Air pollution increases health risk

The Jakarta Post, Friday, April 7, 2006

Whether inside the air-conditioned comfort of a private car, or a stuffy mass transit vehicle, Jakartans should avoid traffic jams at all costs if they value their health, according to a new study.

Research conducted by the University of Indonesia’s School of Community Health between April and October of last year found that the health risks from air pollution increase significantly when people are stuck in traffic jams. It also found being inside an enclosed air-conditioned car does not help.

“It’s true that the level of particulate matter is lower when you’re inside an air-conditioned car, but the level of carbon monoxide actually remains high because the flow of air is restricted,” the head of UI’s environmental health department, Budi Haryanto, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Furthermore, the research — sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Asian Environment Project — found that in congested areas the level of carbon monoxide can go up to more than three or four times the State Ministry for the Environment’s accepted standard of 20 parts per million (ppm) within eight hours.

The level of particulate matter measuring 2.5 micrometers or smaller (PM2.5) can be six to 12 times higher than the accepted U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) standard of 65 micrograms per cubic meter.

“This means we are continuously breathing air at a concentrate far higher than the accepted standard of health,” said Budi, the study’s principal investigator. He added that the research used USEPA standards as there is not yet a local standard for PM2.5.

Particulate matter and carbon monoxide are two of the six most common air pollutants. The others are ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and lead.

Particulate matter is a complex mixture of extremely small particles and liquid droplets made up of acids, organic chemicals, metals and soil or dust particles.

At 2.5 micrometers — about 1/30 the size of a human hair — or smaller, these particles can pass through the throat and nose, enter the lungs, and cause serious health problems. PM2.5 is emitted by automobiles, burning plant matter, and metal smelting and processing.

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that forms when the carbon in fuel is not burned completely.

Budi said high exposure to these two types of pollutants can shorten life expectancy, leading to the deaths of people at a productive age, increased infant deaths in high pollution areas and increased deaths of people with heart and lung conditions.

“And we know that for the last 30 years the highest rate of acute respiratory infection, at 48 percent, has been in Jakarta,” he said.

The research followed the daily activities of 40 respondents divided into four groups. They were a group of 10 elementary school students from both air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned schools, 10 users of private vehicles (air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned), 10 users of public transportation (air-conditioned and non) and 10 traffic police officers.

“The vehicle users were all commuters from places such as Bekasi and Tangerang, and the students were from the five regions of Jakarta,” Budi explained. He said the traffic police were chosen from those stationed at the Pancoran intersection, the Kuningan intersection and Blok M in South Jakarta, and the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle and the Harmoni intersection in Central Jakarta.

Each group was monitored for 72 hours to determine their daily pattern of activities and the concentration of pollutants inhaled during those activities.

“We found that the elementary school students inhaled the least pollutants due to the proximity of their schools to their homes. Those at highest risk were the traffic police, particularly those on duty at the Pancoran intersection,” Budi said.

Conditions that affect the quality of air include engine technology and the kind of fuel used in vehicles, as well as transportation management techniques that control traffic flow.

“It doesn’t matter if vehicles all use good quality fuel and have great engine technology, if they run at less than 40 kilometers per hour, they will still create pollution,” Budi said.

Minimizing the risk

University of Indonesia community health expert Budi Haryanto has the following advice for Jakartans to minimize the health risks caused by traffic-related air pollution:

* Avoid traffic jams
* When using air-conditioned cars, make sure to open the car window for a minute or two following a traffic jam to get fresh air inside the vehicle
* Spend leisure time in green open spaces away from traffic to cleanse the body of harmful pollutants

City urged to upgrade air monitoring system

The Jakarta Post, Monday, April 3, 2006

A city regulation on air pollution control may have been in place since February, but without a reliable air quality monitoring system, experts say its success would depend largely on guesswork.

“One of the main functions of monitoring air quality is to assess the adequacy and effectiveness of pollution control programs, such as the requirement for private vehicles to conduct emission testing, and for that we need to be sure of the accuracy of the system,” Swisscontact’s campaign program officer for the Clean Air Project, Damantoro, told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

He said that air quality monitoring was the starting point for all efforts to control air pollution in the city, with data from the system used to assess the nature and magnitude of air pollution problems, and monitor trends in air quality so that timely policy decisions could be made to prevent air pollution episodes.

