Chiang Rai Smog Reaches Critical Level

[webfact]

Chiang Rai smog reaches critical level

Ekapong Praditpong

Warattaya Chailanka

The Nation

The Chiang Rai Public Health Office has handed out more than 500,000 masks for residents to protect themselves from the dangerous smog.

CHIANG RAI: -- "The problem has reached a critical level," Chiang Rai Governor Thanin Supasaeng said yesterday, adding that many people were suffering from respiratory diseases.

Monitoring devices showed the amount of small dust particles or particulate matter of PM10 in size in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district had soared to 323.4 micrograms per cubic metre of air yesterday, up from 305.6 micrograms a day earlier.

For people's health, each cubic metre of air should contain no more than 120mcg of small dust particles.

Monwipa Sirihorachai, a public health official in Chiang Mai, said the number of patients with smogrelated symptoms had jumped significantly last month since the smog blanketed many provinces in the North, including Chiang Mai. Some of the most common ailments are conjunctivitis, asthma, allergies, skin inflammation, respiratory disorders and bronchitis.

"The number of patients with smogrelated problems has jumped to 92,214 last month from 44,313 in the same period last year," Monwipa said.

She added that pollution was worst between noon and 2.30pm, and urged people to stay indoors during those hours. "If you do need to go out, please wear long sleeves and masks," she suggested.

In Chiang Mai, the amount of small dust particles ranged between 146.81mcg and 168.05mcg per cubic metre of air.

Tak was another province suffering from bad pollution problems, with the amount of PM10 particles standing at around 277.5mcg per cubic metre of air. The amount of PM10 particles in Phayao, Mae Hong Son, Phrae and Lampang was at 250.2mcg, 220.1mcg, 190.9mcg and 182.8mcg respectively.

In Nan, the amount of small dust particles hovered at around 166.1mcg per cubic metre of air and in Lamphun the amount reached 150mcg.

The Pollution Control Department said such a high level of small dust particles in the air was clearly a health threat and urged relevant agencies to enforce strict regulations preventing people from lighting unnecessary fires.

-- The Nation 2012-03-03

[woralak]

The Pollution Control Department said such a high level of small dust particles in the air was clearly a health threat and urged relevant agencies to enforce strict regulations preventing people from lighting unnecessary fires.

Thats a laugh

[villagefarang]

Clearly all the fires set daily in our village must be “necessary”.

[rmacdon61]

On our Village PA system, it was announced all burning must stop and a fine of 500baht for non-compliance. At least they see it as an issue. What ever is done is "up to them" now.

[Garry]

I talked to my wife this morning and the air quality supposedly is not too bad over there way.I would imagine its more luck of the weather: prevailing winds, more than anything.

[villagefarang]

I talked to my wife this morning and the air quality supposedly is not too bad over there way.I would imagine its more luck of the weather: prevailing winds, more than anything.

Or it is the difference in perspective between Thais and Farangs.

[villagefarang]

On our Village PA system, it was announced all burning must stop and a fine of 500baht for non-compliance. At least they see it as an issue. What ever is done is "up to them" now.

I remember listening to a similar announcement one year as I watched close to a dozen fires being lit out in the fields. Often those announcements are interpreted as I better hurry up and burn while I still can.

[Garry]

I talked to my wife this morning and the air quality supposedly is not too bad over there way.I would imagine its more luck of the weather: prevailing winds, more than anything.

Or it is the difference in perspective between Thais and Farangs.

True, but my wife has known me long enough that she generally understands my view on air quality, to what is acceptable and what isn't. More so when taking note of family ailments. My girls don't haven't stuffy sinuses at the moment, which they did have last week but the air quality has improved somewhat on the whim of the weather. Hopefully the weather conditions will hold up for our area, but I doubt they will.

Edited March 3, 2012 by Garry

[lannaman]

Good decision to postpone our monthly bike ride this Sunday. I took a half hour ride on Monday - had stinging eyes and sore throat, now the smog is worse.

[puipuitom]

I import already since 1994 food products from Thailand to Western Europe.

