Air quality in Hai Duong

How polluted is the air in Thanh Pho Hai Duong?

The city of Hai Doung (with Thanh Pho meaning city in Vietnamese) is located in the northernmost region of Vietnam, some 58km away from the capital city of Hanoi as well as being near to the major industrial port city Haiphong. As such, being nestled between two major cities with high concentrations of people as well as industrial areas, the air in Hai Duong is subject to some fairly elevated levels of pollution.

Readings of PM2.5found in the air in late November of 2020 came in with some high numbers of up to 101.3 µg/m³ recorded on the 25^th of November, but with a general average of between 40 to 50 µg/m³. These readings of PM2.5 refer to the amount of fine particulate matter in the air, being of 2.5 or less micrometers in diameter. The reason why these tiny particles are used as such an important gauge of pollution levels is because of the highly detrimental effects they can have on human health, being able to penetrate deep into the lung tissue and even enter the bloodstream due to their extremely small size, causing those exposed to breathing it over prolonged periods of time to suffer from a number of adverse health effects, which will be discussed in more detail.

Referring to the aforementioned high reading of 101.3 µg/m³, this would cause the air quality to be classed as ‘unhealthy’, which requires a PM2.5 reading of anywhere between 55.5 to 150/4 µg/m³ to be classed as such. This puts Hai Duong’s highest reading at some 10 times over the World Health Organizations target goal of 0 to 10 µg/m³, making it a period of extremely high pollution. The average readings of 40 to 50 µg/m³ put it into the ‘unhealthy for certain groups’ bracket (35.5 to 55.4 µg/m³ required), which is still an undesirable quality of air to breathe, being dangerous for those such as young children and the elderly, as well as those suffering from poor health or compromised immune systems. Going by these readings, this makes the air in Hai Duong above average in terms of how polluted a city should be.

What are the main causes of pollution in Than Pho Hai Duong?

The main causes of pollution that one would find in a city such as Hai Duong would be focused on two main offending factors. One would be the automobile industry, with the number of cars, buses, trucks as well as motorbikes on the road emitting high volumes of pollution such as nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and sulfur dioxide (SO₂), with nitrogen dioxide being of particular concern because of its direct correlation with vehicle usage. With a population of over half a million people (approximately 507,000 as of 2019) all living in a city with an area of 71.38km², this makes Hai Duong quite densely populated, and as such it would have a high amount of cars and motorbikes inhabiting the roads, not to mention the large amount of trucks and busses ferrying goods and people back and forth to Hanoi and Haiphong (as well as China, being in relatively close proximity to the Chinese border).

The other main cause of pollution would be the industrial sector, with the whole region being known as a highly industrialized province. There are a large number of factories within the city limits, with production ranging from car manufacturing (with a Ford car Factory found in the city) as well as a number of other ones that provide both local and international suppliers with industrial goods. These factories contribute to the levels of pollution in the air, with primary and secondary pollutants such as carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO­₂) and ozone (O₃) being released, as well as fine particle matters such as black carbon and volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), with black carbon being the primary component of soot, being produced through inefficient combustion of fossil fuels (on which many factories still rely on). This combustion also releases the volatile organic compounds, all contributing to the worsened levels of pollution found in Hai Duoung’s air.

What are the negative health effects of breathing the air in Thanh Pho Hai Duong?

When regarding the higher readings as previously mentioned, with PM2.5 levels of 103 µg/m³ being recorded on the 25^th of November, it would stand to reason that breathing in air with such a high concentration of particulate matter would have many consequences on one’s health. These include, but are not limited to, incidences of respiratory conditions such as aggravated asthma attacks, as well as the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), an umbrella term for a number of lung related ailments such as chronic bronchitis as well as emphysema, and a general reduction in overall lung function.

Damage to the circulatory system is also a possibility, due to PM2.5’s extremely small size and ability to enter the blood stream. Instances of heart disease’s and arrythmias are not uncommon, as well as an increased risk of heart attack. These are very real dangers that come with breathing in highly polluted air, and as such a concentrated effort should be made by individuals to take preventative measures such as wearing particle filtering masks and avoiding outdoor activities during periods of such high pollution levels.

When is pollution in Thanh Pho Hai Duong at its worst?

Although there is a lack of data recorded in years prior to 2020, it stands to reason that the pollution in Hai Duong would follow similar patterns to its neighboring cities of Hanoi and Haiphong. When observing the levels of air pollution in Hanoi over the year of 2019, the months that stand out as being the worst were at the beginning of the year as well as the very end of it, with small periods of respite sitting in the middle of the year. Hanoi recorded its highest PM2.5 numbers in November and December of 2019, and when observing the data in 2020 regarding pollution in Hai Duong, it also shows elevated levels of pollution in November similar to that of Hanoi’s. Thus, the months that pollution levels are at their worst in Hai Duong would be November, December and January, the months of beginning and late year.

What can Thanh Pho Hai Duong do to reduce its pollution levels?

To reduce levels of pollution in highly industrialized areas, simple steps such as imposing fines on the use of fossil fuels or singling out and reducing their overall use would go a long way to reducing pollutants such as sulfur dioxide from the air. Taxing or slowly illegalizing the use of diesel fuels in vehicles would also help considerably in reducing pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, as well as reducing the production of fine particulate matter such as black carbon and other volatile organic compounds. A reduction in these would mean a lowering in overall pollution levels.