Smog in Bangkok serious threat to public health: experts

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

A snapshot of BKK as of noon today:

 

 

http://aqicn.org/city/thailand/bangkok/chulalongkorn-hospital/

 

BTW, it's important to keep clear the difference and distinction between the above numbers reported in the screen capture, which are U.S. AQI values... a kind of standardized scale for reporting air pollution.

 

Vs. the actual micrograms per cubic liter measurements, which operate on an entirely different scale.

 

The 151 AQI number for the Chula Hospital sensor above equals a micrograms of PM2.5 level of 55.5.

 

Right now in my unfiltered/closed up living room in central BKK, my PM2.5 sensor is showing a micrograms reading of 46... which would equal an AQI reading of 127, orange, unhealthy for sensitive groups.

 

The US EPA site for converting between AQI and micrograms, or in the opposite direction, is here:

 

https://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.calculator

 

Sometimes folks tend to get confused and start comparing micrograms data vs AQI data, which you can't directly compare...

 

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

BTW, despite what some of the satellite fire maps show, I'm not finding any clear evidence to suggest that BKK's current smog siege is originating in Cambodia... or in the north of Thailand due to burning, as sometimes is the case.

 

Most of the rest of the surrounding areas aren't showing readings nearly as high. And yet BKK's readings have been very high even during the overnight hours when presumably construction and traffic activities are less...  So it's a bit of a mystery... apart from the weather conditions....

 

 

 

https://www.airvisual.com/cambodia

 

And the north and surrounding areas from AQICN.org:

 

[ExpatOilWorker]

4 hours ago, SoilSpoil said:

Firms Fire map

Nothing on play store by that name. Any other name it goes under?

[DaveInSukhumvit]

BIG Thanks to webfact (initial post), TallGuyJohnInBKK (Burning data & aqicn.org & clarification), SoilSpoil (firemap - new to me), Tara@Greenpeace (especially #2 burning power plants), Petrus (web link)

I have been watching air quality for several months.  Many times the air gets unusually bad after dark and clears up during the day.  This is evident on TallGuy's "161 Unhealthy" red bar chart above.  It is also evident in my "160 Unhealthy" chart below from a few weeks ago.  Note that NO2 and SO2 go correlate by going "high" at the same time as PM2.5 goes "high".  Wind speed tends to be near zero - so not blowing in from China or...

The mystery is why does air quality get bad after midnight?  Looking at Major Sources of PM2.5 in Thailand.  Transportation (Car and Bus Traffic) is low, Electricity Generation demand is low (eg BTS & MRT are not running). Manufacturing factories are somewhat idle, Households are asleep.  Only Burning remains. 
 

[tkenn]

I can't read this article, the smog in Rayong is so thick I can't see my computer screen!!!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

20 minutes ago, DaveInSukhumvit said:

The mystery is why does air quality get bad after midnight?  Looking at Major Sources of PM2.5 in Thailand.  Transportation (Car and Bus Traffic) is low, Electricity Generation demand is low (eg BTS & MRT are not running). Manufacturing factories are somewhat idle, Households are asleep.  Only Burning remains.

 

Some folks here often like to blame everything on vehicle pollution, and while that's an easy target, nothing suggests that's the main cause of our problems, even in BKK...

 

Look at the graphic below of the past 48 hours for PM2.5 in BKK. The levels remain absolutely high even during the overnight hours when traffic surely is much less than rush hours....  There's no peaks and valleys that correspond to traffic patterns as a driving force in air pollution levels here.

 

And if you look at today, levels were pretty consistently high from midnight all thru the early morning hours until midday on a Monday, when they started dropping off in the afternoon. Again, nothing there that would suggest any correlation to vehicle traffic patterns.

 

 

[totally thaied up]

36 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

And if you look at today, levels were pretty consistently high from midnight all thru the early morning hours until midday on a Monday, when they started dropping off in the afternoon. Again, nothing there that would suggest any correlation to vehicle traffic patterns.

Looking at those Fire Maps, over the last seven days a lot of burning has been done. Where would all that smoke go? Isn't that burn-off smoke supposed to be the bad PM2.5 particles (sorry if I am wrong but I am trying to learn)? 

[ExpatOilWorker]

9 minutes ago, totally thaied up said:

Looking at those Fire Maps, over the last seven days a lot of burning has been done. Where would all that smoke go? Isn't that burn-off smoke supposed to be the bad PM2.5 particles (sorry if I am wrong but I am trying to learn)? 

