Smokes from factories in the Bien Hoa 1 industrial park, located in Bien Hoa city of the southern province of Dong Nai (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Urban citizens, especially children, are being exposed to
higher risks of respiratory diseases as air pollution worsens, experts have
said.
A
national environmental report about to be published by the Ministry of Natural
Resources and Environment (MONRE) shows that the amount of nitrogen oxide (NO2), ozone (O3)
and carbon monoxide (CO) in the atmosphere have been increasing in
urban cities due to traffic, construction and industrial activities, Tien
Phong (Vanguard) newspaper reported.
According
to medical studies, high concentrations of NO2 can cause
injuries to the lung mucosa and increase risks of respiratory diseases, O3 can
damage airways and cause inflammation of the cells and CO can reduce oxygen
transport in the body which can lead to hypoxemia.
The
amount of NO2 and CO tends to increase during peak hours in
areas where traffic congestion occurs, and near industrial parks in urban
areas, according to the report.
The
amount of O3 was found to be higher than permitted levels in
all three northern, central and southern regions, especially during hot days,
from 12pm to 3pm, Nguyen Van Thuy, director of MONRE’s Centre for Environmental
Monitoring (CEM), said at a recent conference.
Dust
pollution is also severe. The amount of dust was higher than national permitted
levels in some 80 percent of air samples in recent national environment
observing programmes, according to reports.
Dust
pollution is a major problem in urban air pollution since dust accumulation can
cause bone marrow disorders, joint pain, kidney inflammation, high blood
pressure, cerebral palsy and respiratory diseases, according to Thuy.
An
independent report from the Green Innovation and Development Centre shows that
during the first three months of this year, there were 38 days in Hanoi and Ho Chi
Minh City when the amount of particulate matters smaller than 2.5µm (as known as PM2.5, which is acidic
and harmful to human health) was higher than permitted levels from the World
Health Organisation (WHO).
The number of patients receiving treatment at hospitals for
respiratory diseases has been on the rise in recent years, and currently
accounts for about 3-4 percent of the total population, according to the
national environment report.
While the number of children admitted to the HCM City
Children’s Hospital 2 for parasitic diseases and infections decreases, the
number of those with respiratory diseases has hiked up, averaging 40-50 percent
of total inpatients, it said.
In Hanoi, the average cost of medical
examination and treatment and medicines for patients with respiratory diseases
is 1,500 VND (6.6 cents) per person per day. With some 3.5 million citizens in
the inner city, the total economic loss due to respiratory diseases in the
capital city is estimated to be some 2 trillion VND (88 million USD) per year,
according to the report.
The
report also shows that noise levels on major traffic routes often exceed the
national permitted level from 6am to 9pm. Noise levels recorded by CEM in 14
monitoring locations in different cities were also higher than permitted.
Not
only in areas with high traffic density, noise pollution was also detected near
construction sites, and in urban areas where karaoke bars and other types of
service businesses use loudspeakers to attract customers.
Doctor
Hoang Van The, head of the Occupational Disease Department at the
Rehabilitation Hospital – Occupational Disease Treatment Hospital in HCM City,
said that noise pollution weakens humans’ natural reflex with sounds, damaging
the auditory and nerve systems, and indirectly causing heart-related diseases.
Long-term
exposure to excessive noise can damage the inner ear, causing the auditory
nerve to shrivel up and harm mental health, he said.
While
waiting for a national scheme limiting motorbikes in the inner city in 2030 to
take effect, air quality in Hanoi can only be improved with supporting
solutions such as planting more trees, creating more detention basins and
mechanising environmental sanitation, according to Nguyen Trong Dong, director
of the city’s environment department.
The
city has compiled a list of 117 factories and production units that cause environmental
pollution in the five districts of Hai Ba Trung, Dong Da, Ba Dinh, Thanh Xuan
and Ha Dong to be relocated, he said at a recent conference on air quality
management in the capital city.
Noise
pollution is hard to tackle since service businesses turned down the volume in
the presence of patrol officers, and turned it back up when they left, Tien
Phong reported.
High-level
inspectors only examine and handle major noise violations that affect many
people, with smaller violations assigned to lower-level environmental offices
in localities, an official from the HCM City environmental protection
department was quoted by the newspaper as saying.-VNA