The current minimum threshold for vehicular gas emission, for example, may no longer be adequate two years into the future when the number of vehicles increases, Damantoro said.

“A faulty system means the data available for determining the air quality threshold would also be wrong, and this could lead to serious health consequences,” he explained.

Jakarta has five fixed air quality monitoring stations one mobile station, and five data displays, to monitor the air quality of an area of some 650 square kilometers.

As a comparison, Singapore with an area of 647.5 square kilometers has 16 air monitoring stations — 13 to monitor general ambient air quality, and three others to monitor roadside air pollution.

Data from the five stations is collected every 30 minutes and sent to the office of the Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD). After a full 24 hours the data is calculated to form the Pollution Standard Index (PSI), measuring the concentration of the top five pollutants — namely particulate matter (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) — and sent to the data displays at 3 p.m. every day.

“The PSI is intended to advise the public about the general health effects associated with different pollution levels, and the precautions to take when air pollution levels escalate to the unhealthy or hazardous ranges,” BPLHD’s head of environmental damage control Daniel Abbas said, explaining that the data informs the public about air pollution levels over the past 24 hours, rather than real-time levels.

However, even Daniel questioned the legitimacy of data provided by the stations — installed in 2000 from a grant from the Swedish government.

“I’m not sure that data collected from only five monitoring stations could adequately represent pollution levels in Jakarta, considering the city’s size,” he said.

The imbalance in the number of monitoring stations and area of land may mean that serious pollution levels are offset by favorable data from other locations, Daniel said.

Furthermore, a joint survey by non-governmental organization Swisscontact and Austrian-based private company Zauner Anlagenbau GmbH, recently discovered that poor maintenance of the equipment and the presence of new buildings near the stations were reducing the accuracy of data.

Swisscontact’s program officer Heru Sugiarto also said that the survey found the ambient air and dust sampling units were almost covered by nearby trees.

“The monitoring stations are indeed very important, because while we can choose our food and drink, we can’t choose the air we breathe, we can only try to suppress the pollution,” Daniel said, adding that to add more monitoring stations, unfortunately, money was the issue.

Eateries, pubs cater to smokers as Jakarta enforces a bylaw

The Jakarta Post, Wednesday, January 4, 2006″

I would never go to a place where they won’t let me smoke,” Prasetyo Utomo, sales manager of the Panglima Polim branch of Bank Danamon, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

He and a colleague were having lunch at a local eatery, Es Teler 77, in Plasa Semanggi and doing what they love to do most — smoke.

Given this society’s tobacco friendly attitude, expecting a total ban on smoking inside public facilities — except in special rooms designed for smoking — would be nothing short of mission impossible.

The Jakarta administration’s Bylaw No. 2/2005 on pollution control — to be partly implemented in February — requires the designation of special smoking areas in enclosed public places including offices, bus terminals, train stations, shopping malls, airports, hotels and restaurants.

“But many building managers simply transfer smoking areas into the restaurants and cafeterias in the building, without requiring them to install air circulation systems such as exhaust fans,” Jakarta Environment Management Agency (BPLHD) head Kosasih Wirahadikusumah said recently.

He pointed out that without exhaust fans, the smoke from cigarettes would only be redistributed inside the building through its central air conditioning systems.

This is evident in several areas along Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin where cafes and restaurants are found.

Plasa Semanggi, for example — while prohibiting visitors from smoking in the mall — does not require tenants to follow that rule.

Most cafes and restaurants in the shopping mall divide their dining areas into smoking and non-smoking sections, only a few, however, provide exhaust fans in the smoking area.

O Bistro only provides air conditioners to blow away cigarette smoke from its smoking section towards the mall interior, while Es Teler 77 simply does away with the segregation and lets both smokers and non-smokers sit in the same area.

“It’s difficult to forbid people not to smoke, we don’t want to alienate our customers,” Es Teler 77 store manager Cici said.

