Modern air quality monitoring equipment known as ‘Environmental Dust Monitor’ has been provided by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) to the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA).
A Pak-EPA official told the media that it can monitor very fine particles suspended in the air that are injurious to human health. He said that the air quality of the federal capital on Tuesday was reported consistently healthy since the past week as the ratio of air pollutants was recorded below the permissible limits in the atmosphere due to reduced vehicular traffic in peak hours.
He said that fine particles, known as Particulate Matter (PM), can be of size 10 micrometres (PM10), 2.5 micrometres (PM2.5) and 1 micrometre (PM1). He said, " PM10 is 1/7th the width of human hair while PM2.5 is 1/30th of it. Such fine particles suspended in the air can originate from multiple sources, including dust, smoke, chemicals and pollutants from vehicles and industrial activities."
The monitor will work under the optical principle where fewer efforts and better data can be obtained. Pak-EPA plans to recommend this equipment for air quality monitoring in areas where smog is a continuous challenge in Pakistan, he added.
Pak-EPA data revealed that the air quality throughout the three intervals of data monitoring remained low as the pollutants were far less than the permissible limits of national environmental quality standards (NEQS). The hazardous air pollutant particulate matter of PM2.5 which was a lethal atmospheric contaminant remained below the NEQS of 35 mic-programmes per cubic metre which proves the air quality as healthy.
The PM2.5 is generated through combustion of an engine, industrial emissions, burning garbage or inflammable material, and dust blew up by fasting moving cars plying on non-cemented patches of the roads. Nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide were recorded below permissible ratios in the past 24 hours in the atmosphere. These effluents were mainly produced during the operational activities of industrial plants and factories that were already under control, he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 27th, 2022.
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