Air quality in Khao Kho

Is there heavy air pollution present in Khao Kho?

Air pollution levels in Khao Kho have come in with some high figures, indicating that the early months of 2022 (and the latter months of 2021) have larger amounts of smoke, haze and other forms of hazardous pollutants permeating the atmosphere. In mid-March of 2022, a US AQI figure of 152 was taken, placing Khao Kho into the 'unhealthy' air quality rating bracket, with a PM2.5 concentration some 11 times over the World Health Organization's (WHO's) air quality guideline standard being measured. As such, the air in Khao Kho is indeed highly polluted, and although these levels will likely lessen by a significant amount towards the mid months of the year, greater care should be taken during times when the pollution readings are much higher.

Who can be affected by high levels of air pollution in Khao Kho?

Whilst there are most certainly more prominent groups that are adversely affected by pollution exposure in Khao Kho, it is of note that any level of air pollution at all, carries with it the possibility to cause unfavorable health effects amongst those who are exposed, including both young and healthy citizens or those with no prior health conditions. Clouds of smoke and fine particles may trigger sudden immune responses, cause health conditions related to the skin, lungs and heart (in more severe cases) to arise. Directing back to the question, those who are more at risk include groups such as younger children and babies, both of whom are highly vulnerable to the damaging side effects of chemical and particle exposure. Alterations to the nervous system can take place, due to many chemical compounds having this property when they accumulate in large enough quantities within the human body. This can result in delayed growth, as well as developmental problems and impaired mental capabilities, with youths who suffer from excessive pollution exposure for many years sometimes having these ailments, as well as sustaining damage to their lungs and other organ systems.

This can once again have a domino effect of stunting development as well as leading to other lifelong health issues. Other groups that fall into the sensitive bracket are pregnant women, who much like the young children and baby demographic, can subject their unborn child to the negative side effects of pollution exposure due to certain hazardous chemicals being able to make their way to the child in the womb, causing instances of babies being born prematurely, with low birth weight, as well as increasing the rates of infant mortality. Elderly citizens in Khao Kho are also at risk, due to them being more prone to suffering from respiratory or cardiac ailments.

Common chest or upper respiratory tract infections may develop into more life-threatening or terminal illnesses amongst the elderly, with other comorbidities such as sedentary lifestyle, pre-existing health conditions, obesity, or habits such as smoking lending themselves to making these conditions extensively worse. Lastly, many people can exhibit a hypersensitive disposition towards certain ultrafine particles and other chemicals found in the pollution in Khao Kho. As such, all of these groups would do well to stay up to date on the pollution levels, both for the current day as well as the predictions for the coming week. Preventative measures such as wearing fine particle filtering masks and avoiding outdoor activities can aid considerably in reducing more serious side effects.

What time of the year is Khao Kho most likely to be more polluted?

Khao Kho may be affected by the instances of slash and burn farming practices that take place throughout Thailand. Due to these illegal practices following a set course of patterns each year, typically the pollution levels tend to correlate with the months that see the highest levels of burning taking place, although as with all related occurrences, many deviations can take place that sees unexpected rises or even drops in the air pollution levels take place throughout Khao Kho and neighboring cities. Regarding these patterns that are most likely to take place, Khao Kho will see its highest levels of air pollution in the last few months of the year (typically from September onwards), and these will continue into the earlier months of the following year, usually carrying on until April (once again with many deviations from this norm being possible) before they abate and return to considerably cleaner levels, due to the absence of smoke clouds floating in from surrounding rural areas.

What chemical pollutants can be found in the air in Khao Kho?

Some more prominent pollutants that can be found in areas around Khao Kho, as well as surrounding districts and cities, include ones that mainly emanate from combustion sources. These on their own are of an extremely large number, with open burn fires, natural disasters (such as forest fires, houses or buildings catching fire), combustion within vehicle engines as well as boilers in factories and other similar industrial sites, as was mentioned earlier in the question regarding what the main causes of polluted air in Khao Kho are. The aforementioned open burn sites, or slash and burn farming practices, can cause many different pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and black carbon to be released into the atmosphere, along with the other pollutants that go into calculating the US AQI aggregate.

The chemicals used to calculate this US AQI figure include nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, as well as the two main forms of particle pollution, PM2.5 and PM10. Of these two, the smaller PM2.5 is well known as the far more dangerous, due to its minute size of 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter allowing it to bypass the bodies defense systems and lodge deep within the tissue of the lungs (with more on this being discussed in the following health issues question). PM2.5 and some forms of PM10 can consist of materials such as water droplets and vapor, along with a variety of other liquids that can be aerosolized. Other materials include mold and fungal spores, bacteria, metals, nitrates and sulfates, along with finely ground silica dust, which can have a carcinogenic effect when inhaled.

Some examples of the aforementioned VOCs include chemical compounds such as benzene, styrene, methylene chloride, toluene, xylene and formaldehyde. Their volatile nature allows them to maintain a gaseous state at much lower temperatures, thus making them much easier to breathe, and would be encountered prevalently around inhabited areas of Khao Kho, due to their discharge from everything from fires, cars, factories as well as even from household items. VOCs are one of the major sources of indoor air pollution and can emanate from products such as glue, paint, varnish, as well as aerosols such as deodorant, scented candles and other toiletries. These are some of the more prevalent air pollutants that may be found around Khao Kho, with certain areas such as busy roads and intersections that see a high level of rush hour traffic having higher concentrations of pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, ozone and black carbon. Extra care should be taken around such areas, and wearing fine particle filtering masks can aid greatly in the reduction of hazardous material inhalation.

What is causing the air to be polluted in Khao Kho?

Air pollution can accumulate in larger amounts around Khao Kho from a variety of sources. These include clouds of smoke and haze, as well as fine particulate matter blown over from fires from rural areas and neighboring provinces. This is a countrywide issue, and although it has been made illegal, continues to occur due to the difficulty in enforcing its complete cessation.

Other causes of air pollution include emissions from factories, industrial sites and other similar areas that rely on fossil fuels, with heavy machinery and construction sites also adding to this. Furthermore, construction sites can give off large amounts of PM10 and PM2.5 if not properly tended to, with uncovered sand piles and accumulations of cement and other fine materials being blown up into the air when they are not properly hosed down or cleaned. Vehicles are also another contributing factor, being one of the more ambient, year-round causes of air pollution within Khao Kho.