But interesting, we had 4,191 fires in mid December (https://fires.globalforestwatch.org/report/index.html#aoitype=GLOBAL&reporttype=globalcountryreport&country=Thailand&dates=fYear-2018!fMonth-12!fDay-13!tYear-2018!tMonth-12!tDay-20) and "only" 700 fires now in mid January (http://fires.globalforestwatch.org/report/index.html#aoitype=GLOBAL&reporttype=globalcountryreport&country=Thailand&dates=fYear-2019!fMonth-1!fDay-6!tYear-2019!tMonth-1!tDay-13)

 

Still pollution feel worse now.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

17 minutes ago, totally thaied up said:

Looking at those Fire Maps, over the last seven days a lot of burning has been done. Where would all that smoke go? Isn't that burn-off smoke supposed to be the bad PM2.5 particles (sorry if I am wrong but I am trying to learn)? 

 

My comment you're responding to is on the issue of vehicle pollution.  But more broadly, I looked at and posted the available PM2.5 readings for locations in Cambodia earlier today, and they were all good, pretty much the same like CM right now...  So if the BKK issue is coming from Cambodia right now, you'd at least expect the Cambodia sensors to show high/higher levels as well... And they're not....

 

[fruitman]

4 hours ago, Henrik Andersen said:

You want Chinese to come and you will get their air pollution too 

it will probably just get worse and worse and it is not only Bkk but Chonburi yajong etc 

Well for Chinese from their biggest cities the Thai air is still clean...No foreigner will spend his holiday in this filthy smog so Thai air can put more smaller seats in their planes from now on.

[puukao]

I'm thinking to move to a country where i have to monitor the air quality every day....am i smart or dumb?

 

oh, i need 10,000 face masks.....  am i dumb or smart?  should i maybe think why i'm living somewhere where i need to wear a face mask?

 

my kids' lungs are now black... am i a good parent?

 

 

[JimmyJ]

It's conceivable that there is some sort of industrial pollution secretly being done at night in Bangkok that would be shut down if it was visible during the day.

 

That's my first choice right now based on the stats - Thai and Cambodian - that you guys have introduced.

Edited January 14, 2019 by JimmyJ

[Jimdandy]

How does Thailand qualify to be among the top 10 retirement places in the world with pollution as severe as it is in Bangkok? Could it mean that somebody or some agency is looking the other way when it come to monitoring air quality, in order to make money? Been coming here for many years and I have never seen it this bad. Los Angeles smog pales in comparison.

 

There are cities in India and other countries that really have horrible pollution (Beijing, hint, hint). Maybe that's it! Thailand's smog problem is compared to a city with a worse record, instead of a global standard that considers health, cost of living and access to services to rank retirement.

[NRGF]

We flew into Don Muang from Phuket this afternoon and could clearly see fields being burnt of just a couple of kilometres from the airport, is there really no control?

[losworld]

5 hours ago, tkenn said:

I can't read this article, the smog in Rayong is so thick I can't see my computer screen!!!

rayong and bkok are loaded with unregulated polluting factories many from china and the govt recently announced more will be arriving.  it will only get worse...

[watgate]

Today 1/14/19 Khon Kaen had an AQI of 834 which is dangerously off the charts. Does anyone know why their air is so dreadfully unhealthy today?

[DaveInSukhumvit]

2 hours ago, NRGF said:

We flew into Don Muang from Phuket this afternoon and could clearly see fields being burnt of just a couple of kilometres from the airport, is there really no control?

Interesting observation NRGF, thanks.  A couple of fires seems to track the daily map below.  Blue "circle" is DMK area.

 

[Imkah]

14 hours ago, bbi1 said:

Why so many fires everywhere? Is there an out of control bushfire everywhere?

What a boring attempt at a joke.  If you believe smog is of no significance and want to make an ironic remark, more knowledge and a wee bit less ignorance just might help.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

36 minutes ago, watgate said:

Today 1/14/19 Khon Kaen had an AQI of 834 which is dangerously off the charts. Does anyone know why their air is so dreadfully unhealthy today?

 

I don't even see any air pollution sensor stations/readings in most of Isaan, including KK...  Not from the Thai PCD, and not from AQICN.org either. Below is the Thai PCD sensors map.

 

[elliss]

12 hours ago, newnative said:

Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.  Always just talk. Talk is cheap. Meanwhile, nothing in the least bit meaningful being done.

             

 

12 hours ago, masuk said:

Chiang Mai has 3 months of pollution every year.  Nothing is done to reduce or stop it.

Medical experts say that pollution such as this can cause heart problems.

Remember that crop residue also contains pesticide residues.

Tourists will stop coming and then something might be done!

             Reduce  Bar  fines , 

 something needs to be done , to encourage eco friendly tourism. 555

Edited January 14, 2019 by elliss

[overherebc]

Almost no wind now or on the forecast for a couple of days at least, and very likely at this time of year temperature inversion in the morning traps all the atmospheric crap and stops it rising up.

A large city wide pool of air cools at night more than air higher up so it just sits there.

The photo attached shows the effect.