Already the first retail organisations insist on my declaration, no products and ingredients are from Chaing Rai area ( sure, everybody here understands the difference between Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai ? ? Of course not )

Go on like this Thailand, and your agro business - what is not already taken over by Southern China like baby corn, bamboo shoots, mango slices, lychess, longans, papaya, pineapple, soya sauce, noodles) - disappears towards Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Birma, and India.

One advantage: you then will have enouigh time to pray in temple.

Edited March 3, 2012 by puipuitom

[belg]

i hope it were N95 masks, because those ridicule tissue masks are... worthless

[woralak]

On our Village PA system, it was announced all burning must stop and a fine of 500baht for non-compliance. At least they see it as an issue. What ever is done is "up to them" now.

Hi Bob, i remember a few years back when they had to close CM and CR airports, the fine at that time was 2000 baht but the burning continued, the government wont enforce the fine becuase their to blame for a lot of this, you just have to look at all the rubish tips that burn 24/7, it is what it is and it will never change !.

[jsflynn603]

I import already since 1994 food products from Thailand to Western Europe.

Already the first retail organisations insist on my declaration, no products and ingredients are from Chaing Rai area ( sure, everybody here understands the difference between Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai ? ? Of course not )

Go on like this Thailand, and your agro business - what is not already taken over by Southern China like baby corn, bamboo shoots, mango slices, lychess, longans, papaya, pineapple, soya sauce, noodles) - disappears towards Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Birma, and India.

One advantage: you then will have enouigh time to pray in temple.

I'm a bit confused puipuitom. You export agricultural products from Thailand to Western Europe, ok. But why would Western Europe ban products from Chang Rai and allow products from Chaing Mai? And does this relate to the haze problem? I realize that the impetus for burning in many cases is to force bamboo to send up new shoots, and chronologically spaced burning allows for sequential harvest of the shoots to be sold.

If burning were to be stopped, the production of bamboo shoots for export would drop dramatically. Puipuitom are you commenting in relation to the necessity of burning as related to the product you sell? Does Western Europe ban Chiang Rai products because of burning?

This would seem odd to me. I'd enjoy it if you might try to explain the relationship please.

Note: The pollution Southern Asia experiences should be called "Haze." Technically "Smog" is a mixture of the byproducts of petrochemical origin such as factory pollution and automobile pollution (often it's combined with fog yet) thus smoke + fog = smog. It's a generally considered "worse" since it's a petrochemical soup, and when the fog burns off as the day's temperature rises and the dew point drops, often the resultant chemical soup reacts using sunlight to create secondary chemicals, some of which are carcinogenic. What Southern Asia experiences is mostly, but not entirely, haze which is mostly particulate material from burning non-petrochemical sources such as grasses/wood. Further there is never (or extremely rarely) true fog in Thailand because the temperature rarely drops below the dew point. Just what you wanted to know, eh...hehe.

[kennalder]

I import already since 1994 food products from Thailand to Western Europe.

Already the first retail organisations insist on my declaration, no products and ingredients are from Chaing Rai area ( sure, everybody here understands the difference between Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai ? ? Of course not )

Go on like this Thailand, and your agro business - what is not already taken over by Southern China like baby corn, bamboo shoots, mango slices, lychess, longans, papaya, pineapple, soya sauce, noodles) - disappears towards Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Birma, and India.

One advantage: you then will have enouigh time to pray in temple.

I'm a bit confused puipuitom. You export agricultural products from Thailand to Western Europe, ok. But why would Western Europe ban products from Chang Rai and allow products from Chaing Mai? And does this relate to the haze problem? I realize that the impetus for burning in many cases is to force bamboo to send up new shoots, and chronologically spaced burning allows for sequential harvest of the shoots to be sold.

If burning were to be stopped, the production of bamboo shoots for export would drop dramatically. Puipuitom are you commenting in relation to the necessity of burning as related to the product you sell? Does Western Europe ban Chiang Rai products because of burning?

This would seem odd to me. I'd enjoy it if you might try to explain the relationship please.

