Urban pollution, deadly enemy and invisible

Polluted cities and health risk

A shrouded in smog busy expressway in Beijing, China, this week. Beijing issued an orange alert for heavy smog on Monday after recording the highest level esta year. Photograph: How Hwee Young / EPA

Every day, hundreds of millions of people get up in an insecure external environment for human survival. Air pollution kills 3.3 million people each year, mainly in the cities; more than HIV, malaria and influenza combined. Research on this silent mass murderer insidiously reveals something surprising. While the governments of more than 190 nations meet in Paris to discuss a possible new global agreement on climate change, it not even knows Count pollution kills more people.

In China, about 1.6 million Chinese die from breathing polluted air every year. Beijing is an emblematic case. In 2015, it was the reported level of PM 2.5 to 391 micrograms per cubic meter (mg / m3), so that Chinese authorities advised residents to stay in their homes. According to WHO, the acceptable annual average limit is 10 ug / m3.

The list is dominated by the ultra-Miasmic India and Pakistan, cities with Delhi first. On an average day, residents of the Indian capital breathe polluted air with fine particles with a concentration of 153μg / m3. Three times the level of Beijing and 15 times the WHO of 10 ug / m3.

A large part of humanity breathes daily unknowingly poison. The implication is profound, because without knowing the air is bad, nothing will be done to address or solve the problem.

WHO says "The cities that collect and disseminate information on outdoor air quality must be praised for their action. This is the crucial first step to identifying if there is a problem of outdoor air pollution and begin to take corrective measures."

The positive aspect is that the stigma of pollution in Delhi forces politicians to act. The government tries to introduce stricter regulations on vehicle manufacturers and build a ring road around the city. In China, a recent survey found that 94% of adults believe that air pollution is a problem that the government must prioritize; therefore already they have been taken substantial measures. The Beijing government runs a program of alternative driving days according to registration numbers and closing coal plants.

2.5 pm, material particles, or PM, is the term for particles found in the air, including dust, dirt, soot, smoke and liquid droplets. The particles may be suspended in the air for long periods of time. Some particles are large or dark enough and are seen as soot or smoke. Others are so small they can only be detected with an electron microscope.

Many natural and artificial sources emit PM directly or emit other pollutants react in the atmosphere to form PM. These solid and liquid particles come in a wide range of sizes. Particles smaller than 10 microns in diameter (PM10) pose a health problem because they can be inhaled and accumulate in the respiratory system. Particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM 2.5) are known as "fine particles" and pose the greatest health risks. Due to its small size (approximately 1/30 of the average width of a human hair) fine particles can lodge deep in the lungs.

Where do PM2.5 come ? All types of combustion activities (automobiles, power plants, wood, etc.) and certain industrial processes generate these particles. The "coarse" particles have diameters between 2.5 and 10 micrometers are called "thick"; between sources are crushing or grinding dust or paved roads. Other particles can be formed in the air from the chemical change of gases. Indirectly formed when gases from burning fuels react with sunlight and water vapor. These may be the result of fuel combustion in motor vehicles, in power plants and other industrial processes.

Air pollution in Lima almost three times the level permitted by the World Health Organization (WHO), registering 12.5 tons per square kilometer per month of sediment atmospheric dust (PAS), the National Institute of Statistics and Information reported.

Sometimes alternative measures are used. In Lima, Peru, the average particle suspension set (PAS, settleable atmospheric dust) by WHO is 5 tons per square kilometer per month, while in Lima the average is 12.5 tons. Apparently, the situation is not so bad. When figures districts, the area of greatest air pollution in October 2015 was San Juan de Lurigancho with 37.7 t / km2 / month, nearly eight times higher than allowed by WHO are reviewed, while Bellavista was the least polluted with an average of 3.9 t / km2 / month.

In a Green Talk in the 2014m at the University of Lima, a specialist of the Court of Environmental Control Agency Assessment and Environmental Control, I mention the causes of air pollution in Peru and protocols and agreements that seek to control this pollution. Peru is subscribed to the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Convention, both linked to the care of the ozone layer; and the Kyoto Protocol, which seeks to decrease between 2008 and 2012 emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane and fluorinated gases. The State also promulgated rules aimed at preserving air quality, such as those relating to regulation of the levels of United National Air Pollution Alert or the National Standards for Environmental Air Quality. Unfortunately, as with most laws, these rules are literally painted on the wall, neither the authorities nor citizens worry too much about them. The national get is Carpe Diem, live now, the future is not interested.

For its part, the National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology (SENAMHI) reported that in January 2015, the average value of particulate matter less than 2.5 micrograms (PM2.5) in the district of Ate was 34, 5 ug / m3, San Borja 13.1 ug / m3, Jesus Maria (Campus Martius) 20.3 ug / m3, Santa Anita 18.5 ug / m3, Villa Maria del Triunfo 19.6 ug / m3, Huachipa 29 9 ug / m3, San Juan de Lurigancho 20.7 ug / m3, San Martin de Porres 16.5 ug / m3, Carabayllo 23.2 ug / m3 in Puente Piedra and 27.8 ug / m3.

In Latin America, the city with the worst air quality indicators is Lima and has cleaner air is Salvador de Bahia (Brazil), according to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO). When you have more than 10 micrograms per cubic meter, there is pollution. Lima has an average of 38 mg of PM 2.5 / m3; Salvador has 9 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic meter.

 On average Lima is 38 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic meter, in the north of the Peruvian capital cone 58 micrograms was measured, ie almost six times the level set by WHO. Ate and El Agustino top the list of the seven districts with the most polluted air in Lima, according to the latest technical report from the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI). The presence of particulate matter in these communes (ie waste by burning fuels, coal and wood) was 119 micrograms per cubic meter (ug / m) in October. Followers Villa Maria del Triunfo (109 ug / m³), ​​Santa Anita (66) San Borja (53.4) and Jesus Maria (40.1). There is no difference with Miasmic cities in India: Exceed more than 10 times the PM 2.5. This figure reveals the futility and mendacity INEI statistics. Actually the figures were manipulated or not done any actual field work (like the fraudulent 2005 census, which was conducted just a sampling).

WHO declares that the situation is worsening in most places, especially in developing countries.

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