‘Authorities have misled people’ about health peril of air pollution

[webfact]

‘Authorities have misled people’ about health peril of air pollution

By PATINYA SRISUPAMART 
THE NATION

 

 

A MEDICAL specialist has brought home the human cost of the air-pollution problem plaguing Thailand, stating yesterday that the mortality rate increased by 0.3 per cent for every 10 micrograms of small dust particles measuring 10 microns (PM10) in the air.
 

Professor Dr Chaicharn Pothirat, who leads a unit dealing with respiratory disorders and allergies at the Chiang Mai University’s Faculty of Medicine, highlighted the alarming statistic yesterday to bring attention to the ongoing air pollution. 

 

The information, he said, came from research conducted in Europe and the United States. 

 

“Developed nations will issue warnings and may even order evacuations if the PM10 amount ranges between 80 and 110 micrograms,” Chaicharn said. 

 

Yesterday, the PM10 level in Chiang Mai’s Muang district stood at about 114.75mg. 

 

In Thailand, the Pollution Control Department (PCD) still insists that up to 120mg of PM10 is safe. 

 

The PCD’s air-quality criteria also use particulate matters measuring 2.5 microns (PM2.5). If the PM2.5 amount is above 50mg per cubic metre of air, it is said to be beyond safe limits. The latest checks show that the amount of PM2.5 in Chiang Mai’s Muang district is 103.3mg per cubic metre. 

 

According to Chaicharn, developed nations have embraced guidelines of the World Health Organisation (WHO) that suggest PM10 should not exceed 50mg and PM2.5 should not exceed 20mg each day. 

 

“The current guidelines by Thai authorities have misled people into believing that air in their area is still good enough to live a normal life,” Chaicharn said. “In fact, when the PM10 amount exceeds the 50mg benchmark, there is a health risk to respiratory systems, hearts and brain blood vessels.” 

 

He added that staying indoors when air pollution is serious might not be safe either. 

 

A test at the Chiang Mai University found that the air quality inside a building, even in air-conditioned rooms, was hardly different from outside if people kept coming in and going out of the building. “When people frequently open and close doors, dust will also come in,” Chaicharn said. 

 

A Facebook user, whose account name is Kittipong Tongkatsu Teekaput, also warned people to think twice about wearing N95 respirator masks for outdoor exercise. These safety devices cover the nose and mouth, and help protect the wearer from breathing in hazardous substances such as small dust and mould.

 

However, the Facebook user tested the N95 while cycling in Chiang Mai and he found that his heart rate was much higher during the exercise and his cycling speed had significantly dropped. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30341446

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-03-22

[YetAnother]

26 minutes ago, webfact said:

“The current guidelines by Thai authorities have misled people into believing that air in their area is still good enough to live a normal life,” Chaicharn said. “In fact, when the PM10 amount exceeds the 50mg benchmark, there is a health risk to respiratory systems, hearts and brain blood vessels.” 

so, how did this happen ? developed nations have already done the work; thailand has seemingly lost the ability to comprehend and copy

[alant]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

“The current guidelines by Thai authorities have misled people into believing that air in their area is still good enough to live a normal life,” Chaicharn said.

Surprise surprise, take no notice of other studies there is no risk here... 

[Bob12345]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

However, the Facebook user tested the N95 while cycling in Chiang Mai and he found that his heart rate was much higher during the exercise and his cycling speed had significantly dropped. 

Thats surprising.

 

So if you obstruct your nose and mouth you have a harder time breathing resulting in a higher heart rate and less power output?

 

Is this guy up for a Nobel prize already or should he first publish the results of his current testing program where he is trying to determine if humans can breath underwater?

[peperobi]

 

"In Thailand, the Pollution Control Department (PCD) still insists that up to 120mg of PM10 is safe."

 

Are the Thai immune against that??? 

[zzidenn]

Whilst the rich and mighty sit in hepa airfiltered luxury residences, a few dead poor people don‘t really matter I guess. Thailand doesn’t need foreign data, since it‘s different and these things don‘t fall under th common sense of thainess

[Tarteso]

 

 

PCD?... Pollution UnControlled Departament? Insists still, we are safe. Definitely, these Thais laugh in your face. 

Edited March 22, 2018 by Tarteso

[Lupatria]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

The current guidelines by Thai authorities have misled people

...and they earned outstanding skills in misleading the people from decades long experiences in flood and drought related predictions and statements.

[DM07]

Wait...are you telling me, that Thai- government agencies lie to the people or that they have no clue what they are talking about?

Well...I am shocked!

[Ulic]

Careful, the government will not be pleased with someone exposing the dangers

while the government is doing nothing to curb the burning of rice straw. Also, it is

counterproductive to exercise outdoors while the pollution levels are so high.

Wait until the levels drop.

 

[Eligius]

This type of hiding the real health problems caused by air pollution - and not telling the public in a timely fashion that air pollution is hitting very unhealthy levels - is nothing short of criminal in my book. I personally am suffering from definite adverse effects from all this recent air pollution (which initially I was unaware of - as the 'authorities' never informed us of what was happening here in Bangkok). In fact, my throat has become so badly affected by the poisons allowed in the BKK air that I shall need to seek medical advice in the next day or two.

