The eleven cities in Southeast Asia with the cleanest air are within the Philippines, with Calamba in Laguna taking the highest spot.
This is in response to the Swiss IQ AirVisual and Greenpeace 2018 air quality report, which measured the quantity of positive particulate matter, often known as PM2.5 (µg/m3), in cities in 73 countries.
PM2.5 is particulate matter (airborne particles) as much as 2.5 microns in size and causes a big selection of short- and long-term health effects. Common sources of PM include combustion in addition to other pollutants that react with the atmosphere.
The Philippines ranked forty eighth on the list with a mean of 14.6 µg/m3 PM2.5, classified as “moderate.” The country performed higher than its Southeast Asian peers akin to Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.
The most polluted country last 12 months was Bangladesh (97.1 µg/m3), and the cleanest was Iceland (5 µg/m3).
Calamba the cleanest city in SEA
Calamba led 11 Philippine cities on the list of Southeast Asia’s cleanest cities. It contained 9.3 µg/m3 PM2.5, which corresponds to the World Health Organization’s average annual exposure threshold of 10 µg/m3.
Second and third places were taken by the cities of Valenzuela (9.9 µg/m3) and Carmona City (10.9 µg/m3).
Other Philippine cities on the list are Parañaque (12.2 μg/m3), Davao (12.2 μg/m3), Makati (13.7 μg/m3), Manila (14.3 μg/m3), Mandaluyong (14, 5 μg/m3) and Balanga (1 μg/m3), Quezon (17.5 μg/m3) and Las Piñas (17.9 μg/m3).
Meanwhile, Jakarta (45.3 µg/m3) and Hanoi (40.8 µg/m3) had the very best recorded air pollution within the region.
The most polluted cities included Meycauyan (32.4 µg/m3) and Caloocan (31.4 µg/m3).
“Air pollution is stealing our livelihoods and our future, but we can change that. In addition to the loss of human life, the estimated global cost in lost workers is $225 billion and trillions in medical costs. This has a huge impact on our health and wallets,” said Yeb Sano, executive director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
Source: Philstar.com
