Jakarta facing air pollution fears<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta's air quality, which has been getting
\npoorer over the last few years due mainly to vehicular emission,
\nwill continue worsening if inhabitants fail to keep emissions at
\nthe lowest level, an official said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Rafdjon Rax, head of the city laboratory for environment and
\nurban affairs studies, said vehicular emission, especially from
\ncars using leaded fuel, had a major impact on air quality.<\/p>\n
\"Lead, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, hydrocarbon, sulfur
\ndioxide and particles constitute the primary air pollutants. They
\naccount for 90 percent of all pollutants in the air,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The high consumption of leaded fuel here has resulted in an
\nincrease of lead concentrate in the air, he said.<\/p>\n
State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina estimates that the
\ncountry consumes about 52 million kiloliters of gasoline a year.<\/p>\n
In emission tests conducted by the administration's
\nenvironmental bureau in June, 62.1 percent of the 1,059 tested
\nvehicles exceeded the tolerable level of pollutants.<\/p>\n
Out of about 77.5 percent of the tested vehicles using leaded
\nfuel, more than half of them failed the test.<\/p>\n
According to a 1990 gubernatorial law, the tolerable level of
\npollutants for cars using gasoline is, among others, 4.5
\nmicrogram\/cubic meter for carbon monoxide and 1,200
\nmicrogram\/cubic meter for hydrocarbon.<\/p>\n
Rafdjon said the presence of pollutants in the air was
\nhazardous to human health as they could cause respiratory
\nproblems and affect the nervous system as well.<\/p>\n
He said the total concentration and distribution of lead
\nparticles in Jakarta's air had almost hit the maximum tolerable
\nlevel of 1 microgram\/cubic meter per year set by the World Health
\nOrganization (WHO).<\/p>\n
He said the range of the tolerable level for lead
\nconcentration in the air was between 0.5 and 1 microgram\/cubic
\nmeter per year.<\/p>\n
\"More areas now have bad air quality as lead concentration has
\nreached more than 0.7 microgram\/cubic meter,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The lead concentration level was 0.6 microgram\/cubic meter in
\n1995, he said.<\/p>\n
\"In 1997, the worst air quality could be found in busy areas
\nwith heavy traffic like Blok M, Jl. Sudirman, Jl. Thamrin,
\nSenayan, Gambir and downtown Kota,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Rafdjon said the concentration of dust particles in the air
\nhad also exceeded the tolerable level set by WHO at 0.0900
\nmicrogram\/cubic meter per year.<\/p>\n
He said an annual study held for the last three years in 12
\nareas, including Senayan, Kramat Pela and Tebet Barat in South
\nJakarta; Ancol and Cilincing in North Jakarta; Duri Kosambi in
\nWest Jakarta; Gambir in Central Jakarta; and Penggilingan in East
\nJakarta, showed that the concentration rate of dust in each of
\nthe 12 areas reached at least 0.1000 microgram\/cubic meter. (cst)<\/p>",
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