Kids urged to wear masks as Bangkok air quality pollutes Children’s Day

[rooster59]

Kids urged to wear masks as Bangkok air quality pollutes Children’s Day

By THE NATION

 

 

Children in Bangkok should wear masks when they go outdoors, state authorities suggested after the capital’s air quality dropped below safety standards in over 50 areas on National Children’s Day.

 

 

On Saturday (January 11), the Air Quality and Noise Management Bureau of the Pollution Control Department reported on the website http://air4thai.pcd.go.th/ after its 7am reading from 72 stations in Bangkok and its suburbs that particulate matter less than 2.5 micrograms per cubic metre (PM2.5) averaged 38-92mcg per cubic metre in over 50 areas, exceeding the 50mcg per cubic metre air quality standard of the department.

 

The World Health Organisation prescribes PM2.5 levels at 25mcg per cubic metre in a 24-hour mean.

 

Several districts of Bangkok, Pathumthani, Samut Prakarn and Samut Sakhon provinces reported air quality as unhealthy for sensitive groups such as people with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly and children, and they have been urged to limit prolonged exertion. Areas along Din Daeng, Rama III, Samsen and Phetkasem roads were reported with levels of PM2.5 unhealthy for all groups.

 

 

The bureau has suggested that residents in polluted areas wear safety masks when engaging in outdoor activities. Since Saturday is National Children’s Day when many organisations have planned activities for young audiences, parents should take extra care of their children, the bureau said. Children must wear safety masks when staying outdoors and look out for symptoms such as coughing, difficulty in breathing and eye irritation, the bureau added.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30380401

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-01-11

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[trainman34014]

No worries; The Big Pumpkin has 'ordered' every department from here to the Moon to get the Smog stopped.  Watch this space !

[Assurancetourix]

In France this is called: compress on a wooden leg.
As long as the authorities do not hit the table with a big punch to put an end to automobile and industrial pollution, wearing or not wearing a mask will be useless.

[SoilSpoil]

18 minutes ago, Assurancetourix said:

In France this is called: compress on a wooden leg.
As long as the authorities do not hit the table with a big punch to put an end to automobile and industrial pollution, wearing or not wearing a mask will be useless.

Agricultural burning is the culprit, as half the country is facing severe air pollution.  

[Assurancetourix]

4 minutes ago, SoilSpoil said:

Agricultural burning is the culprit,

Especially in Bangkok ..

Is it a joke ?

[GeorgeCross]

42 minutes ago, SoilSpoil said:

Agricultural burning is the culprit, as half the country is facing severe air pollution.  

 

Quote

Bangkok air quality analysis and statistics

READ LESS 

Does Bangkok have air pollution?

 

Bangkok regularly has air pollution that is unhealthy for children, the elderly and people with respiratory and other health problems. At times it also crosses into unhealthy territory for the public at large.

 

Despite being a long-standing problem, Bangkok’s air pollution has only recently begun to enter the public’s consciousness. This awareness was sparked by some prolonged hazy spells that tested the public’s patience and pushed schools, organizations and individuals to start testing the air themselves. By January 2019, there were already more than 100 schools using air sensors. The growth in these non-governmental air monitoring stations gave more and more parents and Bangkok citizens real-time pollution data for the first time, revealing how poor the city’s air quality was.

 

The growing awareness led authorities to issue an unprecedented order to close nearly 450 schools for three days in January 2019 because of serious pollution that had persisted for weeks.

 

As of November 2019, more than 1,000 non-governmental sensors are providing granular air quality data in Bangkok. 

 

How bad is Bangkok’s air pollution?

 

While Bangkok can feel uncomfortably polluted because of fumes from heavy, slow-moving traffic, its air isn’t as bad as some other Asian capitals like Delhi, Beijing and Hanoi. It still isn’t healthy, though; Bangkok’s overall average air quality in 2017 and 2018 was moderate: 27.6 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³) in 2017 and 25.2 µg/m³ in 2018.

 

Air quality tends to be worse in winter months. In 2018, January and February saw averages of 41.2 µg/m³ and 48.6 µg/m³ respectively that were more than four times the World Health Organization guideline.

 

The good news is that Bangkok has more monitors reporting real-time air quality data than any other city in the world: more than 1,000. This has enabled residents to get timely, accurate and hyperlocal information about the air they are breathing – and take measures to protect themselves, such as wearing a mask or reducing outdoor exercise.

 

Where does Bangkok’s pollution come from?

 

Bangkok’s pollution mainly comes from vehicle fumes, construction, factories, and the burning of waste and crops. The pollution is made worse due to seasonal changes in weather patterns, with a phenomenon called thermal inversion that traps the pollution close to the ground, and little wind to disperse it.

 

How can Bangkok’s air pollution be reduced?

 

Raising public awareness of air pollution is a key step in solving the problem. Recent and easy access to air quality data has enabled individuals to take remedial action to protect themselves and advocate for better air. At the same time, the U.N. Environment Programme and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition are working with Thai authorities to tackle air pollution through initiatives such as raising vehicle emissions standards and turning Bangkok’s ubiquitous tuk-tuks (motorized rickshaws) electric.

 

[GeorgeCross]

cleanest Bangkok days over the last 2 months were on the new year break when there was hardly any people (or their cars) around

 

 

[SoilSpoil]

2 hours ago, Assurancetourix said:

Especially in Bangkok ..

