3 Metro Manila cities register ‘unhealthy air’

MANILA, Philippines — Some areas in Metro Manila registered “unhealthy air” yesterday as haze enveloped skies amid the New Year’s Eve revelry, according to the monitoring of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)’s Environmental Management Bureau.

The EMB said the Air Quality Monitoring Station in Makati registered “acutely unhealthy” for ground-level upwind particulate matter (PM2.5) after recording 291 micrograms per normal cubic meter (µg/Ncm).

Pasig City recorded “unhealthy air for sensitive groups,” with 115 µg/Ncm.

The DENR has set the air quality of 0 to 50 µg/Ncm as good; 51 to 100 µg/Ncm as fair; 101 to 150 µg/Ncm as unhealthy; 151 to 200 µg/Ncm as very unhealthy; 201 to 300 µg/Ncm as acutely unhealthy, and 301 to 500 µg/Ncm as emergency.

Taguig recorded “fair” air after accumulating 59 µg/Ncm, and Parañaque, “good” after its air quality reached 24 µg/Ncm.

“Air quality monitoring stations in other cities are for repair,” the EMB said.

The DENR has advised residents in areas with very unhealthy air quality index to avoid heavy traffic locations.

People with heart or respiratory diseases such as asthma were advised to stay indoors as much as possible and postpone trips if the air quality in the area is very unhealthy.

Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) reported delays and cancellations of flights due to thick smoke from fireworks.

CAAP spokesman Eric Apolonio said thick smoke can pose challenges to flight operations of airlines. –  Rudy Santos