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Silent killers in the air

Toxic elements in the capital's air have reached a dangerous level for human body

Rathan Sabuktagtn
***The implementation of the ban on two-stroke three-wheelers in 2003 made some temporary progress in reducing toxic elements from the air but has been marred by the functioning of old motorised vehicles and the brick kilns around the city.***
The volume of poisonous particles in the air of Dhaka city has reached a dangerous level in recent years, going far beyond the permissible level of human body.
The city dwellers are always at a serious health risk due to the highly-polluted air.
The increasingly high concentration of toxic elements in the air is causing a foggy hedge in the city sky this winter, according to the experts of Air Quality Management Project (AQMP) under the Department of Environment (DoE).
The AQMP, which has been monitoring the air quality of the city since 2002, has recently lunched a website to inform the people about the air quality on dailybasis.
The website reveals that the air quality of the city is lethal for human body especially during winter. The AQMP advised the city dwellers to Stay indoors as much as possible during the winter to avoid health hazards from the pollution.
According to the website, poisonous carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, suspended particulate matter (PM10) and particulate matter (PM 2.5) exist in Dhaka's air beyond permissible level for human body.
Due to increase of PM 10 and PM2.5, people lose lung function and suffer from chronic respiratory’ and cardiovascular diseases while nitrogen dioxide increase risks of bronchitis and pneumonia. Nitrogen dioxide causes respiratory infection.
Carbon monoxide reduces delivery of oxygen into the human body, creates severe headache and decreases visual perception and manual dexter->ty
According to AQMP data, on December 26, 2004, Dhaka’s air contained 131 micrograms PM 10 in each cubic metre, which is dangerous for human body. The amount of PM2.5 was 233 micrograms in each cubic metre, which was equally dangerous.
On December 3,2005, at least 261 micrograms of PM10 existed in each cubic metre of air, which is triple the permissible level. On December 30 the same year there was 275 micrograms of PM2.5 in each cubic metre of Dhaka's air.
On December 31, 2006, PM 10 was the dominating poison in the city's air which contained the highest 382 micrograms of the deadly particulate in each cubic metre.
However, on December 31,
2007, the city air contained 282 micrograms of PM 2.5.
The permissible limit of PM10 is 65 micrograms per cubic metre and for PM2.5 it is 150 micrograms per cubic metre.
The implementation of the ban on two-stroke three-wheelers in 2003 made some temporary progress in reducing toxic elements from the air but has been marred by the functioning of old motorised vehicles and the brick kilns around the city.
Faulty vehicles are the largest source of air pollution. Only the diesel-run vehicles contribute about 60 per cent of such particles in the air, surveys of the AQMP reveal.
At least 70 per cent of the
diesel-run vehicles, mainly buses and trucks, are emitting toxic particles beyond the permissible limit. Brick kilns in the northern edge of the city contribute at least 20 percent of air pollution.
There are 4,000 brick kilns around the city, which use tyres, wood and low-quality coal, emitting poisonous particles into the air. But no initiative has been taken yet to measure quantity of poisonous particles emitting from b rick kilns.
The AQMP officials said the chimneys of the brick kilns made higher tiian 120 feet but it is not a— solution to reducing the air pollution.
The government banned running of buses more than 20 years old in the city but failed to keep those vehicles out of the city.
The height of brick kiln chimneys has been increased to reduce air pollution but the initiative failed as the government failed to ensure quality of fuel used in the kilns.
Mohammad Nasiruddin, director of the AQMP, said: "Phasing out of the diesel-run old and faulty vehicles could reduce air pollution to half in the city."
He said a foggy hedge appearing regularly in the city sky’ in recent years is a result of highly concentration of the poisonous particles in the air.