OML Center Research Fellow Publishes Rappler Article on EDSA Air Quality

Published by omlwordpress at December 11, 2016

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OML Center Research Fellow, Dr. Gerry Bagtasa, has recently written an article for Rappler – local social news network – entitled “Measuring EDSA’s air quality: Going through rush-hour pollution” that discusses a part of the ongoing Metro Manila Aerosol Characterization Experiment (MACE). The article compares the quality of air in the main arterial roadway of Metro Manila on a Wednesday and a Sunday morning in May using the amount of soot or “carbon-containing products from incomplete combustion processes in the engine” (IPCC, 1999) as the parameter for measurement.

To no surprise, the two-and-a-half hour drive from Muñoz to the Mall of Asia (MOA) at midweek exposed high concentrations of soot in SM North Edsa, Cubao, Ayala, and PhilCOA. This is in contrast to the relatively lower soot concentrations on the Sunday morning drive “due to fewer cars”. Dr. Bagtasa summarizes by concluding that “weekday EDSA rush hour pollution is bad, especially when people are exposed for long durations.”

Although regulations and policies related to the management of mobile sources of air pollution have been set in place such as those cited in the 2010 – 2011 National Air Quality Status Report: Revised Emission Standards for Motor Vehicles Equipped with Compression-Ignition and Spark Ignition Engines (DAO 2010-23), the Revised Emission Limits/Standards for Motorcycles/Tricycles and Mopeds (DAO 2010-24); and, the Mandatory Bioethanol Blending (Department Circular No. 2011-002-001), vehicles remain a major contributor to the declining quality of air in the Metropolis where many health concerns are air pollution-related (EMB-DENR, 2011).