Air quality in Thanh Pho Thai Binh

What is the air quality index of Thanh Pho Thai Binh?

Thanh Pho Thai Binh is a city located in the Red River Delta in northern Vietnam. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It is approximately 110 kilometres from Hanoi and has an approximate population of 210,000 in 2013. In December 2020, the air quality recorded in Thanh Pho Thai Binh was classified as “Unhealthy” with a US AQI figure of 184. The PM2.5 concentration was 120.3 µg/m³ which twelve times higher than the recommended level suggested by the World Health Organisation (WHO). With levels of pollution as high as these, the general advice given is to wear a good quality mask when venturing outdoors. Closing doors and windows will prevent dirty air from entering the house. Outdoor exercise is strongly advised against until the air quality gets better.

Why Thanh Pho Thai Binh is polluted?

Vietnam is currently in the top 10 of Asian countries who are suffering from high levels of air pollution. Notably, the total dust volume in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City is continuously increasing, making the air quality index always at an alarming level. Currently, the air quality index in Hanoi is in a serious decline. The dust concentration is twice the national standard and 5 times the recommendation from the World Health Organisation (WHO), not good for human health.

In Tien Hai Industrial Park, daily traffic volume is relatively high, especially trucks transporting raw materials such as coal and clay to companies producing sanitary wares and ceramic tiles. Together with that is dust from the exhausts of motorcycles, cars and heavy-duty trucks and dust from chimneys of manufacturing enterprises. Therefore, the amount of dust in the air in this area is always dense, affecting the life and health of the people here. Trees on both sides of the road are covered in a thick layer of white dust, stunting their growth.

Tien Hai Industrial Park is growing, expanding, attracting investment from many businesses and creating jobs for thousands of local workers. However, the operating frequency of vehicles carrying construction materials, coal and clay also increases. Some vehicle owners do not cover their loads as they are supposed to do, causing clay and waste to be scattered on the road. This is one of the reasons that the dust pollution here is always at a high level, directly affecting the lives and activities of people.

Is air pollution in Thanh Pho Thai Binh getting worse?

In Thai Binh city during rush hour every day, the same number of people pour into the streets all over the city and the number of cars, trucks and motorbikes using gas fuel is huge. As a result, the air is polluted by gas and dust from motor vehicle emissions and from construction sites, from factories, industrial manufacturing companies, and treatment plants. Air pollution in autumn and winter is higher because dust particles settle into the lower air layers and are difficult to diffuse.

In rural areas, the environment is mainly affected locally by activities of craft village production, construction, burning waste, cooking with charcoal, and burning straw, especially during the rice harvest season. Although the authorities advise against it because of the environmental pollution it causes, this situation is still quite common in most localities. Burning straw in hot weather conditions further increases air pollution.

What can be done to improve the air quality in Thanh Pho Thai Binh?

The craft villages of Thai Binh today are mainly scattered around the residential areas of the rural areas. In which, the weaving, dyeing, silver carving, plastic, metal recycling and manual brick kilns often use chemicals for cleaning which are not treated before being discharged into the environment.

In Nam Cao commune (Kien Xuong district) for a long time, the weaving production has developed rapidly with 95 per cent of the local households having looms, each year producing between 6 and 7 million square metres with a turnover of nearly 70 billion VND. Each household is a small production unit that includes all stages such as dyeing, bleaching, soaking and weaving, each year this commune uses up 250 tons of fuel and more than 20 tons of chemicals such as acids, oxygen, silicates, detergents and bleach. All these chemicals are discharged into gardens, sewers, lakes, ponds and ditches in the commune. Over time, this source of wastewater becomes dense and black, with a fishy odour that seeps into the surface water and dissolves in the air. Even the water from the wells is seriously polluted and is unable to be used for daily life.

Many people have asked competent authorities to pay attention to rural environmental issues, especially in craft villages. At the same time, measures need to be taken to treat wastewater and have mechanisms and policies on environmental management at the grassroots level and a training programme for environmental managers for each locality. This is the way to strongly develop craft villages, in order to increase income for workers, and contribute to the formation of an industrial and modern life in agriculture and rural areas. The local authorities need to take an active role in the overall control of these villages and closely monitor the discharges, whatever they may be.

What are the effects on health through breathing in Thanh Pho Thai Binh’s polluted air?

According to a national environmental report on the air environment, outdoor burning straw is an uncontrolled burning process, in which the main products are dust gases, carbon dioxide (CO₂), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitric oxide (NOx). When the straw is not completely burnt, aldehydes and fine dust are created that are harmful to health. Only in Thai Binh province, according to calculations by the Hanoi National University, the amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitted from burning straw is almost 750 thousand tons per year and the amount of carbon monoxide (CO) released into the environment is up to 60 thousand tons.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), air pollution causes 7 million premature deaths each year. This is one of the leading contributing causes of the disease and death burden in Vietnam. Common health problems are respiratory diseases such as acute respiratory infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, asthma, cardiovascular diseases such as strokes and heart attacks.

The WHO went on to say that in 2016, Vietnam had about 34,232 premature deaths due to air pollution. Including 11,189 cases of stroke; 3,845 cases of lower respiratory tract inflammation; 2,423 cases of lung, bronchial and tracheal cancers; 10,741 cases of ischemic heart disease and 5,034 cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.