Going to be a few more days before it clears when some kind of weather front comes through.

Edited January 14, 2019 by overherebc

[cncltd1973]

The surgical style masks are useless to the fine particles of pollution. Wetting them will help, but it's still the wrong mask.

3M makes a similarly disposable mask to filter the microns of pollution, but I haven't seen them anywhere in Thailand.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, cncltd1973 said:

The surgical style masks are useless to the fine particles of pollution. Wetting them will help, but it's still the wrong mask.

3M makes a similarly disposable mask to filter the microns of pollution, but I haven't seen them anywhere in Thailand.

 

3M N95 masks are available here, you just have to look around a bit to find them. HomePro stores sometimes have them. Generally, not available at your routine supermarkets, drug stores, superstores...

 

Lazada TH is probably a good all purpose source. Do a search for 3M and N95. Models 9010 and 8210 are often available there.

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/catalog/?q=3M+N95&_keyori=ss&from=input&spm=a2o4m.home.search.go.1125719cIFaST6

 

3M also has their own online store via Lazada with a selections of their masks available there:

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/3m-official-online-store/?langFlag=en&q=N95&from=wangpu&pageTypeId=2

 

The VFlex 9105 model offered there has gotten good reviews from users here in the past in terms of wear comfort.

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[johwel]

I used to cycle to work with a white polyester pollution mask. The mask got a black spot at the inhale area. Once I reached my destination, I used to backwash my lungs, by inhaling with some resistance like when the nose is slightly closed. Not sure if it would work but it did at least psychologically.

[brewsterbudgen]

No wonder medical insurance is required with expats.

It isn't, but it should be.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[DaveInSukhumvit]

10 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

I don't even see any air pollution sensor stations/readings in most of Isaan, including KK...  Not from the Thai PCD, and not from AQICN.org either. Below is the Thai PCD sensors map.

 

>> Thanks for map TallGuyJohn.  Please share a link if you can.  I looked on PCD website and could not find.

Most pharmacies in BKK have a 3M N9501 mask for about 35 baht.  They test well if you seal against nose.
 

[bbi1]

10 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

3M N95 masks are available here, you just have to look around a bit to find them. HomePro stores sometimes have them. Generally, not available at your routine supermarkets, drug stores, superstores...

 

Lazada TH is probably a good all purpose source. Do a search for 3M and N95. Models 9010 and 8210 are often available there.

 

What's the difference between the different 3M models? Are the 9010 and 8210 models the only ones we should be looking to buy? What's the difference with the respirator models as they are more expensive, better protection?

 

Also on Lazada there seems to be some cheap 3M masks available in a pack of 10 or 20. Do people sell fake 3M masks on that site or are they all authentic?

Edited January 15, 2019 by bbi1

[DaveInSukhumvit]

Good mask article here: https://goo.gl/Gz6vJ1
CDC Test results here for some masks: https://goo.gl/5h4FN2
Good video on what to know before buying mask: https://goo.gl/4xh7Bc

 

[mserror]

Note that long-term use of masks can induce emphysema.

 

Emphysema risk is reduced by using masks with exhalation valves.

 

(Risk is eliminated using forced-air equipment.)

Edited January 15, 2019 by mserror

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, bbi1 said:

What's the difference between the different 3M models? Are the 9010 and 8210 models the only ones we should be looking to buy? What's the difference with the respirator models as they are more expensive, better protection?

 

Also on Lazada there seems to be some cheap 3M masks available in a pack of 10 or 20. Do people sell fake 3M masks on that site or are they all authentic?

 

The key thing you want in a mask for dealing with PM2.5 here is that it be N95 certified. Any 3M model that's N95 certified should be OK. However, not ALL 3M masks are N95 certified. So you need to be careful to choose a model/version that is.

 

Not sure what you mean by "respirator models"... Some of the newer and more expensive 3M models have what's called an exhale valve on the front to ease the outflow of air when you breathe out. That's basically aimed at making the mask more comfortable to wear. But as I said, they're not as common here, and usually more expensive than the regular non-valve 3M masks.

 

Re Lazada, 3M does sell their masks in boxed packages (I have a couple versions at home ordered from the U.S.)  Then as far as authenticity is concerned, FWIW, on Lazada, 3M does have its own online store as part of the Lazada site. So I'd say buying from them there is probably a pretty good assurance of authenticity.

 

BTW, other than the models I already mentioned, someone asked a similar question in a separate thread that's running right now just on masks, and I was reminded that the 3M Lazada site also sells a model of mask called "V-Flex" model 9105 that others here used last year and found comfortable. (Items there may or may not be in stock...)

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/shop/3m-official-online-store/?spm=a2o4m.pdp.seller.1.791a39aaptQm9R&itemId=263480139&channelSource=pdp