‘Fireworks cause air pollution’

PHOTO BY EV ESPIRITU/INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON

Health and environmental groups urged Filipinos to welcome the New Year with alternative noisemakers to curb air pollution and the thick blanket of smog spawned by firecrackers.

The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) and the environmental group EcoWaste Coalition suggested that merrymakers use pots and pans and homemade noisemakers such as paper horns or “torotot” for a healthier and cleaner celebration of the new year.

“Aside from the well-reported firecracker-related injuries, the pervasive use of firecrackers and fireworks contributes to air pollution that reaches levels deemed hazardous to human health,” said Dr. Ulysses Dorotheo, chair of the PMA’s Environment Health and Ecology Committee.

He warned that the particulate matter (PM) and other air pollutants generated by firecrackers and fireworks will worsen the air quality, particularly in urban areas, posing health risks to the public, especially among children, the elderly and individuals with respiratory and heart ailments.

Dorotheo said high levels of air pollution could exacerbate asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart disease.

Citing data from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the groups said air pollution soared to “dangerous levels” at the height of the New Year festivities last year.

Records showed levels of PM 10 and PM 2.5 in some areas of Metro Manila surged to up to 2,000 micrograms per normal cubic meter, way beyond the National Ambient Guideline Value of 60 mcg/ncm for PM 10 and 35 mcg/ncm for PM 2.5.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s guidelines, anything beyond 100 mcg/ncm is unhealthy and above 300 mcg/ncm hazardous.

“The extreme pollution from the unrestrained blasting of firecrackers and fireworks goes against the Clean Air Act, which recognizes the right of every citizen to breathe clean air,” said Aileen Lucero, EcoWaste Coalition coordinator.

Lucero sought the cooperation of the general public to cut back on the use of firecrackers and fireworks also in support of the “Iwas Paputok” campaign led by the Department of Health.