Is it a joke ?

I wish it was a joke. There is almost as much smog in and outside the city. Check sites like Berkely, Airvisual ant the likes, to see that this is not a Bangkok problem. Thousands of fields on fire in Thailand and Cambodia are really the main source of pollution. Combine this with the millions (yes millions) of household fires around 6pm and there' your smog.

 

Even Phuket and Phang Nga have bad air today.

[SoilSpoil]

1 hour ago, GeorgeCross said:

cleanest Bangkok days over the last 2 months were on the new year break when there was hardly any people (or their cars) around

 

 

Farmers also take a break, and stop burning their fields during the new years break.

[30la]

The mask that we all know, is useless, would need a gas mask!
Strange, however, the Thai government counts road fatalities, smoking, cancer and alkohol but not the victims of the totally infested air.

[edwinchester]

Always the focus on Bangkok. Air quality here in rural Kanchanaburi is appalling and all the kids at my daughter's school seem to have eye irritation and runny noses because if it.

[SoilSpoil]

For the ignorant among us, who keep blaming traffic as main source of pm2.5, here the Nasa firemap if the last 24 hours. Its all about farmers.

 

 

[tomauasia]

6 years and planet of the apes General couldn't even remove old buses and demand police remove unroadworthy vehicles. He calls himself a good leader lol. A JOKE

[fantom]

7 hours ago, Assurancetourix said:

In France this is called: compress on a wooden leg.
As long as the authorities do not hit the table with a big punch to put an end to automobile and industrial pollution, wearing or not wearing a mask will be useless.

In Oz we say putting the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff instead of the top. Like the French version too.

 

I keep banging on about this but until there is some reduction in agricultural burning this problem will persist. The Firms map is frightening.

[sammieuk1]

Hang on a General PM will be along in the next 30 seconds and order it gone????

[Redline]

Great they care about the children so much as to ignore tackling the problem 

[samsensam]

 

the. masks. wont. work.

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-airpollution-masks/face-masks-available-to-consumers-may-be-ineffective-against-air-pollution-idUSKBN1I426I

[Ron jeremy]

Sad to see foreigners raising families here, and so blind as to the health of their children. Go out and play Joey, but wear your mask!

so sad!  

[hotchilli]

21 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Children in Bangkok should wear masks when they go outdoors, state authorities suggested after the capital’s air quality dropped below safety standards in over 50 areas on National Children’s Day.

Ok kids who's for jelly & ice-cream?

 

[herwin1234]

strange yet predictable ppl here blaming the governement. if you drive a car or motorcycle its best to shut your piehole with regards to this sad subject, unless you want to make yourself look like a hypocrite.

blaming the farmers is ridicilous. deadly air pollution is in the big cities with growing numbers of cars motorbikes, not in the countryside.

take responsibility get a bike.

[Krataiboy]

17 hours ago, SoilSpoil said:

For the ignorant among us, who keep blaming traffic as main source of pm2.5, here the Nasa firemap if the last 24 hours. Its all about farmers.

 

 

Interesting, especially all those fires raging in Cambodia. With the wind in the right (I mean wrong) direction, this could explain the dreadful air quality in Thai resorts like Hua Hina nd Cha Am on the opposite side of Gulf.

 

Right now, the PM2.5 level in Cha Am is almost DOUBLE the WHO recommended safety level - though there is, of course, no safe level for these tiny particles which can cause heart and lung disease many years after being ingested.

[CGW]

17 hours ago, SoilSpoil said:

For the ignorant among us, who keep blaming traffic as main source of pm2.5,

Now, now be nice ???? take the traffic out of the total AQ number and it will be much lower, the numbers always rise at "rush" hours, how is it that the AQ can still be bad when it isn't burning season?

[SoilSpoil]

7 hours ago, CGW said:

Now, now be nice ???? take the traffic out of the total AQ number and it will be much lower, the numbers always rise at "rush" hours, how is it that the AQ can still be bad when it isn't burning season?

The traditional 2 month burning season has expanded to a nearly year round burning season. Only in the rainy season the air will clear up.

 

Main culprits for the smog are the ever expanding sugar cane fields, corn in the mountains, and the 2 to 3 rice harvests per year instead of the traditional single harvest. 

 

Traffic or garbage burning are important contributors to air pollution, but not the main. Check the air quality in places like Kanchanaburi, Ko Chang, Pai, Mae Hon Son, etc. and you will understand its all about crop burning.

[CGW]

39 minutes ago, SoilSpoil said:

The traditional 2 month burning season has expanded to a nearly year round burning season. Only in the rainy season the air will clear up.

You live in a different Thailand to me, the one I live in the rainy season lasts + 6 months and the burning season lasts ~2 months max.

[lkv]

If you look at it in perspective over 72 hours you can see who the culprit(s) in the region is/are.

 

Edited January 12, 2020 by lkv

[BobbyL]

9 hours ago, herwin1234 said:

 

blaming the farmers is ridicilous. deadly air pollution is in the big cities with growing numbers of cars motorbikes, not in the countryside.

take responsibility get a bike.

That clearly isn't true. Large parts of the country have high AQI, even in rural places. 

 

Bangkok hasn't been the highest on here all day - http://aqicn.org/map/thailand/