Air quality in Samut Songkhram

What is the air quality of Samut Songkhram?

Samut Songkhram has come in with a mixed level of air quality, showing certain months of its year as having significantly cleaner air, whilst others came in with levels of pollution that were high enough to cause respiratory distress to certain members of the population.

In 2021, Samut Songkhram was on record with a US AQI reading of 72, one that placed it into the 'moderate' rating of air quality. This requires a US AQI reading of anywhere between 51 to 100 to be classified as such, and is color coded as yellow on the air quality maps and graphs present throughout the IQAir website. At this level of air pollution, the general public may largely remain unaffected, able to go about their day to day routine without showing any signs of respiratory issues or related health problems.

However, more vulnerable members of the population may start to show symptoms, with groups such as the elderly, the immunocompromised and those with pre-existing health conditions (particularly of the cardiac or pulmonary variety) being more at risk of developing symptoms.

Other members of the population that can be considered at risk in Samut Songkhram include young children and babies, along with pregnant women. Young children who are going through their vital developmental stages are at increased risk of developing certain health issues, with many of them turning into lifelong conditions if pollution exposure is not lessened, or ceased entirely.

Health problems may include alteration to the nervous system, as well as damage to the various organ systems of the body. This can result in stunted growth, both physically and mentally, along with ailments such as asthma or psoriasis persisting amongst individuals.

At the time in which the above reading of 72 US AQI was taken (which was in late June of 2021), the PM2.5 concentration was shown to be two times higher than the world health organization's (WHO's) exposure recommendation. PM2.5 is fine particulate matter that is 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter. Upon inhalation, it can cause irritation to the respiratory tract, as well as inflammation of the lung tissue, with eventual scarring and reducing full lung function occuring in more serious cases.

Whilst the US AQI reading of 72 is still within the acceptable range set out by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), fine particles can still cause damage at any level in the air, and thus caution should always be practiced, particularly when air quality readings show signs of sudden elevation, which may happen during certain polluting events.

In 2020, Samut Songkhram came in with a yearly PM2.5 reading of 25.8 μg/m³, once again placing it into the 'moderate' pollution ratings bracket. This is rated differently in regards to PM2.5, which is measured in micrograms per cubic meter, and requires a PM2.5 reading of anywhere between 12.1 to 35.4 μg/m³ to be classified as such.

This reading placed Samut Songkhram in 528th place out of all cities ranked worldwide in 2020, as well as in 37th place out of all cities ranked in Thailand for the same year. For some comparison, the capital city of Bangkok, which is somewhat infamous for its pollution levels and haze caused by millions of people and large amounts of traffic, came in at a much better placing of 68th place out of all cities ranked in Thailand.

This shows, in closing, that Samut Songkhram is a city that can be subject to some poor quality of air, however it is not without its cleaner periods. Both of which will be discussed in the following questions.

Why does pollution occur in Samut Songkhram?

Pollution in Samut Songkhram occurs in many similar ways to other nearby cities, towns and provinces, albeit with slight differences due to the nature of what occurs in certain regions of the country. Northern cities tend to have large amounts of slash and burn farming related pollution, placing them far higher on the global ranking scale.

Samut Songkhram itself sees much of its ambient year round pollution levels caused by emissions and fumes from vehicles. Cars, motorbikes and other smaller personal vehicles would all contribute largely to the PM2.5 count, along with the other chemical pollutants that go into making up the US AQI aggregate.

US AQI is formed from the calculation of the main pollutants in the air, which includes the two particle pollutants, PM10 and PM2.5, along with nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and ozone (O₃). Vehicles release large amounts of nitrogen dioxide, with higher volumes of it in the atmosphere often correlating directly with heavy levels of traffic on the ground below.

Other sources of pollution would be the open burning of refuse and waste, although this is significantly less of an issue in more recent times. Emissions from power plants and factories would also add to the PM2.5 level, along with construction sites and road repairs being contributing factors.

When does Samut Songkhram have the worst pollution levels?

With the PM2.5 levels on record from 2020, it can be seen that the months of January and February, as well as November and December all had the highest levels of pollution. Their respective readings were 58.9 μg/m³, 53.8 μg/m³, 39.9 μg/m³ and 45.6 μg/m³.

This shows a pattern whereby pollution levels start to rise at the end of the year, before peaking in the early months of the following year. January had the highest level of pollution on record, coming in within the 'unhealthy' ratings bracket with its reading of 58.9 μg/m³.

When does Samut Songkhram see the best air quality?

The months of June through to September showed a rapid decline in pollution levels, with all of the mentioned months falling into the world health organization's (WHO's) target goal for the best quality of air at 10 μg/m³ or less.

The air quality levels from June to September were 7.3 μg/m³, 8.7 μg/m³, 8.8 μg/m³ and 7.3 μg/m³ respectively, making both June and September equally clean.

What pollutants are found in the air within Samut Songkhram?

Besides the main pollutants found in the US AQI aggregate, other pollutants present would be ones such as finely ground silica dust, soot, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), along with carbon monoxide (CO), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, along with acrolein, benzene and formaldehyde, which can be classed as VOCs due to them remaining in a gaseous state at lower temperatures.