AirPollution

and
SmokeHaze

ErikVelasco
evelasco@smart.mit.edu
 Airpollution&health:keyfacts

Airpollutionisamajorenvironmentalrisktohealth.

Urbanairpollutionisestimatedtocause1.3million
deathsworldwideperyear.

Shortandlongtermexposuretoairbornepollutants
enhancesmortalityandmorbidity.

Airpollutionreduceslifeexpectancy(e.g.9monthsinEurope).

Thereisnoevidenceofasafelevelofexposureora
thresholdbelowwhichnoadversehealtheffectsoccur.

Airqualityandhealth.FactsheetNo313
WorldHealthOrganization,2011
 Alonglistofhealthimpacts

Irritationofnoseandeyes
Headache Anxiety
Fatigue Depression
Nausea Obesity
Diabetes
Cardiovasculardiseases Atherosclerosis
Respiratorydiseases Reproductivehealth
Asthma Spermquality
Lungcancer Cognitiveperformance
Lungfunctionreduction Neurologicaldisorders
Wheeze DNAdamage(mutagenesis&
Hypertension cancer)
Adversebirthoutcomes

ReviewofevidenceonhealthaspectsofairpollutionREVIHAAPproject
WorldHealthOrganization,2013
 Aretheresignsofhealthissuesdueto
badairqualityinSingapore?

Asthma
5%ofadultsand20%of
childrenhaveasthma.

Singapore24%
Prevalenceof
USA18%
asthmainchildren Taiwan13%
aged1314years Malaysia12%
(Pearceetal.,2007)
HongKong11%

Lungcancer Cancerrelateddeathshave
increasedfrom15%to27%inthe
last30years,withlungcancerthe
leadingcause ofcancerinmen
andthesecondinwomen.
(Seow etal.,2004)
Amixofdirect&indirectsourcesofpollutants

Anthropogenic Natural
 Smog=mixofpollutants

TakenfromAndeae (2009),Science326,pp.1493

Primarypollutants Secondarypollutants
Carbon monoxide (CO) Ozone
Sulfur dioxide (SO2) Organic aerosols
Nitric oxide (NO) Sulphates
Black carbon Oxygenated volatile organic compounds
Particles Peroxyde radicals
Volatile organic compounds (e.g. benzene) And many other toxic compounds
 CriteriapollutantsinSingapore
Carbon monoxide (CO)

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)

Sulfur dioxide (SO2)

Ozone (O3)

Particles with a diameter < 10m (PM10)

10m
WhataboutPM2.5? Noacriteriapollutant,
butitismonitoredinSingapore.

Hair PM10 PM2.5

70m 10m 2.5m
 HowdeepPM2.5 cangointoourbody?

>PM2.5

PM2.5

Ultrafine
(100nm)

TakenfromOberdrster etal.2005,Env,HealthPersp.113,823
Ultrafineparticlesdeposited
onalveolarducts
 Inadditiontosize,chemicalcompositionand
physicalpropertiesareimportant

1m Agglomerationofparticles

Heavymetals
Dieselsoot

Biologic
origin

Inorganic
 Singaporecountswithawidespreadair
qualitymonitoringnetwork

But,wedonotknow:
Thepreciselocationofthe
stations
Neitherthepollutantsmonitored
ineachstation

http://app2.nea.gov.sg/psi_accessibility.aspx
And:
Realtimedata(i.e.hourly
concentrations)arenotavailable.

Aswellasrecordsfrompast
years.

http://www.sma.df.gob.mx/simat2/
 Moreairpollutiondatahavebeen
publishedsinceayearago

Daily PSI and annual average

Before Aug-2012 pollutant concentrations

From Aug-2012 Trice per day 24-hour average PSI

to Jun-2013: and pollutant concentrations

Hourly rolling average concentrations

24hour:PSI,SO2,PM10 and,PM2.5
From Jun-2013: 8hour:O3 andCO
3hour:PSIbasedonlyonPM10
1hour:NO2
 Animportantimprovementonairquality
informationafterthesmokehaze

Rollingaveragessmoothoutshortterm
fluctuationsandhighlightlongertermtrends.
Theymaycauseconcern,whentheyturntobe
outdifferentfromwhatpeopleobservelike
duringthepastsmokehazeevent.
http://www.nea.gov.sg/psi/
 DoesSingaporesmeetinternationalstandards?
Keyenvironmentalstatistics2013

WHO=WorldHealthOrganization AQG=AirQualityGuideline
 AirqualityintermsofPSI
IncludingPM2.5
(PM2.5/PM10 =0.49)

Good Moderate Unhealthy

Key Environmental Statistics, MEWR, 2011

 SingaporePM2.5
levelsarenotamong
thehighest,neither
amongthelowest

2007
 Whataboutthesmokehaze?

Theworstairpollutionepisode
everinSingapore.

DuringthreedaysPM2.5 exceeded10
timestheWHOsguideline(25gm3)

Max.3hPSIreading(Jun21@12h)

PSI=401PM10 =501gm3
PM2.5/PM10 =0.8PM2.5 =400gm3
 Whichwerethesmokehazescauses?
NASAEOS,2013

FromJuntoSeptthedry
weatherassociatedwiththe
Southwestmonsooncreates
fireproneconditions.
Singapore

Unusuallywidespread
wildfiresragingacross
Sumatra.Themajority
occurredinRiauat200km
fromSingapore.

Windsblowingdirectlyfrom
theRiau. Itisanannualoccurrence
since40yearsago.
 However,therealdriversstemfrom:
Economicandpoliticalconditions
Oilpalm&pulpwoodplantationscreate
employmentanddriveupincomesinthe
province.

Laxenforcementagainstillegallogging.

Burningisoftenusedtoclearthelandas
itisthecheapestandfastestwaytoget
thejobdone.

Largecompaniestakeadvantageandmay
belaunderingdirtypalmoilandpaper
intoglobalmarkets.
 GoodcoveragebySingaporesmedia

The
Straits
Times
Authorities'response:
Acontingencyplantomanagethe
Quicktopubliccalls adverseeffectswasnotevident.

Noorderstoreduceorstop
Greatsupportat industrialactivitiesandconstruction
ground activities,neithertocloseschools
weredeclared.
Strongeffortsto
lookfordiplomatic Onlyrecommendationsofstaying
waystostopthe indoorsandavoidingheavyoutdoor
firesandenforce activities.
legalactions
Norealtimeinformation(i.e.hourly
data)ofpollutantconcentration
waspublished.
WhatabouttheN95masks?
 Whatcanwedo?
Ascountry,bebetterpreparedwhenthesmokehaze
inevitablyreturn.

Inviteacademicinstitutions(e.g.NUS)tostudythesmokehaze
anditseconomic,social,environmentalandhealthcosts.

LearnfromSwedensexampleofsolving
acidrainbackin1970sand1980s.
HardRainProject

MediaandNGOcanhelptodisseminatethescientific
informationandraisepublicawareness.
Inconclusion:

Airqualityisanissue,evenin
Singapore.Andnotonlyduring
smokehazeevents.

ErikVelasco
evelasco@smart.mit.edu