnic products release tiny particles in the air that can aggravate respiratory ailments such as asthma and allergic rhinitis.
Citing information from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), EcoWaste said the total suspended particulates (TSP) in Metro Manila air rose to 163 micrograms per normal cubic meter (ug/ncm) from 134 ug/ncm in 2009.
[PHOTO - LIGHTING UP LUNETA: Fireworks illuminate the night sky over the Luneta Park in Manila as Filipinos welcome the New Year. (Photo by ALI VICOY)]
This is 48 percent above the acceptable level of 90 ug/ncm per year set by the World Health Organization. �The TSP levels in Metro air would have been much worse during and immediately after the New Year�s Eve itself with the massive lighting of firecrackers and fireworks,� said EcoWaste president Roy Alvarez.
Health studies showed that fine particles in the air can be deposited deep in the lungs. Most at risk are children, the elderly, and people with heart and lung diseases.
A study by the World Bank in 2009 showed that some 1.5 million Filipinos of various ages suffer from respiratory illness caused by air pollution.
The aggregate annual cost of respiratory illnesses caused by air pollution is around P1 billion. Of this amount, productivity loss is around P502 million, personal cost for treatment is P360 million, and government expense through health care subsidies is P88 million.
EcoWaste said manufacturers of pyrotechnic products should disclose the chemical contents of their products and the resulting pollutants upon use.
�Our law enforcers should impose a blanket ban on the sale of all types of firecrackers to children while together with health agencies, they should enforce a common revised list of banned firecrackers,� Alvarez said.
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