Air quality in Chaloem Phra Kiat

How bad are the pollution levels in Chaloem Phra Kiat?

Chaloem Phra Kiat has placed highly amongst the worlds most polluted cities, based off of air quality records taken over the course of 2020. In the following year it continued to come in with elevated levels of air pollution, although not to the same drastic extent of many other cities throughout Thailand, particularly those in the northern region.

Chaloem Phra Kiat instead sees more of a raised ambient pollution level, missing the large spikes in pollution followed by extremely clean spells that other cities see. This is double edged in nature, as although Chaloem Phra Kiat does not have the extremely dangerous months with high levels of PM2.5 that its northern counterparts do, it also does not have any months in which the air quality drops to below the world health organization's (WHO's) target goal of 10 μg/m³ or less, for the best quality of air.

This means that the inhabitants of Chaloem Phra Kiat, and the extended province of Saraburi would be subject to constantly elevated levels of smoke, haze and clouds of fine particles, which even in smaller volumes can be harmful, both on a long and short term basis.

In late June of 2021, Chaloem Phra Kiat came in with a US AQI reading of 78, placing it within the 'moderate' ratings bracket for air quality. This rating 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 in use throughout the IQAir website, as well as air quality graphs and forecasts. Whilst this falls within the ‘acceptable’ range of air quality set out by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it still may present some health issues and respiratory distress amongst more vulnerable groups within Chaloem Phra Kiat, and the extended region of Saraburi.

Other readings of US AQI that have come in over the same period of time include highs of 89, a reading that has edged its way towards the 'unhealthy for sensitive groups' ratings bracket, which requires its own reading of 101 to 150. Irritation or respiratory distress may start to present itself to the general public, as well as affecting the aforementioned vulnerable groups. These include people such as the elderly, who are very much prone to suffering from adverse health effects caused by respiratory or cardiac distress, along with children, babies, pregnant mothers, and those with pre-existing health conditions or poor immune systems.

As such, Chaloem Phra Kiat is not an area that has severe levels of air pollution, although there are months that come in considerably higher on the PM2.5 ratings scale, as will be discussed later. Referring back to the US AQI reading, US AQI itself is a number aggregated from the various main pollutants found in the air, calculated off of their volume. Some of these pollutants include ones such as the two main forms of particle pollution, PM10 and PM2.5 (with PM2.5 being the far more dangerous of the two), along with sulfur dioxide (SO₂), ozone (O₃) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), all of which can be released in large amounts from sources such as vehicles, fires and other similar combustion sources.

What is causing Chaloem Phra Kiat to become polluted?

Causes of air pollution in Chaloem Phra Kiat follow the pattern of the ones mentioned above, with sources such as vehicular fumes and emissions causing the ambient PM2.5 readings (along with other pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide) to stay elevated. Although cities such as Bangkok have seen success in eliminating large numbers of offending vehicles that give out excessive amounts of pollution due to being aged or of poor quality, these types of motors still remain in use throughout the rest of Thailand.

Aged vehicles such as motorbikes, cars, buses, and heavier freight vehicles such as lorries and trucks can leak larger amounts of noxious oil vapors when their engines are not up to international standards, causing far greater amounts of pollution to be released into the atmosphere.

Other causes of pollution would be ones such as open burn sites, with the burning of both organic material and synthetic materials in waste causing large amounts of novel and highly dangerous pollutants to enter into the atmosphere. As mentioned, although not as prevalent as its northern counterparts, cases of slash and burn farming may cause vast clouds of smoke to drift over to cities or provinces many miles away, causing the PM2.5 count to once again become elevated.

What time of year has the worst pollution in Chaloem Phra Kiat?

Looking at the data provided on the 2020 records, it can be seen that whilst Chaloem Phra Kiat did not have any excessively high readings, there were months with definitive elevations in the PM2.5 count. March through to May, as well as November and December all had higher levels of pollution, with March being the most polluted month of the year with its reading of 37.5 μg/m³.

This placed it into the 'unhealthy for sensitive groups' ratings bracket, making it the only month of the year to do so, whilst all other months remained within the 'moderate' pollution bracket, which requires its own reading of 12.1 to 35.4 μg/m³ to be classified.

When is the air safest to breathe in Chaloem Phra Kiat?

As mentioned, although the PM2.5 count does not fall below 12.1 μg/m³ at any point of the year, June through to September presented with the cleanest levels of air quality. Their respective readings were 17.7 μg/m³, 18.7 μg/m³ and 19.3 μg/m³, effectively making June the cleanest month of the year, although not one that is by any means perfect.

What types of pollution can be found in the air in Chaloem Phra Kiat?

Other pollutants found within Chaloem Phra Kiat besides those mentioned in the US AQI collective include ones such as black carbon, the main component of soot, as well as other fine particles such as silica and gravel dust.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) would also be prevalent, as both they and black carbon are released from the combustion of both fossil fuels and organic matter. Some examples of VOCs include benzene, toluene, styrene and formaldehyde.