On the other hand, because customers at Kinno Taki grill their own food, the Japanese barbecue restaurant provides exhaust fans built into each of its dining tables.

“Each of our tables have its own separate exhaust fans, so that smoke from both the grill and cigarettes are sucked into it,” Kinno Taki manager Ilham S. said.

Plasa Semanggi’s food court, Cosmo food plaza, are also divided into smoking and non-smoking sections and equipped with exhaust fans.

Along Jl. Thamrin in Central Jakarta, coffee chain Starbucks does not let people smoke inside, explaining politely via a posted notice next to the cashier that cigarette smoke would ruin the quality of its coffee beans.

Across the street, fast food chain McDonald’s bans customers from smoking in its main dining hall and provides a smoking area — equipped with exhaust fans — in part of the McCafe section of the restaurant.

And on the second floor of the same building, Twenty Four restaurant and the Manchester United pub, only provide small sections for non-smokers.

“Our two-story dining areas are all open to smokers, and of course our bar area. But we have a special section for non-smoking diners in the front of the restaurant,” Gary P. Rantung, Manchester United’s restaurant and banquet manager, said.

So perhaps Prasetyo Utomo’s opinion on the subject still rules what restaurants do in city.

“After all what is good food? For smokers, the best places to go are those that let us smoke in peace,” Utomo’s companion Ari Prasetya said, while pointing out that people who frequent cafes and bars are usually those who smoke.

Scrapping car tax worsen pollution

Jakarta Post Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Many things are done in the name of the economy, and many other things are given up to make sure the wheels of industry continue rolling, including it seems, the right of people to breathe fresher air.

The central government’s recent decision to scrap the new Governmental Regulation No. 41/2005 on car luxury tax was criticized by the environmental umbrella group, the Forum for Cleaner Emissions Partnership (MEB). The group said the move went against the government’s commitment to create a sustainable, greener environment.

“The decision conflicts with the Ministry of Transportation’s commitment to lessen air pollution through emission tests for private vehicles in 2006,” MEB program manager Firdaus Cahyadi said in a statement received by The Jakarta Post during the weekend.

Environmentalists’ hopes were initially high that the number of private vehicles in the city — estimated at about 1.3 million — could be reduced when the government increased fuel prices in October.

And according to data from the Association of Indonesian Automotive Industries (Gaikindo), there has been a dramatic drop-off in the sales of cars — to about 44,000 in September, and 35,000 units in October, following August’s record sales of 50,624 units.

A gloomy Gaikindo predicted it would miss 2005’s target sales of 550,000 cars sold, and revised down its target for this year to between 425,000 and 500,000 units.

Another drop in car sales was expected when on Oct. 25 the government formalized a luxury tax increase, aiming at further lowering the country’s dependence on gasoline.

While luxury tax for vehicles with engine capacity below 1,500 cc remained unchanged, the new regulation would have increased luxury tax on sedans with engine capacity between 1,500 cc and 2,500 cc by 40 percent to 50 percent, multi-purpose vehicles (MPV) between 1,500 cc and 2,500 cc to 25 percent, and gasoline-fueled vehicles with engine capacity between 2,500 cc and 3,000 cc to 50 percent. The tax was to have been imposed in early 2006.

However, after pressure from auto makers, who noted that they made up 6.67 percent of the nation’s total industry, on Dec. 22, the government ditched the tax.

It said fuel consumption had already decreased since the price increase and that further measures to lower dependence on fuel were not needed.

Minister of Industry Fahmi Idris said scrapping the tax would mean passenger car sales could increase to up to 560,000 units next year, worth about Rp 8.6 trillion (about US$996.5 million) for the government in other tax revenues.

Environmentalists, meanwhile, point out that motor vehicles noise and emissions made up about 70 percent of the city’s pollution.

“The increasing number of people using motor vehicles will automatically push up the level of air and noise pollution in the city,” Institute of Transportation Studies (Intran) director Darmaningtyas said. This increase would cause a corresponding gain in heart and lung illnesses, he said.

Until Dec. 1, the city had only 28 days this year when the air quality was categorized as “good”, compared to 53 days in 2004, and 75 days in 2001.