Note: The pollution Southern Asia experiences should be called "Haze." Technically "Smog" is a mixture of the byproducts of petrochemical origin such as factory pollution and automobile pollution (often it's combined with fog yet) thus smoke + fog = smog. It's a generally considered "worse" since it's a petrochemical soup, and when the fog burns off as the day's temperature rises and the dew point drops, often the resultant chemical soup reacts using sunlight to create secondary chemicals, some of which are carcinogenic. What Southern Asia experiences is mostly, but not entirely, haze which is mostly particulate material from burning non-petrochemical sources such as grasses/wood. Further there is never (or extremely rarely) true fog in Thailand because the temperature rarely drops below the dew point. Just what you wanted to know, eh...hehe.

I import already since 1994 food products from Thailand to Western Europe.

Already the first retail organisations insist on my declaration, no products and ingredients are from Chaing Rai area ( sure, everybody here understands the difference between Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai ? ? Of course not )

Go on like this Thailand, and your agro business - what is not already taken over by Southern China like baby corn, bamboo shoots, mango slices, lychess, longans, papaya, pineapple, soya sauce, noodles) - disappears towards Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Birma, and India.

One advantage: you then will have enouigh time to pray in temple.

I'm a bit confused puipuitom. You export agricultural products from Thailand to Western Europe, ok. But why would Western Europe ban products from Chang Rai and allow products from Chaing Mai? And does this relate to the haze problem? I realize that the impetus for burning in many cases is to force bamboo to send up new shoots, and chronologically spaced burning allows for sequential harvest of the shoots to be sold.

If burning were to be stopped, the production of bamboo shoots for export would drop dramatically. Puipuitom are you commenting in relation to the necessity of burning as related to the product you sell? Does Western Europe ban Chiang Rai products because of burning?

This would seem odd to me. I'd enjoy it if you might try to explain the relationship please.

Note: The pollution Southern Asia experiences should be called "Haze." Technically "Smog" is a mixture of the byproducts of petrochemical origin such as factory pollution and automobile pollution (often it's combined with fog yet) thus smoke + fog = smog. It's a generally considered "worse" since it's a petrochemical soup, and when the fog burns off as the day's temperature rises and the dew point drops, often the resultant chemical soup reacts using sunlight to create secondary chemicals, some of which are carcinogenic. What Southern Asia experiences is mostly, but not entirely, haze which is mostly particulate material from burning non-petrochemical sources such as grasses/wood. Further there is never (or extremely rarely) true fog in Thailand because the temperature rarely drops below the dew point. Just what you wanted to know, eh...hehe.

The non-petro-chemical sources does not make them any less of a problem. When any biomass is allowed to smolder it gives off Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH's) known to be carcinogenic in humans. Also if you take into account all the plastic that gets burned this may be some of the worst air anyone breathes anywhere on the planet. Northern Thailand including Chiang Mai and Lampang provinces are not known as the lung cancer capital of Thailand for no good reason. Incidentally these compounds are also found in cigarette smoke, grilled meats, vehicle exhaust...

How might I be exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)? http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tf.asp?id=121&tid=25

• Breathing air containing PAHs in the workplace of coking, coal-tar, and asphalt production plants; smokehouses; and municipal trash incineration facilities.
  
• Breathing air containing PAHs from cigarette smoke, wood smoke, vehicle exhausts, asphalt roads, or agricultural burn smoke.
  
• Coming in contact with air, water, or soil near hazardous waste sites.
  
• Eating grilled or charred meats; contaminated cereals, flour, bread, vegetables, fruits, meats; and processed or pickled foods.
  
• Drinking contaminated water or cow's milk.
  
• Nursing infants of mothers living near hazardous waste sites may be exposed to PAHs through their mother's milk.
  

[skybluestu]

Just stopped for coffee in Lampang en-route to Hua Hin, a much needed beach break to escape from the smoke. The air quality has gradually got better the further south we've come and, although it is slightly noticeable, the smoke here is nowhere near as bad as in CR.

Posted with Thaivisa App http://apps.thaivisa.com

[Garry]

Just stopped for coffee in Lampang en-route to Hua Hin, a much needed beach break to escape from the smoke. The air quality has gradually got better the further south we've come and, although it is slightly noticeable, the smoke here is nowhere near as bad as in CR.

