Air quality in Azcapotzalco

What is the current level of air pollution in Azcapotzalco?

Azcapotzalco is one of the 16 boroughs into which Mexico City is divided. It can be found in the north western part of the city. A 2010 census estimated the population to be approximately 500,000 people.

At the end of 2021, Azcapotzalco was experiencing a period of “Moderate” air quality with a US AQI reading of 57. This United States Air Quality Index number is calculated using the levels of six of the most commonly occurring air pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide and both sizes of particulate matter, which are PM2.5 and PM10. It can then be used as the metric when comparing air quality in other cities around the world. If data is unavailable for all 6 pollutants, a figure can still be calculated by using what figures there are. Two pollutants were measured in Azcapotzalco which were PM2.5 and PM10. The respective figures were PM2.5 - 15 µg/m³ and PM10 - 34 µg/m³.

This level of PM2.5 is one and a half times the recommended safe level of 10 µg/m³ as suggested by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as being an acceptable level. Although no amount of air pollution is considered to be safe.

When the level of air pollution is classed as “Moderate”, the proffered advice is to remain indoors as much as possible, closing all doors and windows to prevent the ingress of more polluted air. Those of a sensitive disposition should limit their time spent outside and should always wear a good quality face mask when doing so. For up-to-date information about air quality, there is an app available from AirVisual.com which is downloadable for all mobile devices and gives information about air quality in real-time.

Does this level of pollution remain the same throughout the year in Azcapotzalco?

Air quality is very volatile as it is subject to many external influencing factors such as meteorological and atmospheric changes.

Looking back at the figures for 2020, released by IQAir.com, it can easily be seen that the month with the cleanest air was January with a “Good” reading of just 10.5 µg/m³. The remaining eleven months saw air quality from the “Moderate” category with figures between 12.1 and 35.4 µg/m³. The cleanest months were June and July each with a reading of 16 µg/m³. The worst month was December when the figure was 23.1 µg/m³.

There were no records regarding air pollution kept before 2020 when the figure was seen to be 19.2 µg/m³. However, this reading may have been affected by the COVID-19 situation as many vehicles were no longer in daily use because the offices were closed, in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus. Many factories and non-essential production units were also required to close which removed their emissions from the atmosphere.

Is there a main source of air pollution in Azcapotzalco?

The city brings together the largest number of natural and artificial sources of pollution: eroded areas, garbage and open defecation, seepage of untreated water into the subsoil, factories, workshops, thermoelectric plants, refineries, chemical, cement and fertilizer industries, smelters, public toilets, industrial and domestic incinerators, millions of internal combustion motor vehicles and aeroplanes, to name a few.

It should be noted that 600 of the industries settled in the city are highly polluting, of which only a quarter have anti-pollution equipment, which in many cases is insufficient or prevalent.

Another source of ecological deterioration is internal combustion vehicles, mainly automobiles, which in less than two decades became the main pollutant. Pollution by motor vehicles has now become a critical problem, because its origin is particularly complex, as it is not only a product of manufacturing techniques, but also its proliferation, the amount of fuel used, the slowness of road traffic, the type and age of the cars and the geographic conditions of Mexico City.

What can be done to improve air quality in Azcapotzalco?

The plans and programs in this regard present solid and abundant guidelines and policies to follow. But they have not been fully complied with due to their discontinuity, technical complexity, high financial cost and a network of bureaucratic relationships and corruption, which it is urgent to eradicate.

Regarding automotive transport, the main emitter of atmospheric pollution, the results that will be obtained, according to the program, by making the use of the catalytic converter and unleaded gasoline mandatory in new cars, can only be evaluated in the medium term, perhaps in 4 or 5 more years.

Another weakness of the clean air program is the policy of promoting the use of public transport on the individual and that of achieving significant progress in terms of having non-polluting public transport. With such a policy, the growth and dominance of minibuses, combis, Ruta-100 buses and even new private luxury bus routes are further strengthened; all of them automotive, which, despite the obligation to use anti-pollution accessories, will be sources of pollution in a few years.

What are the health impacts of breathing dirty air in Azcapotzalco?

Nine out of ten people breathe polluted air, a situation that annually causes around 7 million premature deaths, 600,000 of which correspond to children, warns the UN Secretary-General who urges to act decisively to solve this problem now and prevent this death toll from doubling by 2050.

Exposure to high levels of air pollution can cause many different adverse health outcomes. Air pollution can increase the risk of respiratory infections, heart disease, stroke and lung cancer. Both short-term and long-term exposure to air pollutants have been associated with adverse health impacts. The most severe impacts affect people who are already sick. Children, the elderly and the poor are most susceptible. The most harmful pollutants for health, closely associated with excessive premature mortality, are fine PM2.5 particles that penetrate deep into the lungs and are small enough to pass through into the bloodstream via the alveoli.

Particulate matter (PM) is the term for particles that are suspended in the air, such as dust, soot, smoke and aerosol. Large amounts of particulate matter are typically emitted from sources such as diesel vehicles, burning waste and crops, and coal-fired power plants.