Good morning. Happy to see a pollution post pinned to the Bangkok forum. For anyone looking to get educated on the topic I do recommend reading through the original post. It includes info on hand held monitors, air purifiers, home made purifiers, etc:
Air pollution world wide is a massive problem. It is the number one cause of death by association. It is estimated that 95% of the world breaths unhealthy air. With forest fires getting worse each year it is really becoming a global epidemic. To make matters worse, the particles from air pollution actually block the UV from the sun and are the only reason the earth has not heated up to levels that would kill most living things on earth, so without it we would be even worse off.
The green, yellow, orange, red, etc. color codes which come from the Chinese government are not very accurate. Keep in mind the smaller/weaker your body the more air pollution impacts you. Children, elderly and people with illness are impacted more. Also keep in mind there are two different measurements for air pollution (µg/m3) and (AQI). Basically if the air is not green you should not be outside for more than an hour. Thailand averages approx double the safe limit by hour and by 24-hour:
WHO Annual mean 10µg/m3 (42 AQI)
WHO 24-hour mean 25µg/m3 (78 AQI)
Thailand Annual mean 25µg/m3 (78 AQI)
Thailand 24-hour mean 50µg/m3 (136 AQI)
The air in Bangkok and pollution in general sucks and is an epidemic issue. In addition to air pollution, the construction still uses asbestos, in addition to all the other dusty byproducts and many construction sites do not use proper covering. The majority of fruit and veggies in Thailand are not safe to eat because of illegal pesticide use (links below if interested). The tap water is filled with heavy metals. Thailand is not a healthy place to live if you are not careful.
Monitoring the air daily is a must. Air purifiers inside are a must. Proper masks outside when the air is bad is a must. Sourcing your veggies/fruit from a trusted source or at least washing them in vinegar or baking soda is a must. Purifying or better yet distilling your water is a must, or using bottled water which has its own issues.
Air here is actually bad year round, it just gets dispersed naturally for 6-9 months of the year. The reason the air gets worse at night and better in the afternoon is the temperature. When the temp is cooler the pollution builds up. The reason the air gets worse in Oct-Mar is cooler weather, less or no rain, less or no wind and of course more burning. Also it is worse during burning season, which happens to be during the cooler months, however garbage burning is year round, along with smoke from street food.
The primary source of the air pollution in Thailand is open burning, accounting for over approx 60%. Additional sources are Manufacturing Industries (approx 17%), Transportation (approx 10%), Electricity Generation (approx 8%), Household/Businesses (approx 5%). In Bangkok cars make up a much larger percentage but this data is not available as far as I know.
Thailand also gets a fair amount of air pollution blowing in from China, India, Vietnam, etc.
As far as anyone can tell, nothing is going to be done anytime soon to address the air pollution issues in Thailand, or globally for that matter.
Other counter measures, broccoli, broccoli sprouts, broccoli sprouts extract, blueberries, etc.
Bangkok Air Pollution 2020
in Bangkok
Posted · Edited by JimShorts
Good morning. Happy to see a pollution post pinned to the Bangkok forum. For anyone looking to get educated on the topic I do recommend reading through the original post. It includes info on hand held monitors, air purifiers, home made purifiers, etc:
https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1021518-bangkok-air-pollution/
Helpful sources up front:
Best air pollution app:
https://www.airvisual.com
AQI Calculator:
https://aqicn.org/calculator/
Foods to counter air pollution (broccoli prices are going to go up now):
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/best-food-to-counter-the-effects-of-air-pollution/
Air pollution world wide is a massive problem. It is the number one cause of death by association. It is estimated that 95% of the world breaths unhealthy air. With forest fires getting worse each year it is really becoming a global epidemic. To make matters worse, the particles from air pollution actually block the UV from the sun and are the only reason the earth has not heated up to levels that would kill most living things on earth, so without it we would be even worse off.
The green, yellow, orange, red, etc. color codes which come from the Chinese government are not very accurate. Keep in mind the smaller/weaker your body the more air pollution impacts you. Children, elderly and people with illness are impacted more. Also keep in mind there are two different measurements for air pollution (µg/m3) and (AQI). Basically if the air is not green you should not be outside for more than an hour. Thailand averages approx double the safe limit by hour and by 24-hour:
WHO Annual mean 10µg/m3 (42 AQI)
WHO 24-hour mean 25µg/m3 (78 AQI)
Thailand Annual mean 25µg/m3 (78 AQI)
Thailand 24-hour mean 50µg/m3 (136 AQI)
The air in Bangkok and pollution in general sucks and is an epidemic issue. In addition to air pollution, the construction still uses asbestos, in addition to all the other dusty byproducts and many construction sites do not use proper covering. The majority of fruit and veggies in Thailand are not safe to eat because of illegal pesticide use (links below if interested). The tap water is filled with heavy metals. Thailand is not a healthy place to live if you are not careful.
Monitoring the air daily is a must. Air purifiers inside are a must. Proper masks outside when the air is bad is a must. Sourcing your veggies/fruit from a trusted source or at least washing them in vinegar or baking soda is a must. Purifying or better yet distilling your water is a must, or using bottled water which has its own issues.
Air here is actually bad year round, it just gets dispersed naturally for 6-9 months of the year. The reason the air gets worse at night and better in the afternoon is the temperature. When the temp is cooler the pollution builds up. The reason the air gets worse in Oct-Mar is cooler weather, less or no rain, less or no wind and of course more burning. Also it is worse during burning season, which happens to be during the cooler months, however garbage burning is year round, along with smoke from street food.
The primary source of the air pollution in Thailand is open burning, accounting for over approx 60%. Additional sources are Manufacturing Industries (approx 17%), Transportation (approx 10%), Electricity Generation (approx 8%), Household/Businesses (approx 5%). In Bangkok cars make up a much larger percentage but this data is not available as far as I know.
Thailand also gets a fair amount of air pollution blowing in from China, India, Vietnam, etc.
As far as anyone can tell, nothing is going to be done anytime soon to address the air pollution issues in Thailand, or globally for that matter.
Other counter measures, broccoli, broccoli sprouts, broccoli sprouts extract, blueberries, etc.
Additional sources:
Air pollution blocks UV:
https://qsun.co/is-it-true-that-air-pollution-absorbs-uv-rays/
WHO infographics:
https://www.who.int/airpollution/infographics/en/
https://www.who.int/phe/infographics/air-pollution/en/
Unsafe food in Thailand:
https://www.thethailandlife.com/truth-about-pesticides-thailand
Air pollution Thailand:
https://www.thethailandlife.com/air-pollution-thailand
Greenpeace info on Thailand:
https://greenpeace.or.th/s/right-to-clean-air/PM2.5CityRankingsREV.pdf