When will Hanoi's air pollution 'season' end?

Even when walking, Hanoians still wear masks to avoid dust - Photo: DANH KHANG

On April 7, speaking with Tuoi Tre Online , Dr. Hoang Duong Tung - Chairman of the Vietnam Clean Air Network - said that in recent years, air pollution in many provinces and cities in the North, including Hanoi, has worsened.

According to Mr. Tung, poor air quality, including PM2.5 fine dust, has a serious impact on health. Healthy people may not feel it immediately, but over time it will affect the respiratory tract and many other human organs.

"Because PM2.5 fine dust is only 1/30 the size of a hair, it is so small that it is very difficult to prevent. PM2.5 fine dust often floats in the air, has time to settle, but only needs a gust of wind to fly high, when it rains, PM2.5 fine dust is washed away," said Mr. Tung.

According to Mr. Tung, the air pollution "season" mainly occurs in winter (from October of the previous year to the end of April of the following year). Entering the hot season, with many showers, strong winds, and weak PM2.5 dust dispersion, air quality will gradually improve.

According to many experts, spontaneous waste burning in the suburbs of Hanoi is also one of the causes of fine dust emission - Photo: DANH KHANG

According to Tuoi Tre Online , since the Lunar New Year until now, there have been many consecutive days in Hanoi with bad air quality.

The Air Quality Monitoring Portal of the Department of Environmental Pollution Control (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) and the Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment update air quality every hour of the day.

According to these two information portals, in addition to Hanoi, there are many monitoring points with poor air quality. In Bac Ninh, there are days when air quality is recorded at hazardous levels.

Where does PM2.5 dust come from?

* Chairman of Vietnam Clean Air Network Hoang Duong Tung:

- The research and synthesis process shows that PM2.5 fine dust includes two types: primary and secondary.

Primary fine dust is generated from construction activities, garbage burning, and the friction between car and motorbike tires and the road surface, creating tiny dust particles. Secondary fine dust is generated from chemicals that combine with dust particles through chemical reactions to form PM2.5 fine dust.

Air pollution can only be reduced when we control the sources of emissions that cause fine dust to diffuse.

To limit air pollution, it is necessary to strengthen control of emission sources, motorbike emissions... At the same time, we need to convert fuels in production, increase public transport, green transport...

How does air pollution affect human health?

Previously, speaking with Tuoi Tre Online , Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Hong - head of the occupational lung disease department, Central Lung Hospital - said that dust particles can enter the respiratory system through the air and enter the lungs.

When the air is polluted, there is a lot of small dust, the smaller the dust particles, the deeper they will penetrate into the body. In urban environments with high traffic density, the amount of organic dust will be greater.

Burning engine fuel produces impurities released into the environment such as carbon, nitrogen, sulfur... which are very toxic. These dust particles are small in size and contain many chemical compounds, suspended in the air.

"These substances, when entering the body, cause mild irritation such as sneezing and runny nose. Severe reactions can cause people to cough, cough up phlegm for a long time, and even have difficulty breathing. This is especially worrying for people with respiratory diseases, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease...", Dr. Hong said.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/khi-nao-ha-noi-moi-het-mua-o-nhiem-khong-khi-20240405214300375.htm