Air in Metro Cebu still safe, clean, healthy: DENR 7

DESPITE the presence of a thinning haze in the skyline, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 reported that the air quality in Metro Cebu remains in a fair and good condition.

Eddie Llamedo, DENR 7 spokesperson, said that based on the results of their ambient air quality monitoring survey conducted last Oct. 1 and 2, the total suspended particulate (TSP) matter on a 24hour average reached 69, 108, 33, and 83 micrograms per normal cubic meter.

Based on the DENR’s 24-hour guideline value, 81 to 230 micrograms per normal cubic meter is considered “fair.”

TSP matter refers to the amount of solid pollutants, such as dust and soot in the air, with the guideline level of 90 micrograms per normal cubic meter.

“This means that the air is safe, clean and healthy and does not reach the unhealthy or hazardous levels,” Llamedo said.

Natural sources of TSP include soil, bacteria, fungi, molds and yeast; pollen and salt particles from evaporating sea water. Human sources of TSP include combustion products from space heating, industrial process and power generation.

The DENR 7’s Environmental Man- agement Bureau conducted the ambient air quality monitoring survey in five stations located across Metro Cebu.

The five stations include the DENR 7 compound in Barangay Banilad, Mandaue City; in the City of Naga; Mabolo Police Station in Barangay Mabolo; Cebu Business Park and at the Crown Regency Hotel on Osmeña Blvd., all in Cebu City.

While three of the stations yielded a fair air quality status, stations at the Cebu Business Park and Mabolo showed good air quality results, recording an annual geometric mean of 37 to 50 micrograms per normal cubic meter.

Llamedo said that public awareness and participation served as the “key fac- tors” in achieving and maintaining a level of air quality that protects the environment and human health, especially in most densely populated areas.

He assured that the DENR 7 will continue to regularly monitor the situation by getting samples to maintain that the air quality is within standards set forth in the Philippine Clean Air Act.

Last week, the weather bureau reported that the haze that covered Cebu’s skylines may have been caused by ongoing wildfires from Indonesia.

A professor of the University of San Carlos also said that the haze may have been caused by an atmospheric inversion that prevents gases from the ground from entering the atmosphere.