Posted with Thaivisa App http://apps.thaivisa.com

Hi Stu,

My wife tells me that out our way (15kms from CR) that it still isn't too bad. Hope it holds up.

Edited March 4, 2012 by Garry

[villagefarang]

Even with the strong winds today it was still awful. This evening you couldn’t see more than 1 km. Burning eyes, irritated sinuses, strong smell of smoke, my wife is sick and I have symptoms similar to allergies or a cold. The locals don’t seem to mind at all and continue to burn.

[wolfmuc]

Just stopped for coffee in Lampang en-route to Hua Hin, a much needed beach break to escape from the smoke. The air quality has gradually got better the further south we've come and, although it is slightly noticeable, the smoke here is nowhere near as bad as in CR.

Posted with Thaivisa App http://apps.thaivisa.com

Hi Stu,

My wife tells me that out our way (15kms from CR) that it still isn't too bad. Hope it holds up.

Hope it too for you. - The air pollution depends of course from the place of measurements and the time of the day/night. Have a look at a screenshot PM10-Chiang Rai (http://aqmthai.com/ ) and two fire maps. - Have a good break.

[jsflynn603]

Note: I kept getting system errors trying to respond by quoting and eventually gave up.

Summation: I stated that the haze/pollution is not as dangerous as industrial smog. kennalder responded making a connection of PAH's to Thailand's Northern very high lung cancer rates. I disagree and state that the very high lung cancer rate is not caused by the burning/smoke/trash burning, but rather by people's cats and dogs. Think this is preposterous? Read on:

My original quote:

The pollution Southern Asia experiences should be called "Haze." Technically "Smog" is a mixture of the byproducts of petrochemical origin such as factory pollution and automobile pollution (often it's combined with fog yet) thus smoke + fog = smog. It's a generally considered "worse" since it's a petrochemical soup, and when the fog burns off as the day's temperature rises and the dew point drops, often the resultant chemical soup reacts using sunlight to create secondary chemicals, some of which are carcinogenic. What Southern Asia experiences is mostly, but not entirely, haze which is mostly particulate material from burning non-petrochemical sources such as grasses/wood. Further there is never (or extremely rarely) true fog in Thailand because the temperature rarely drops below the dew point. Just what you wanted to know.

The following is kennalder's quote:

The non-petro-chemical sources does not make them any less of a problem. When any biomass is allowed to smolder it gives off Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH's) known to be carcinogenic in humans. Also if you take into account all the plastic that gets burned this may be some of the worst air anyone breathes anywhere on the planet. Northern Thailand including Chiang Mai and Lampang provinces are not known as the lung cancer capital of Thailand for no good reason. Incidentally these compounds are also found in cigarette smoke, grilled meats, vehicle exhaust...

How might I be exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)? http://www.atsdr.cdc...p?id=121&tid=25

• Breathing air containing PAHs in the workplace of coking, coal-tar, and asphalt production plants; smokehouses; and municipal trash incineration facilities.
  
• Breathing air containing PAHs from cigarette smoke, wood smoke, vehicle exhausts, asphalt roads, or agricultural burn smoke.
  
• Coming in contact with air, water, or soil near hazardous waste sites.
  
• Eating grilled or charred meats; contaminated cereals, flour, bread, vegetables, fruits, meats; and processed or pickled foods.
  
• Drinking contaminated water or cow's milk.
  
• Nursing infants of mothers living near hazardous waste sites may be exposed to PAHs through their mother's milk.
  

This is my response to kennalder and my point of view that the high lung cancer rate is caused by people's pets:

Indeed, biomass burning creates PAH's which has cancer risk. Yet I'll stick with my original statement that the particulates of biomass burning, in this case, the haze from burning in Thailand is in fact less dangerous than the smog of industrial cities.

Yes, the North is known as a high risk lung cancer area, however one must look closely to see exactly why--and the answer is NOT in burning of biomass, nor is it burning of plastics and trash. This is not to say that these are without risk for they do pose health risk and induce harm.