Instead of encouraging more car owners to jam the roads of Jakarta — where the average speed is a sluggish 14.75 kilometers an hour and traffic jam-related financial losses are estimated at Rp 41.05 billion a day — the government would do better to push for a more environmentally friendly mass transportation system, MEB said.

The group said the Jakarta administration’s Busway program was a good way to increase the use of public transport, but noted the plan was offset by the government’s scheme to build six more inner-city toll roads by 2008.

“This plan accommodates the demand for more private vehicles on the streets, and only shows the current government’s fixation with the interests of investors,” Firdaus said.

Ambitious clean air bylaw lacks support provisions

The Jakarta Post, Thursday 29 December 2005

The New Year’s resolution by the Jakarta administration is to make the city breathable, but that could be too ambitious even with the issuance of Bylaw No. 2/2005 on air pollution control, which will go into effect in February.

Except for Gubernatorial Regulation No. 75/2005 supporting the bylaw’s smoking ban, no other regulation has been issued to support other aspects of the bylaw, such as the use of natural gas in all public transportation and government vehicles, as well as the control of vehicular emissions.

“We have completed a draft regulation for the use of natural gas in public transportation, however we lack support from the City Council,” Head of the Jakarta Environment Management Agency (BPLHD) Kosasih Wirahadikusumah said on Wednesday.

Looking at past experiences in trying to encourage the use natural gas, Kosasih cited the implementation of a Gubernatorial Instruction in 1992 effectively requiring taxi companies to use the alternative fuel in at least 20 percent of the cars in their fleet.

“It worked well at the time because the price difference between natural gas and gasoline was quite high. But as time went on, this difference lessened until the price of the two fuels became relatively similar,” he said, explaining that without the price edge, natural gas became too ineffective for taxi companies.

At present there are only about 500 government-owned vehicles using natural gas, Kosasih — who was a guest speaker at a press conference on Jakarta’s air quality organized by the Forum for Cleaner Emission Partnership (MEB) on Wednesday — added.

To date, only four of the 18 of the original natural gas fuel stations are still operational. These is one on Jl. Sumenep in Menteng, Central Jakarta; another in the Semanggi area of Central Jakarta; another in Tebet, South Jakarta; and on Jl. D.I. Panjaitan in Cawang, East Jakarta.

Kosasih said that it was only after the fuel price hikes on Oct. 1 that natural gas became feasible again.

“But after ignoring their gas conversion kits for more than a decade, reusing them without first servicing the kits can have disastrous results,” he said, citing the explosion of a Kosti Taxi on Dec 12.

This incident, has in turn heightened the public’s concern over the safety of using such fuel in vehicles.

“Without an intelligible explanation, there will always be public resistance towards the use of natural gas, particularly the safety aspects,” MEB program manager Firdaus Cahyadi said during the press conference.

Also during the press conference, MEB researcher Joko Sulistyono highlighted the government’s dominance over the country’s fuel industry, which unfortunately still looks down on natural gas production for fuel.

Kosasih, however, was optimistic that with the Jakarta administration’s commitment to using natural gas in buses on the new busway lines, more demand would follow and with it the industry. After that, it was a matter of time before all other public transportation companies followed suit.

“The new bylaw will possibly be implemented to force public transportation companies to install natural gas devices for all their fleets when they renew their operating licenses,” he said.

Meanwhile, experts say the easiest part to implement on Bylaw No. 2, is the requirement to regularly inspect and maintain private cars and motorcycles so that they adhere to the recommended emission standards, but that too has its problems.

Kosasih said that to date there were only 80 certified car shops in the city able to carry out emission tests, while at least 200 would be needed. And only 239 out of 600 certified technicians were currently available.

“Furthermore, there are no specific emissions standards available for two-stroke engine motorcycles,” he said.

Meanwhile, Firdaus said that the public — familiar with the bribery that goes on with the road worthiness tests for public vehicles — only view the new regulation to put private vehicles through regular inspections and maintenance as just another method of extortion.

“So unless the government repairs the road worthiness test for public vehicles, this image will remain in the public’s mind and they will, of course, resist,” he said.