Philippines Tackles Air Pollution

After six years of governmental wrangling and a massive nationwide

campaign to gather signatures, the Philippines—home to one of the
world’s most polluted cities—is on the verge of passing clean air
legislation.
The population of Manila has grown faster than that in any other city
since 1970 and now stands at least 12 million, with 12600 people to
each square kilometer. Thousands live in the shadow of power stations
or industrial plants. Smog constantly blankets the city, 2.2 million motor
vehicles form traffic jams, and pedestrians keep handkerchiefs clamped
over their mouths and noses.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), levels of lead in
the air in Manila are more than three times the established safety limit,
and concentrations of suspended particulate matter are also dangerously
high. Other pollutants have not been measured.
The priority legislation could be passed within as little as two months
and would phase out the use of leaded fuel within 18 months, reduce
industrial emissions, promote recycling, phase out vehicles over 15 years
old, ban incineration, and drastically increase fines for the owners of
polluting vehicles.
Dr. Steve Tamplin, WHO regional adviser on environmental health,
said: “The crucial question is whether this legislation will be effectively
enforced.” At an average speed of just 7 km/hour, rush hour traffic in
Manila moves more slowly than anywhere else in Asia. Dr. Tamplin said
that investing more in overhead light rail systems, which currently cover
a single 30 km stretch, would be the best way of reducing traffic
congestion, the biggest source of pollution.
Dr. Miguel Celdran, a pediatrician at Makati Medical Center, said:
“About 90%of my patients have respiratory illness, and we’re seeing
babies as young as two months suffering from asthma. Twenty years
ago, this was unheard of.”
A recent survey by the Philippine Pediatric Society, which asked doctors
to describe the most common illnesses that they treat, received the same
response in every case: diseases of the upper respiratory tract.
Urine samples from taken from children living and begging on the
polluted streets showed that at least 7%had high lead concentrations.
Dr. Celdran said that his mainly middle class clients kept their children
indoors, using air ionizers and filtered air conditioners to improve air
quality, but that this resulted in other problems due to a lack of exercise.
The United Nations estimates that by the year 2000 around half of the
world’s population will be living in urban areas, and the global fleet of
motor vehicles is already thought to be more than 800 million.
A WHO report, Urban Air Pollution in Megacities of the World, warns
that: “Megacities could well see increases in their air pollution
concentrations of levels as high as 75-100%over the next decade.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1115138/