Air Pollution In Bangkok Has Reached Critical Level

[MaiChai]

I first spent time in Bangkok 15 years ago and it was permanently in a polluted fog. We don't get that anymore, so the situation has improved. If you are close to a busy road you do get a lot of pollution; however if you are end of a long soi it can feel like you are in the country. However I still can't used to black feet; even when living at the end of the long soi! The other thing I find really disgusting is black water canals and the stuff floating in them. These are in effect open sewers.

The problem with Bangkok is lack of decent planning, few green areas/parks, lack of sidewalks and using them to produce fast food (barbeques, etc). Also lax enforcement of regulations and corruption. Now we have the new evil: condos housing thousands more people in areas that don't have the infrastructure to support them. All of these issues just don't happen in societies where laws and regulations are enforced.

[WilliaminBKK]

I lived in Manila and I go to Bangkok for fresh air, it is the one thing I notice right away how clean the air is and how I breath so much better.

[Jogden]

Have these people EVER looked at what causes a lot of the pollution? Cars that sit for 20 minutes do to the stupidity of the people changing the lights are a great contributor....

5555555 Why should they do anything? It's not a money earner just pushing the buttons.

[mommysboy]

I lived in Manila and I go to Bangkok for fresh air, it is the one thing I notice right away how clean the air is and how I breath so much better.

That doesn't negate the fact that it is a problem here. It's probably worse in a number of places in China too. I don't really see your point. Bad is bad.

Perhaps you're right on the outskirts, I don't think you would be breathing so clearly in the city in all honesty.

I don't find it as dirty as a few years ago away from the main roads, but smog is colour less, and I think the really dangerous stuff has very small particles that couldn't be seen.

In the end it is about what is happening to people isn't it? It's bad, even the authorities admit to it, and people are still arguing the toss! Probably the same people who wanted to lynch the smokers for smoking in a pub.

[webfact]

Pollution level is dangerous, PCD warns

By The Nation

The dust particle level in Bangkok has exceeded safety levels and drastic measures are required to tackle the problem and other conditions harmful to people, the Pollution Control Department said on Tuesday.

Citing statistics compiled over 13 years dating to 1997, deputy PCD director-general Wijarn Simachaya said dust particles measured in Bangkok smaller than 10 microns had reached an average of 55.3 micrograms, exceeding the safely level of 50mg.

The areas of greatest risk to public health were Din Daeng, Chulalongkorn Hospital intersection, the five-tier Lat Phrao junction and Chok Chai 4 area (Soi Lat Phrao 53).

Noise levels also exceeded safely levels by an unspecified amount, while toxic fumes from the internal combustion of car engines reached 3.6 mg per cubic metre, well over the safety level of 1.7 mg, Wijarn said.

The PCD and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration are jointly working on a four-year project beginning next year to tackle all man-made environmental problems in the capital and large cities.

Wijarn said the plan would be the first, concrete and most practical effort ever put in place.

Speaking at a Bangkok seminar yesterday, Suthin Yoosuk, an adviser to the National Environment Board, said motorcycles with two-stroke engines and substandard or poorly-maintained public buses were the two greatest sources of toxic fumes. He blamed poor enforcement of existing regulations as the main reason for such concerns continued.

Suthin said a government subsidy was needed to force people to buy new vehicles so owners of old taxis, buses, or two-stroke motorcycles would abandon their vehicles.

-- The Nation 2011-02-03

[Thaddeus]

Suthin said a government subsidy was needed to force people to buy new vehicles so owners of old taxis, buses, or two-stroke motorcycles would abandon their vehicles.

-- The Nation 2011-02-03

What are the odds on him having an interest in a motorcycle dealership.

[Credo]

The lead that is ingested by children seems to be recycled. It ends up in their hind quarters!

I moved to another district in Bangkok, which is less developed. There is still pollution, but I have noticed that in the house I now have dust. The previous area, it wasn't dust, it was a greasy film that covered everything. I could never dust things off, everything had to be washed off.

[pogal]

We have2 of these air filters outside my apartment and I have seen them change it morning and night. Its SOLID black carbon. I see the new sheet of filter paper being put in an wonder how it could ever collect that much carbon in half a day! Its really really scary to think that that is going through our lungs.

And I wonder that 50micrograms is international limits? It still seems way too dangerous.

