ZAMBOANGA CITY – Health officials on Friday warned residents to avoid getting expose in haze caused by huge forest fires in Indonesia that have spread to southern Philippines.
The haze has reached Zamboanga Peninsula and visibility is poor in the mountainous part of the western Mindanao region. In Zamboanga City, residents were told to stay indoors if they have nothing to do outside, especially those suffering from asthma and other respiratory diseases, because pollutants can trigger attacks.
“We are advising the people to stay inside their houses because of the haze that has reached Zamboanga,” said Dr. Rodel Agbulos, head of the City Health Office.
He said pollutants from haze could trigger asthma attacks, especially people with respiratory or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Even facial mask, Agbulos said, will not help protect residents from haze.
The toxic haze, a mixture of smoke and other pollutants from fires that are ravaging six provinces in Indonesia – Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan – since June this year have affected Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Cambodia. The Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management had declared a state of emergency in the provinces due to the haze.
The fires, believed to have started from illegal farming practises such as slash and burn method, triggered widespread concern over the public health and carbon emissions in the Southeast Asian region.
Pollutants in the haze are so small that it can stay in the air longer and travel farther, and can pass through the body’s smaller airways deeper into the lungs, leading to respiratory and circulatory diseases, cancers and brain damage.
The haze was further aggravated by the southwest monsoon in Mindanao and also affected the cities of Cagayan de Oro, General Santos and provinces in the region.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources said it periodically conducts air sampling to determine the levels of pollution in every cities and municipalities and submit its reports to the local government.
The DENR set the air quality standard for particulate matter measuring 2.5 micrometers in diameter and smaller, or commonly known as PM2.5 – a fine particle found in smoke and haze, and can be directly emitted from sources such as forest fires or they can form when gases emitted from power plants, industries and vehicles react in the air.
It also set the National Ambient Air Quality Guideline Value for PM2.5 at 75 micrograms per normal cubic meter (µg/Ncm) for an average of 24 hours or short term, and 35 µg/Ncm for an average of one year or long term.
The standards for PM2.5 were issued in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act 8749, or the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999, according to DENR. (Mindanao Examiner)
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