Air quality in Di An

How bad are the Pollution levels in Di An?

Di An is a city located in the far southeastern region of Vietnam, some 20km away from Ho Chi Minh as well as being approximately 1700km away from the capital city of Hanoi. It has a somewhat condensed population in relation to the cities size, with over 415,000 (as of 2018) people living there in a city with a total area of 60km². Due to its close proximity to Ho Chi Minh, it would have elevated levels of pollution and fine particulate matters found in the atmosphere such as PM2.5, which refers to any particle matter of 2.5 or less micrometers in diameter. Due to PM2.5’s extremely small size, having high concentrations of it in the air can lead to whole host of health issues, which will be discussed in further detail.

When observing the data given for Di An in the latter part of 2020, it can be seen that it has fairly high readings of US AQI numbers, with readings between 67 to 97 US AQI recorded in late November. Of note, there are a few different varieties of AQI (air quality index) charts that differ in their classifications depending on which country they are registered in. The reason that the United States air quality index is most often is because of how strict the ratings are when going by the numbers. To give an example, a reading on the air quality index in China may come in classed as ‘good’, whilst if the same reading were to be applied to the US AQI, it could possibly receive a moderate or even unhealthy classification, due to the previously mentioned much more stringent ratings that it goes by, making the US AQI somewhat of a gold standard that is often referred to universally for official rankings.

Back to the pollution levels in Di An, besides the US AQI ratings, the other most important measurements used in gauging pollution levels is PM2.5. Di An is showing readings of PM2.5 in late November coming in as low as 11.6 µg/m³, going up as high as 35.2 µg/m³. The lower readings would classify the air quality as being ‘good’, which requires a PM2.5 reading of anywhere between 10 to 12 µg/m³, a very fine margin. Opposite to this, the higher readings of 35.2 µg/m³ would put it into the moderate grouping, requiring readings between 12.1 to 35.4 µg/m³. As It shows, the readings come in at the higher end of the moderate grouping, almost making their way up a level into the unhealthy for sensitive groups bracket. Thus, whilst pollution levels in Di An are not as bad as its more highly populated neighbor, they are still fairly high and, in some cases, would require people to be considerate of the levels of ambient pollution around them to avoid suffering from some of the negative side effects of elevated levels of pollutants in the atmosphere.

What are the main causes of pollution in Di An?

There would be a number of different pollutants found in the atmosphere over Di An, in particular due to its close proximity with Ho Chi Minh, as well as activity going on within its own city limits. Pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) would be found in abundance, finding their source mainly coming from exhaust fumes. As mentioned with its closeness to a major city, as is the case with many similar situations around the world, local citizens can find higher amounts of work opportunity in a larger and more international city such as Ho Chi Minh, but may prefer to live outside the city limits due many reasons such as quality of live (less population density) as well as cheaper rent prices.

As such, there would be a high volume of people commuting back and forth on a daily basis, not to mention trucks carrying industrial goods. Di An has a high concentration of industrial sites and factories around the city, with many catering to industries such as furniture production, the manufacturing of industrial goods as well as food and beverage related factories. This would provide a high number of trucks going between the two cities, as well as others both regional and cross country. Of note is that these trucks often run on poorer quality fuel, containing higher amounts of chemicals such as sulfur and often being diesel based, which leads to a larger amount of pollution being emitted as well producing other particle matters such as black carbon, the primary component in soot that is produced from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels (as well as organic matter).

These materials such as black carbon can often find themselves caking roads and motorway’s in the form of soot, and often have the potential to combine with other fine particulate matter and chemicals, accumulating over time on the roads where they can be sent pluming up into the atmosphere by the large number of vehicles driving over this fine road dust, adding the to PM2.5 and overall pollution levels.

On a last note is the increase in incidences of water pollution over the last few years, with many canals and waterways in Di An being noted for numerous changes in color as well as emitting foul odors. This can directly affect air pollution via the water cycle, whereby the highly polluted water evaporates and brings with it many of the pollutants, depositing them into the atmosphere.

What is being done about air pollution in Di An?

As with all cities in countries experiencing huge economic growth as well as an increase in its infrastructure, Di An would be improving its funding into the public transport sector, with plans for trans-Asian railways to be setup, with Di An already having a history of being a railway hub going back to the era of the Vietnam war. Increased legislations against the use of fossil fuels and particularly diesel-based ones are slowly creeping into effect, which would see drastic increases in the quality of the air. A large scale effort is also being put into reducing industrial effluence and runoff that occurs from the many factories around Di An allowing their chemical waste to run directly into the waterways around the city. By stopping this it would put a halt to the amount of chemicals being released into the atmosphere via the water cycle, another step in reducing the amount of pollution in the air.

What are the effects on human health of living in Di An?

Due to Di An having a high amount of moderately polluted air readings, there could be a host of possible health effects on those breathing the air. To name but a few, these health issues would be increased risk of lung and heart related problems, as well as chances of developing lung cancer. PM2.5 can enter deep into the lungs and spread throughout the body due to its extremely small size, causing respiratory infections as well as damage to blood vessels, stunted growth in young children and even birth defects in babies born to mothers who have consistently respired higher levels of polluted air.

The larger PM10 particles can also cause further risks of lung infections, as well as causing irritation to the skin and mucous membranes, including the eyes, nose and mouth. There would be many who would not suffer such ill effects, due to Di An not having the highly polluted air that other cities are affected by, but people with compromised immune systems as well as preexisting conditions would do well to monitor the air quality and take appropriate action to minimize their breathing of the air when pollution levels are higher.

How does the air quality in Di An compare to Hanoi?

To compare with the capital city of Vietnam, Di An shows a significantly better quality than that of Hanoi’s. With readings taken in late 2020 during the month of November, Hanoi comes in consistently with PM2.5 readings between 43 to 65 µg/m³, putting the capital back and forth between a moderate rating, all the way up to an ‘unhealthy’ classification with its 65 µg/m³ reading. When observing Di An in the same time period, its PM2.5 readings class it between moderate and ‘good’, with a good classification requiring a reading of anywhere between 10 to 12 µg/m³, a respectable reading to achieve. As such, the air in Di An, as of 2020, is significantly cleaner than that of Hanoi’s, although as previously stated, with further initiatives implemented, it could stand to improve upon its pollution levels even further.