The human body is surely an amazing thing if we can filter all that carbon everyday of our lives in this horridly polluted city.

I used to laugh at people who wore masks around the city but I'm sure they will live longer than me now...

[tigermonkey]

Living off Soi 4, Nana for going on 2 years. It's near the freeway and I addressed at least the dust pollution by the following:

1) Sealed all doors with weather stripping and keep them closed as much as possible.

2) Converted an evaporative cooler to be a crude air filter and placed in balcony window, intake side on balcony.

Runs, filters 24/7 unless too hot outside. If too hot outside, switch to A/C mode (4, below)

3) Crude air filter is used to keep a positive, clean-air pressure on room as well as bring cooler air from outside.

4) In A/C mode, although not used much this winter, ALL external openings are closed, installed augmenting filters

on A/C room unit evaporator.

Did it help the dust levels? A little, but I feel the approach is sound: Allow only cleaned air into the room so that when

doors/windows are temporarily opened, the room's positive pressure prevents unclean air from entering.

Nice idea. A suggestion for you would be to look for large area pleated HEPA air filters to place after the air has gone through your "crude" air filter. In America such filters are available such that they fit within about a 2x2 foot box that is about six inches thick. But since the filter media is pleated like an accordion the actual surface area is over 160 square feet.

For the best effect use a glass filter media (= ordinary furnace media) as the first (outside filter). This is generally fiberglass, and picks up the dust that makes the bottom of your feet black. This dust is esthetically offensive but most of it is greater than 10 microns and such dust in readily "cleared" from the lungs since rapid moving cilia (imagine squid tentacles rapidly moving but always moving things in one direction) in the lungs and the production of over a liter of mucus a day move this sort of dust out of the lungs rather rapidly. (Note: tobacco smoking anesthetizes the cilia and hinders particle clearing, probably a major reason for increased lung cancer in smokers).

A cloth (=organic fibers) that would resemble a surgeon's mask should be the next line of defense. This filter also will not collect particles less than 10 micons, but it is more likely to collect the 10-100 micron sized particles that are not particularly dangerous but would rapidly clog a HEPA filter. Being organic it serves another important purpose: Ozone molecules that touch organic material instantly react with said media destroying the ozone. Reducing ozone in the home environment is a very good thing.

The use of a HEPA "after filter" of large surface area then will stop 99.9% of the remaining particles in the 0.5micron to the ~10 micron range. These are the most dangerous because their size allows very deep penetration into the alveoli of the lungs and the cilia have difficulty removing them. So this is the particle range that is most important to remove. Take for instance an asbestos fiber that is 90microns, and another that is 2 microns in length, produced, for instance from an older brake pad. The 90 micron fiber is likely to be washed out of the lung and moved out of the body via feces. The 2 microm fiber is far more likely to get "stuck" deep within the alveoli increasing the risk of lung cancer.

I am surprised that such "window" units do not exist in Thailand and I would think that there would be a demand for them (though not a huge one) especially if, as in your case, you are creating a "positive air pressure," within the living space.

In Chiang Mai I have never seen what appears to be a HEPA filter on someone, they do exist, and always have a deformable nose piece (one way of telling that it's probably a respirator and not a mere dust mask). I see police, and people shopping with "dust masks" and "surgeon's masks," but I doubt that many understand their function. These masks are virtually useless at filtering the important dust (i.e. dust smaller than 100 microns) and their function is to reduce "droplet production" which can transfer virus or bacteria and infect others within a 2-3meter distance.

Though these masks may get impressively "blackened" by large particle pollution, they virtually do nothing for the dangerous <10 micron sized particles. Is there a source for "N95" masks in Thailand? 3M makes one type, and there are a few others. These masks remove 95% of particles whose size are less than 0.5 micron. This is what one should be wearing when there is a reported increase in air pollution in the 10micron particle size.

Note for the curious: Most believe that HEPA stands for High Efficiency Particulate Air filter. Actually that is close, it stands for High Efficiency Particulate Absolute air filter.

N95 masks are available at the dispensaries of most major hospitals . Some will sell to you directly, and some will want a note or scrip from a resident doctor. In Chiang Mai they have lots at Maharaj Hospital --- only myself and two of the doctors on staff use them. They are the only mask which will filter particles as small as virus particles ( virions). The 3M catalogue number is 1870.