BANGKOK, Oct 2 (TNA) – A respiratory specialist at Siriraj Hospital yestreday warned public members, particularly children and the elderly to prepare for worsening ultra-fine dust situations while urging the government to tackle the sources of air pollution from industry, transportation and construction sites.
Assoc. Prof. Nitipat Jiarakul, Head of the Division of Respiratory Disease and Tuberculosis, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital said that ultra-fine PM 2.5 dust particles in the air had blanketed Bangkok at the end of last year to early this year before the haze situation improved due to weather change.
However, cold air mass, which has covered Thailand since mid-September triggered temperature inversion, contributing to worsening air pollution as particulate matters have become trapped close to the ground.
This indicates that the amount of air pollutants, emitted into the atmosphere from different sources of industry, cars, construction and human activities has not been put under control and it could get worse.
As a result, public, private and people sectors shout get ready for the haze situation, he said.
He advised people should be educated on dangers of air pollution and how to protect themselves.
Moreover, the standard criteria in line with the World Health Organization should be adopted in measuring the dust particle level in order to warn people to protect themselves immediately when the air pollution gets worse to unhealthy levels.
Protective gears such as N-95 masks and air purifiers should be made available and enough for people and safe public places, equipped with effective air purifiers should be arranged in communities for vulnerable groups to evacuate into in case of a critical situation.
To curb dust emissions from its sources, the doctor said the related law should be enforced strictly to control high-emission vehicles, dust from construction sites, production capacity of industrial plants and open burning when the tiny dust level reaches the dangerous level.
Siriraj Hospital and other hospitals in Bangkok found the number of patients, suffering from lung diseases and pulmonary emphysema increased significantly in December last year to February this year, coinciding with the dust haze problems in the capital, he added. (TNA)
