Graph of the Day: Average Level of Fine Particulate Matter in Asia Air Pollution, 1993-2010
By Cornie Huizenga
Hong Kong, December 5, 2012. Improvements in air quality improvements in Asian cities that were visible in the last decade have stalled and the levels of fine particulate matter (PM10), the most important air pollutant in terms of health impact, are back to pre-2000 levels and still climbing in many of the cities in Asia. Information released by Clean Air Asia, a leading regional network on air quality management in Asia at the Better Air Quality 2012 conference shows that 70% of cities in developing Asia for which air quality data is available are not meeting the most lenient World Health Organization (WHO) PM10 interim target of 70μg/m3. The World Health organization in the most recent (2008) Global Burden of Disease study estimated that ambient (outdoor) air pollution caused 1.3 million premature deaths worldwide per year; 8 00,000 of which are in Asia. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in its Environmental Outlook 2050 report, published earlier this year, warns that urban air pollution could become the biggest environmental cause of premature death by 2050 with the number of premature deaths doubling if no actions to improve air quality are implemented. The majority of the additional deaths are expected to be in China and India, making urban air quality very much an Asian problem. The WHO has set guideline values for PM10 to guide countries in setting air quality management standards and recommends that countries should aim for a maximum PM10 concentration of 20μg/m3 to protect public health. Clean Air Asia data indicates that only 16 cities in Asia meet this level, 10 cities of which are in, what is considered, developed Asian and 6 in developing Asia. WHO acknowledges that especially developing countries will have problems meeting the most strict guideline value and has issued three interim targets of 30μg/m3, 50μg/m3 and 70μg/m3. Over 180 cities in developing Asia do not meet even the most lenient interim target of 70μg/m3; a large number of these cities have PM10 concentration of well above 100μg/m3. “The results of a growing number of Asian health effects studies tell us that these high air pollution levels have important implications for public health,” said Bob O’Keefe, Vice President of the Health Effects Institute (HEI) and Chair of the Board of Clean Air Asia. “When HEI conducted the broadest analysis to date of Asian health evidence – of some 86 cities across Asia – we found a consistent and significant increase in the risk of premature death for every increase in pollution. Fortunately, Clean Air Asia is demonstrating that there are solutions ready to go to address the problem.” “PM10 levels improved from 1995 to 2000, then increased noticeably from 2001 to 2003. After being stable for a number of years it appears that we see a noticeable, continuing increase since 2008/2009”, says May Ajero, the Air Quality Program Manager in Clean Air Asia, who is leading the team responsible for collecting and analyzing the data on urban air quality management. “We should be especially concerned about what this means for human health” says Ajero, “considering the rapid urbanization in developing Asia and the further expected 1.1 billion increase in urban population in Asia over the next 20 years”. So far air quality monitoring and management in Asia has largely focused on PM10, yet based on the research over the last years it is clear that the focus will have to shift increasingly to reducing PM2.5. In general, the smaller the size of particulate matter the more harmful it is for human health. Initial research shows that PM10 in Asia has a much higher fraction (around 75%) of PM2.5 than in the developed world (around 50%). Asian countries have started to acknowledge the importance of PM2.5 and most countries including China and India have put standards in place for PM2.5 with supportive regulatory monitoring. Not enough information is available so far to determine trends for PM2.5 as Clean Air Asia has been able to do for PM10, individual research studies show however a close linkage between PM2.5 and PM10 and there is reason to believe that with PM10 levels going up that PM2.5 levels are also increasing. Efforts to reduce Sulfur Dioxide (SO2), which is an important contributor to acid rain, have resulted in a significant reduction; from 2005-2009 average SO2 levels were below the WHO guideline value of 20μg/m3. In 2010, however, average SO2 levels were again above the WHO guideline value. It is too early to decide whether this is a one time exception or whether this is the beginning of a worrisome trend. SSO2 is a precursor to secondary PM10 and the decrease in SO2 levels over the last 20 years has had a positive impact on PM10 levels helping to reduce these in the first half of the last decade and slowing their increase since then. “We are very concerned about the increase in PM10 levels over the last three years and that seven out of ten cities in Asia have unacceptably high levels of PM10 pollution”, says Sophie Punte, the Executive Director of Clean Air Asia. “The economic rebound in Asia following the global economic crisis of 2008 has accelerated sales of both passenger and freight vehicles as well as power generation and this is putting pressure on urban air quality in the region. We welcome the promulgation of PM2.5 standards in a number of Asian countries, including China, and the tightening of air quality standards that has been agreed on, in for example India, and the plans of Hong Kong SAR to do so. What is important now is that these standards are implemented without delay.” Clean Air Asia announced its intention at BAQ 2012 to prepare together with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and key international and regional environmental and health experts a Roadmap for Better Air Quality in Asian Cities. The Roadmap will cover five key areas: (a) Setting and strengthening national ambient air quality standards; (b)Air quality monitoring and emission inventories; (c) Health impacts and their social and economic cost; (d) Clean air plans, policies and measures (assessing cost-effectiveness and co-benefits); and (e) Communicating air quality information through Clean Air reports and other ways. The Roadmap expected to be endorsed in 2016 by governmental air quality stakeholders in the bienal governmental meeting on urban air quality organized by Clean Air Asia and UNEP. Please contact Cornie Huizenga: +8613901949332 / +852 593 464 27 or Ritchie Anne Roño: +852 593 464 24 (media@cleanairasia.org)
