Air Pollution Kills 7 Million People - More than COVID-19
Tomorrow, 7 April, the World Health Day. A reminder to think and act on aspects of Health and living.
Presently, the World Health Day is not a day for celebration but deep reflection and actions - to save our lives and our healthy living years in our lives. To many, the day is another day of mourning of approaching premature deaths. And “Air Pollution” is the major cause of our ill health.
องค์การอนามัยโลกเตือน ประชากรเกือบทั้งโลกกำลังหายใจอากาศเสีย https://www.thaipost.net/abroad-news/118011/ : --อากาศที่มีความเข้มข้นของอนุภาคอันตรายซึ่งมีเส้นผ่านศูนย์กลางน้อยกว่า 2.5 ไมครอน (PM 2.5) รวมไปถึงสารพิษอย่างซัลเฟตและเขม่าดำจากการเผาไหม้ ซึ่งก่อให้เกิดความเสี่ยงต่อสุขภาพมากที่สุด เนื่องจากสามารถเจาะลึกเข้าไปในปอดหรือระบบหัวใจและหลอดเลือดได้ และไนโตรเจนไดออกไซด์ซึ่งจะส่งผลต่อระบบทางเดินหายใจ โดยเฉพาะโรคหอบหืด. ..เสียชีวิตกว่า 6.7 ล้านคน (2564); เมดิเตอร์เรเนียนตะวันออก, เอเชียตะวันออกเฉียงใต้ และแอฟริกา มีอากาศเสียมากและบ่อย ..as at 5 April 2022, the number of COVID-19 deaths is 6,169,931.
https://www.who.int/news/item/04-04-2022-billions-of-people-still-breathe-unhealthy-air-new-who-data : ..90% global population, 6000 cities in 117 countries - mostly low & middle income countries are the most affected.. (หายใจในอากาศเสียมากและนาน ทุกวัน)
https://www.who.int/news/item/22-09-2021-new-who-global-air-quality-guidelines-aim-to-save-millions-of-lives-from-air-pollution : 7 million premature deaths every year and many millions of healthy living years are loss, ..[WHO recommends quality levels for] classical pollutants – particulate matter (PM), ozone (O₃), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and carbon monoxide (CO), and other damaging pollutants.
See also:
https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/air-pollution/who-air-quality-database
WHO Air Quality Guidelines (2021) https://www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/9789240034228
ผึ้ง ฝุ่นควัน pm2.5 https://www.gotoknow.org/posts/699270
ผึ้ง ฝุ่นควัน pm2.5 และ คน https://www.gotoknow.org/posts/699724
Microplastics is not specially mentioned in the WHO warnings, but it is fast becoming ‘particulate of concern’ due to discoveries of microplastics in seafood, in water supplies (in countries around the world), in air and recently in human blood samples.
Note. microplastics: remnants of plastics of less than 5mm; Invisible contaminants have been found in water and wastewater ranging in size from five to 20 microns [PM5-PM20], where they can escape conventional [water] treatment works. ..2 possible filtering methods have been suggested: charcoal block filter (slow and for small amount), and reverse osmosis (more elaborate and higher cost)..
Biodegradable: (of a substance or object) capable of being decomposed by bacteria or other living organisms (into sugars and gases like vegetable scraps) and thereby avoiding pollution.
Alternatively: ..if it can be disintegrated by bacteria, fungi, or some other biological process. If we look at the word itself, the meaning is right there. “Bio” meaning “life,” “degrade” meaning to break down, and “able” of course meaning that it can happen.
There are other kinds of degradability like disintegration such as breaking, flaking, powdering,… as happening in our cloths, carpets, plastic utensils, car tyres, asphalt on roads, fishing nets, brushes, .. These small pieces of plastics are still plastics and harmful to human and wildlife.
It is strange that we spent billions to reducing deaths by COVID-19 and we spent less on air pollution when deaths from air pollution are more and continuing. Should we run ‘fear campaigns’ and ‘air pollution vaccines’?
[Added more information about microbeads - a class of microplastic/polyethelene particles. From https://scitechdaily.com/science-made-simple-what-are-microplastics/ : Plastic is the most prevalent type of marine debris found in our oceans and Great Lakes. Plastic debris can come in all shapes and sizes, but those that are less than five millimeters (0.2 inches) in length (or about the size of a sesame seed) are called “microplastics.” ..microbeads (polyethelene PE) added to product like toothpastes, cleansing soaps and hair shampoos.
https://theconversation.com/ten-stealth-microplastics-to-avoid-if-you-want-to-save-the-oceans-90063 adds a list of “stealth microplastics” Tyres, Synthetic clothing, Tennis balls, Laundry and dishwasher pods/tablets, Cigarette butts, Glitter, Wet wipes, Tea bags, Paint, and Takeaway cups.
On December 28, 2015, the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015 was signed by President Obama, banning plastic microbeads in cosmetics and personal care products. ##On December 28, 2015, the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015 was signed by President Obama, banning plastic microbeads in cosmetics and personal care products. ]
[Added links to news on water treatments - below - on 8 April 2565]
"Cities need sustainable technologies to simultaneously treat and store runoff, especially for densely populated cities," https://phys.org/news/2022-04-sustainable-strategies-urban-runoff.html
https://techxplore.com/news/2022-04-solar-nanowire-nanotube-filter-easy-access.html
[Added another link to an article in Gotoknow.org - on 14 April 2565]
กรณีศึกษาการฟ้องคดีปกครองคณะกรรมการสิ่งแวดล้อมแห่งชาติ (กก.วล.) ปัญหามลภาวะด้านฝุ่นละออง PM2.5 https://www.gotoknow.org/posts/702180
[Added 13 May 2565: ปรับค่ามาตรฐานฝุ่นพิษ เล็งบังคับใช้ ก.ย.นี้ https://www.thaipost.net/environment-news/138908/ ...จากเกณฑ์แนะนำใหม่ของ WHO โดยปรับปรุงค่ามาตรฐานราย 24 ชม. จากเดิมไม่เกิน 50 ไมโครกรัมต่อลูกบาศก์เมตร เป็นไม่เกิน 37.5 ไมโครกรัมต่อลูกบาศก์เมตร ส่วนค่าเฉลี่ยในเวลา 1 ปี จากเดิมไม่เกิน 25 ไมโครกรัมต่อลูกบาศก์เมตร เป็นไม่เกิน 15 ไมโครกรัมต่อลูกบาศก์เมตร… this will look good on paper but will it happen in practice? We will have to help! ]
[Added 7 Oct 2565: --studies confirming ‘nanoplastics’ in air we breath--
https://phys.org/news/2022-10-widespread-pipe-technique-nanoplastics-atmosphere.html The tiny bits of plastic that wear off bottles, plastic bags, automotive parts and even cosmetics get into the soil and the water supply. They disrupt chemical cycles, throw off ecosystem health and pollute environments both marine and terrestrial. They eventually also get into the air, where they can damage lungs much more effectively. But for that to happen, they have to be worn away by water or earth and then be launched into the sky by winds.
Babies have air pollution particles in their lungs and brains before they take their first breath https://www.abdn.ac.uk/news/16424/ --University of Aberdeen UK
17 million babies under the age of 1 breathe toxic air, majority live in South Asia https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/babies-breathe-toxic-air-south-asia 6 Dec 2017 ]
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