Bulletin Board
ANNOUNCEMENT
Manila’s cities and companies are already stepping up to clean the air.
Here’s a look at 1 Wall 1 World’s latest activities:
- Local Artists Create Marikina Mural with World’s First Air-Cleaning Paint
| Where: | Marikina Riverbanks |
| When: | December 12 |
| Who: | WWF, Marikina LGUs |
When NOx Comes Knocking
They say what you don’t know can’t kill you but in this case – they can’t be more wrong.
A joint report of the World Bank and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) shows that air pollution causes 5,000 premature deaths each year in Manila. But images of blackened skylines and smoke-belching vehicles aside, do people really know enough about what’s killing them with every breath they take?
Here’s a closer look at nitrogen oxides (NOx), considered as one of the six primary air pollutants and one of the primary culprits of air pollution related fatalities:
Distinguishing Marks
Nitrogen oxides (NOx) is the generic term for a group of reactive gasses containing nitrogen and oxygen in varying amounts. So how exactly is NOx formed? NOx forms when fuel is burned at high temperatures, for example, in a combustion process. Given this it’s not surprising that according to the US Environmental 49% of all emissions come from motor vehicles.
NOx is one of six principal air pollutants (along with carbon monoxide, lead, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds and sulfur dioxide) whose levels are monitored by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). However, a US EPA report found that while levels of all the other air pollutants decreased significantly from the passing of the US Clean Air Act in 1970 to 1998, levels of NOx actually increased by 10% during this period.
Modus Operandi
As more motor vehicles take to the streets, NOx levels are rising – and the medical field is telling us that this is something we have to worry about. At elevated levels, NOx can impair lung function, irritate the respiratory system and, at very high levels, make breathing difficult, especially for people who already suffer form asthma or bronchitis.
In fact, in a study conducted among Taiwanese schoolchildren, NOx-related asthma cases happen 95% of the time. What’s worse is that NOx exposure also increased the risk of death in patients with more than one emergency room admission for asthma.
NOx also react with other compounds in the atmosphere to form nitrate particles and other particulate matter (PM). These small particles penetrate deeply into sensitive parts of the lungs and can cause or worsen respiratory disease such as emphysema and bronchitis, and aggravate existing heart disease. Also, these particles have the ability to be transported hundreds, even thousands, of kilometers though the atmosphere because of their small size, carrying their health and environmental impacts over large areas.
Recommended Plan of Action
In the US, the EPA considers reducing NOx emissions as a crucial component of their clean air strategy. This is not the case in the Philippines . At present, NOx is still largely unheard of and there have been no marked efforts that specifically target NOx reduction. But with the drastic environmental and health impacts that NOx represents, isn’t it high time that Filipinos prevent NOx from knocking?
Ringing the Asthma Alarm
Put a normal drinking straw in your mouth and then hold your nose closed. While doing this, jog on the spot for a minute. Is your breathing getting labored? How about your chest? Is it getting painfully constricted?
Now try to imagine having this happen to you each time you breathe in polluted air.
Hard isn’t it? This is the condition that asthmatics, both young and old, have to go through. And recent findings show that the increasingly polluted air not only triggers but worsens these asthma episodes.
It’s no fun outdoors
According to a study in the Lancet Medical Journal, children who played outdoor sports in smoggy areas were 3.3 times more likely to develop asthma than those who generally stayed indoors.
Researchers involved in the study found that in low-smog communities, children who played three sports had lower asthma rates than those who tended to stay indoors."Our study provides evidence that ozone is involved in the development of new-onset asthma in children who exercise heavily," said Mc Connell.
Asthma is a chronic, sometimes debilitating condition that has no cure. It keeps kids out of school (for a total of 14 million lost school days each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control) and sidelines them from physical activity. Employers lose 12 million work days every year when asthma keeps adults out of the workplace. It’s also responsible for nearly 2 million emergency-room visits a year.
Outdoor air culprits
Meanwhile, a cross-sectional study among Taiwanese schoolchildren aged 6-15 years old identified the 5 asthma- related criteria air pollutants. These 5 pollutants are sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), and particulate matter (PM10).