Let us look at the age-adjusted lung cancer risk for Thai women. Indeed, in Northern Thailand, for women the rate of 37.4/100,000 is one of the highest in Asia. Indeed, the only country in the world that comes close is Hungary with a raw rate of 36.02/100,000. (2)

So one would think: High lung cancer rate in Northern Thailand = cause of annual burning + possible trash burning. That's a reasonable hypothesis. But it breaks apart quickly.

Let's look at Sarapee with a crude lung cancer rate of 40.9/100,000. Sarapee is near Chiang Rai. Now let's go about 250 kilometers to the South and let's look at Chom Thong, about 30 miles (~50 kilometers) to the south of Chiang Mai. Chom Thong is within the same valley region of Chiang Mai. I'm not sure about the prevailing winds, but I'll bet that Chom Thong shares the same level of haze that Chiang Mai does.

If the haze (or smog if you prefer) from burning is the cause for this high rate of lung cancer we would expect similar rates. Yet this is not the case--not by a long shot. The crude lung cancer incidence rate for Chom Thong is 8.5. This is one quarter the rate of what is found near Chiang Rai. Therefore I would hypothesize that Chiang Mai also would have a similar low rate. Since the haze at Chiang Rai seems to be similar to the haze at Chiang Mai, clearly there is some other factor.

Probably the factor for Northern Thailand's extremely high cancer rate is caused by something most would never expect: Mycosporum canis, a fungus that grows on dogs and cats. At first glance this may seem preposterous, but when viewed closely it makes a lot of sense.

In short, it appears that the extremely high lung cancer rate in the North of Thailand is not caused by smoke/haze/smoking cigarettes or trash burning, it is caused by people's pets. I'll hypothesize that if Thailand were to promote methods of reducing dog/cat ringworm (M. canis can cause ringworm (fungal infection) of humans but not human ringworm, only tinea capitis (similar to athlete's foot, or ringworm on humans, but the organism only affects the human scalp).

I'll admit that I'd be the first to say "preposterous," but let's look at some evidence:

First let's rule out tobacco: " that tobacco smoking (Khiyo, local cigars) was less frequently observed in Sarapee (high incidence), compared with Chom Tong (low incidence)" (1)

Now consider that M. canis spores are most commonly found spores in indoor air in houses in Sarapee, but not it Chom Thong. Urine mutagenicity (a lab test) of urine from Sarapee is significantly higher than that found in Chom Thong. Urine mutagenicity is related to benign respiratory disease which is common in Sarapee, but not in Chom Thong. Serum (blood testing) of women in Sarapee revealed increased levels of serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, an endogenous tumor promoter. Additionally "significantly increased serum concentrations of a constituent of the fungus were found in Sarapee women, compared with those in Chom Tong." (1) Taken together the possible (probable?) cause of increased lung cancer amongst Thais in the North is likely not to be haze/pollution, but pollution (fungal spore release) from essentially diseased pets. It seems probable that spores from M. canis leads to benign respiratory disease, and that a certain subset of these progress to lung cancer.

In summary, yes, all burning creates pollutants and it was not my intent to say that the haze/smoke/smog is harmless, rather it was my intent to say that this pollution is less harmful than the chemical smog produced, for instance in the industrial cities of China. Going beyond cancer, Asia's burning/haze/smoke problem is injurious in many areas, for instance asthma, exacerbation of lung diseases such as COPD, and certainly is responsible for some increase of cancers, but it is not likely to be the cause of the extremely high rate of lung cancer found in "some" areas of Thailand's North.

(1) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10622527

(2) http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/countries-by-highest-death-rate-from-lung-cancer.html

This is hypothetical epidemiology. Thailand could create a study to prove/disprove this hypothesis by comparing households with no cats/dogs in high risk areas to households with cat/dogs.

[rmacdon61]

ALL Right, I won't get a dog, geez!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[villagefarang]

People keep sending me emails asking when things will get better and they can visit Chiang Rai again. I tell them June.

[BlackJack]

is it safe now

i was going to have a look next week

but sounds

awe full

[harrry]

is it safe now

i was going to have a look next week

but sounds

awe full

Beautiful now......it is only the South that has the smoke from Indonesia.

[villagefarang]

is it safe now

i was going to have a look next week

but sounds

awe full

Looks a little more like this these days.