Air quality in Bang Bua Thong

Is Bang Bua Thong badly polluted?

Bang Bua Thong is located in Nonthaburi province, of central Thailand. It has seen, and continues to see some fairly large elevations in air pollution throughout the course of its year. In June of 2021 Bang Bua Thong was seen with a US AQI reading of 56, placing it into the 'moderate' pollutions rating bracket for that particular day and time in which it was taken.

A 'moderate' rating of pollution is color coded as yellow, and requires a US AQI reading of anywhere between 51 to 100 to be classified as such. Other readings that came in over the month of June include highs of 69, another 'moderate' ranked air quality reading that may manifest itself in the form of respiratory irritation in vulnerable individuals, although the general public as a whole may remain unaffected. Of note is that the pollution levels can go up rapidly in Bang Bua Thong during certain times of the year, and thus the US AQI levels should be followed via the use of the AirVisual app for hourly updates.

What causes elevated pollution levels in Bang Bua Thong?

Some of the main contributing elements to the air pollution level in Bang Bua Thong would be ones such as the fumes of the various vehicles in use on the road, with cars, motorbikes and even heavier freight vehicles such as lorries and trucks all adding to the pollutive issue.

It is not uncommon for these vehicles to be badly aged, damaged or well past their best years, which puts more strain on the environment due to the greater output of pollution coming from the poor combustion process taking place, with large amounts of oil vapors and pollutants emanating forth, ones that may now be seen in such high volumes from newer or cleaner models.

There would also be heavy duty vehicles to consider, with trucks, lorries and buses all falling into this category, many of which run on diesel as well as giving off thousands of tons of microscopic rubber particles from the wearing of tire treads. This can cause particle pollution to go up significantly, along with impacting the soil and the various ecosystems around it.

Other sources of pollution would include open burn sites, as well as the burning of crop stubble fields or forestland for farming purposes, a practice known as slash and burn farming. Whilst this is more prevalent in the northern regions of Thailand, it may still occur it the mid-regions and further south, although it is far less common. The continued practice of burning organic matter in the northern regions has led to massive increases in air pollution levels in northern cities, making them come in amongst of the most polluted amongst all cities ranked in Thailand.

What health risks come from breathing polluted air in Bang Bua Thong?

Over the course of the more polluted periods during the year, there would be a larger variety of health problems associated with breathing polluted air. Of note is that any reading over the World Health Organizations (WHO's) target goal of 10 μg/m³ or less has the ability to cause adverse effects, with the higher the reading corresponding directly with a heightened chance of such ill effects presenting themselves, alongside how severe they are, varying with the length of time one was exposed along with the amount.

Many of these issues would be ones such as inflammation of the respiratory tract, as well as scarring of the lung tissue itself when many irritating chemicals or fine particles are inhaled. This can have a further detrimental effect of reducing full lung function, which can from also cause individuals to suffer from other respiratory issues such as pneumonia, bronchitis and aggravated forms of asthma, all of which fall under the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) bracket.

When is air pollution at its highest in Bang Bua Thong?

Observing the PM2.5 levels that were on record over the course of 2020, it can be seen that Bang Bua Thong had some distinct periods of higher pollution. The months of January and February, as well as November and December all came in as the most highly polluted. Out of all of these months, January was the most heavily polluted with a PM2.5 reading of 51.3 μg/m³.

What are some of the pollutants that can be found in Bang Bua Thong?

With much of its pollution stemming from the use, or overuse of cars, motorbikes and other smaller vehicles, alongside heavier freight vehicles such as lorries and trucks (used to transport many industrial items and other products), the main pollutants that would come from such sources would be ones such as nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂) along with ozone (O₃), the main chemicals that go into making up the US AQI collective.

Black carbon would also be emitted, being the main component in soot. It also finds release from open burn sites or any process that sees some form of combustion taking place, from factories and power plants, all the way over to open burn sites such as slash and burn farming, or the burning of refuse or waste or open burn site. Other pollutants include ones such as finely ground gravel and silica dust, as well as toxic metals like lead or mercury coming from construction sites (as well as factories, with many of the pollutants they put out sharing many similarities).

Open burn sites and factories can also release volatile organic compounds (VOC's), some of which include chemicals such as styrene, formaldehyde, xylene and toluene. These are all extremely harmful to both human and animal health, and are extremely easy to breathe due to their volatile nature making them remain in a gaseous state even at much lower temperatures.

When does the pollution start to recede in Bang Bua Thong?

Despite the sizeable highs witnessed at the beginning and end of the year, Bang Bua Thong had some months with extremely good air quality levels. They were June through to August, which presented with readings of 8.7 μg/m³, 9.8 μg/m³ and 11.4 μg/m³.

This placed June and July into the world health organization's (WHO's) target goal of 10 μg/m³ or less for the best quality of air, and August in the ‘good’ air quality ratings bracket (10 to 12 μg/m³ required).