Most striking among these is NOx which was found to have a 92% correlation with childhood asthma. NOx exposure also increased the risk of death in patients with more than one emergency room admission for asthma.
NOx is the generic term for a group of reactive gasses containing nitrogen and oxygen in varying amounts. NOx forms when fuel is burned at high temperatures, for example, in a combustion process. Given this it’s not surprising that according to the US Environmental 49% of all emissions come from motor vehicles.
Outdoor Plan of Action
In the US, the EPA considers reducing NOx emissions as a crucial component of their clean air strategy. This is not the case in the Philippines . At present, NOx is still largely unheard of and there have been no marked efforts that specifically target NOx reduction.
But with significant asthma burden that NOx represents, isn’t it high time that Filipinos prevent NOx before it permeates the outdoors altogether?
The Need for Cleaner Air
Polluted Air = Shorter Life
Scientists say human beings can live without food for up to two weeks, without water for up to three or four days but only up to five minutes without air.
But while we need air to sustain life, modern life has put a lot of things in the air that are not good for us.
Vehicular traffic and its resulting air pollution is something that most people living in urban areas accept as a fact of life. But while sitting in traffic may test one’s patience and raise blood pressure levels every now and then, the health effects from exposure to air pollution are much more serious:
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The WHO says air pollution kills 3 times more people each year than automobile accidents
http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update17.htm -
A study by the European Commission estimates that air pollution reduces life expectancy of an EU citizen by almost nine months.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4283295.stm -
In a heavily polluted city like Metro Manila , 1 of every 8 premature deaths is caused by air pollution.
(Philippine Environment Monitor 2007)
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The effects of air pollution on children are even worse:
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Studies in California found that children living near freeways were more likely to have reduced lung function and develop asthma and bronchitis symptoms.
www.ioe.ucla.edu/news/article.asp?parentid=1797 -
A study in New York found that mothers who were exposed to higher levels of air pollution during pregnancy had children with lower IQs.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090720111453.htm
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Studies in California found that children living near freeways were more likely to have reduced lung function and develop asthma and bronchitis symptoms.
Cleaner Air = Longer, better life
Every little bit counts in the fight against air pollution. A study in Europe has found that even very small cuts in pollution can benefit health, and a recent Harvard University study found that people living in cities where air pollution decreased in recent decades saw their life expectancy increase an average of five months as a result of cleaner air.
Noxious Air Pollutants
Air pollution is putting many things in the air that we’re not supposed to breathe. Among the most noxious air pollutants are nitrogen oxides, highly reactive gases containing nitrogen and oxygen, collectively known as NOx.
NOx, which are mainly produced from vehicle exhausts, have a wide variety of health and environmental impacts as identified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA):
This Paint can Clean Your Air
A New Era in Paint
Boysen KNOxOUT represents a big change in what paint can do. Traditionally paint has been used to protect structures such as walls, doors and roofs; now KNOxOUT introduces a new concept – paint that protects people from the ill effects of air pollution.
How It Works
Boysen KNOxOUT contains photocatalytic titanium dioxide, (TiO2), which upon exposure to light, transforms ordinary water vapor to free radicals that break down NOx and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the two components of smog.
Harmful NOx gas is converted to nitric acid that is rapidly neutralized by alkaline calcium carbonate particle in the paint, producing harmless quantities of calcium nitrate and negligible amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) and water.
Proof it Works
Technology Put to Test
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Guadalupe MRT- Station Trial
The world’s largest depolluting paint trial to date. Together with Cristal Global and the Manila Observatory, Boysen Paints tested KNOxOUT at the Guadalupe-MRT station. The trial involved installation of 15 pollution sensor and painting over 6,200 square metres with close to 700 litres of KNOxOUT. Initial tests showed that the paint can purify 30,000 cars worth of emissions daily and up to 1.3 TONS of NOx every year.
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Vinci Car Park, Paris, France
A trial conducted in a Paris car park under fluorescent lighting conditions showed that reductions in NOx levels could be as high as 90 percent depending on the amount of light reaching the paint.
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