Air pollution
April 3, 2009
Page One of The Cambodia Daily (no web site) today carries an unsettling report about Phnom Penh air quality. The story is based on a 2006 study by Kanazawa University of Japan. Researchers found that in Phnom Penh the “airborne concentration of PAHs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, was six times higher than that of Bangkok, a city once notorious for its smog.”
The story goes on to detail measures taken by Bangkok authorities compared to those of PhnomPenh.
Authorities in Bangkok cited human health as the driving force behind the push to improve their city’s air quality, but it’s difficult to discern what Cambodia’s government is doing to improve the quality of the air in Phnom Penh.
No, it’s not. The Cambodian government is doing nothing. That’s not hard to discern at all.
In related news, a recent letter to the editor in the Bangkok Post hints at what the future holds for cities that mismanage their air quality.
Chiang Mai has no organised mass transit bus system. No government has ever tried to set up an alternative to the use of private cars by massively funding a transportation agency and ensuring it has the powers to cut through the morass of different agencies and areas of administration within the city and the surrounding districts. Thus, attempts to reduce traffic flow into the city and consequentially toxic emissions, have been almost non-existent, and the City Planning Department officials can only propose more road widening.
Micro-particles (particles of less than 10 microns) thought to seriously affect respiratory health, are increasingly reaching levels over 4 times the European safety standard of 50 microgrammes (per cubic metre/24 hours; the Thai standard is 120mg) during the dry and hot seasons.
With tens of thousands confirmed sick with respiratory problems and the numbers thought to be suffering from breathing ailments in excess of 100,000 people, and with lung cancer running at rates more than twice that of Bangkok and increasing, the medical facts speak for themselves.
In the future, maybe the CPP will start building cancer wards like it builds primary schools. Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen Lung Cancer Center does have a nice ring to it, doesnt it?
April 3, 2009 at 9:50 pm
The last time I was in Phnom Penh,I was caught in a traffic jam on the Monivong bridge for 3 hours. I can confirm that my throat was aching for 2 days.And staying in phnom penh for a month resulted in a sore throat and running eyes.
Wonder if this was caused by the pollution?
April 21, 2009 at 2:47 pm
I think I know the guy who started this blog (hi Sanjaya), anyway, I have lived in PP for 26 months, and the air is really bad, especially in peak hour traffic. One reason for I notice is that motorbikes and cars/ SUVs receive virtually no maintenance (as in regular grease and oil changes, as in other countries). Also, people don’t buy vehicles here as an investment (as they do in other countries). Basically, even expensive cars, are seen as short term disposable, and they are just run into the ground, with little regard for maintenance (or any indication of ill maintenance with bellowing, black emissions of filthy diesel).
Perhaps also a factor – the low quality of alot of the gasoline sold here.
Have a nice day,
Adam