 

Thank you, caring junta! You do love humanity so much, don't you?!

 

Edited March 22, 2018 by Eligius

[RichardColeman]

If a man has to 'borrow' 25 watches to tell the time, don;t be surprised if it takes just as many copies of the evidence put in front of someone 25 times for them to act  

[SoilSpoil]

The government has no choice really. Trying to enforce the laws would expose a non functioning, criminal, police force. A can of worms too big to open. Also, the burning and clearing of fields, keeps production costs low and profits high. Who's ever cared about the human cost in corrupt 3rd world countries?

 

The only way forward is to educate the people. Start with your own group of friends, family or students. Talk about pm 10 and pm 2.5. Teach them how to find less biased information. We have seen a remarkable number of news articles on pm 2.5 this year.  

[grantbkk]

Well they tried seeding the air with more chemicals. What else can they do? The long term effects of air pollution are known the only thing not know is the death rate in Thailand due to pollution. Crippling illness can also be measured by developed countries. We have grown to expect coverups and blue sky (no pun intended) happy numbers from the government. However, you have to be blind not to see deadly pollution right in front of our faces. This is a dictatorship. Dictate. Remover older vehicles from the road, restrict burning and begin to monitor factories for death contributions. 

[farcanell]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

Authorities have misled people’.....

?????

the readers digest version.... 

[Jonmarleesco]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

In Thailand, the Pollution Control Department (PCD) still insists that up to 120mg of PM10 is safe. 

Perhaps they should go out and collect some samples, come back to the lab and personally test them for a few days, then try spouting the same BS. 

[JOC]

Chiang Mai according to TAT vs reality....

[GarryP]

A few years ago I recall reading that the incidence of lung cancer in Chiangmai was much higher than the national average. How true that is, I have no idea but if the air quality is the worst in the country, there could be some correlation. 

[mercman24]

oh no, they havent lied again, do they ever tell the truth,? i moved out of BANGKOK because of air pollution, causing my breathing problems, fine now, living by the sea

[fantom]

I have been following this topic for some time regularly checking air 'quality' in Chiang mai on aqicn.org. as well as using a PM 2.5 detector in my condo.

I have long had a theory that the bulk of the burning causing the pollution comes not from a few rice farmers burning stubble or hill farmers practicing slash and burn, but rather from the huge agri businesses mining corn and suger cane that burn vast quantities of by product. Of course they have an interest in raising the so called safe levels to a unique Thai definition as well as diverting attention away from themselves.

 

The Pollution Control Department is, in my opinion, an oxymoron and totally irresponsible not applying internationally recognised PM standards

[metisdead]

An offensive post has been removed as well as a reply. 

[Shaunduhpostman]

There's a lot of things I could say but won't, probably mostly obvious anyway. But, glad to see someone with some semblance of authority admitting they've been fudging things regarding the levels. I don't think there is a soul within the country who would be in the least surprised, but now maybe at some point another slowly taken step can be made to improve things an iota or two...well, you can kind of hope sort of...maybe...

[sead]

Jesu christ. They are exercising with masks lol. heavy breathing huh

[ChidlomDweller]

16 hours ago, webfact said:

A Facebook user, whose account name is Kittipong Tongkatsu Teekaput, also warned people to think twice about wearing N95 respirator masks for outdoor exercise. These safety devices cover the nose and mouth, and help protect the wearer from breathing in hazardous substances such as small dust and mould.

 

However, the Facebook user tested the N95 while cycling in Chiang Mai and he found that his heart rate was much higher during the exercise and his cycling speed had significantly dropped. 

Great reporting.  If it's on an authoritative site like Facebook who are we to question it? 

Edited March 22, 2018 by ChidlomDweller

[rickudon]

At least you have air quality monitoring. In the whole of Isaan, there is only one official AQI monitoring station, Khon kaen. Who knows what the levels are elsewhere in the region.

[Dap]

"Misled" (in this case) being the Thai version of ... lied!

Edited March 23, 2018 by Dap

[Justfine]

What is the pm measurement on cigarettes?

[Justfine]

"It's absolutely much more harmful to smoke even 1 cigarette a day compared to living in any city in the world. You can do the math yourself, read the studies yourself: a day in Beijing is equal only to 1/6 of one cigarette"

 

nothing to worry about.

[Justfine]

The average air pollution in Beijing is equivalent in health effects of every man woman and child smoking 4 cigarettes per day. On a bad pollution day, it is equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes per day.

 

another estimate oops

[fantom]

There are two 'misleading' aspects to the authoritie's information  provided by them to the public:

 

1. The Thai safe limit for pm 2.5 is held to be 50 when the internationally accepted safe limit is 20.

2. The readings from the government monitoring centres in Chiang Mai, when published, are several orders of magnitude  below the readings from the AQI sites.