Eight Scientific Facts About The Haze - October 02, 2015
Asian Scientist Magazine | Science, Technology and Medicine News Updates From Asia - http://www.asianscientist.com
Eight Scientific Facts About The Haze
October 02, 2015
http://www.asianscientist.com/2015/10/features/scientific-facts-haze/
AsianScientist (Oct. 2, 2015) - You're tuning in to hourly updates of the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI)
on a smartphone app, schools are closed and N95 masks are out of stock. These are just a few signs that
the haze has returned to Southeast Asia.
While people living in the region may have begun to resign themselves to the inevitability of this yearly
event, meteorologists and pulmonologists haven't given up. Instead, they are working furiously on ways
to reduce its detrimental effects on both the environment and on our health.
Not all of us may be scientists, but here are eight must-know facts about the haze, backed by science.
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#1 The main cause? Burning of drained peatland.
Peatlands are waterlogged land that consist of decaying plant matter 20 meters deep into the ground.
About 14 percent of Indonesia’s land is peatland. Most peatlands are resistant to fire due to the moisture
that is trapped in the land. However, deforestation and peatland drainage for agriculture has generated dry
peatland, which burns like coal during clearing and fertilization. These conditions give rise to smoky,
hazy air that is carried by the wind across Southeast Asia. Furthermore, as the peats run deep into the
land, such forest fires are difficult to put out.
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Eight Scientific Facts About The Haze - October 02, 2015
Asian Scientist Magazine | Science, Technology and Medicine News Updates From Asia - http://www.asianscientist.com
Photo: U.S. Department of Agriculture/Flickr/CC
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Source: Asian Scientist Magazine; Cover Photo: Soham Banerjee/Flickr/CC.
#2 What does PSI really measure?
According to Singapore's National Environment Agency, PSI values take into account a variety of toxic
matters and gas pollutants. They include particulate matter (PM10), fine particulate matter (PM2.5),
carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and ozone. PM10 are particles in the air that are
between 2.5 to ten microns, while PM2.5 are ultrafine particles that are smaller than 2.5 microns, which is
roughly 30 times thinner than the diameter of a human hair.
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Eight Scientific Facts About The Haze - October 02, 2015
Asian Scientist Magazine | Science, Technology and Medicine News Updates From Asia - http://www.asianscientist.com
Photo: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Flickr/CC
#3 What you can't see could kill you.
While PM10 are mainly dust particles from burnt wood and vegetation, PM2.5 are incredibly fine
particles that arise from chemical reactions between toxic gases. Our respiratory system is good at
removing dust particles, but it does not deal so well with ultrafine particles smaller than 2.5 microns. As
such, PM2.5 particles get easily lodged in our respiratory system. Sometimes, it’s the tiniest things that
matter the most!
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Eight Scientific Facts About The Haze - October 02, 2015
Asian Scientist Magazine | Science, Technology and Medicine News Updates From Asia - http://www.asianscientist.com
Photo: nephronerd/Flickr/CC
#4 The rain may not help to clear the hazy skies.
After a downpour, the haze may appear to be worse, because more water vapor is available in the air to
condense around the particulate matter, scattering more light than usual. What this means is that visibility
is not a reliable measure of the degree of air pollution.
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Eight Scientific Facts About The Haze - October 02, 2015
Asian Scientist Magazine | Science, Technology and Medicine News Updates From Asia - http://www.asianscientist.com
Photo: Nicolas Lannuzel/Flickr/CC
#5 What prolonged exposure to the haze does to your lungs.
As PM10 and PM2.5 are small enough to penetrate into the thoracic region of our lungs, they may have a
detrimental effect on our respiratory system. Studies from Beijing and Guangzhou have showed an
association between particulate matter inhalation and hospitalization due to respiratory diseases such as
asthma and bronchitis.
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Eight Scientific Facts About The Haze - October 02, 2015
Asian Scientist Magazine | Science, Technology and Medicine News Updates From Asia - http://www.asianscientist.com
Photo: Shutterstock
#6 Other heart-stopping effects of haze exposure.
Studies have linked high PM10 levels with an increased rate of hospitalization for cardiovascular diseases
such as stroke, ischemic heart attack, congestive heart failure and cardiac arrhythmia. Inhaling particulate
matter may trigger immune responses; in particular, higher levels of the prothrombotic cytokine IL-6 may
accelerate blood clot formation, leading to strokes and other thrombotic events.
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Eight Scientific Facts About The Haze - October 02, 2015
Asian Scientist Magazine | Science, Technology and Medicine News Updates From Asia - http://www.asianscientist.com
Photo: Shutterstock
#7 Smoking is still worse.
While burning incense was found to release toxic compounds comparable to burning cigarettes, breathing
in the haze comes nothing close to smoking a cigarette. According to an article in the Straits Times, a
person will take in about 1,100 mcg of pollutants if he stays outdoors for the whole day when PM2.5
levels are at 100 mcg per cubic meter (PM2.5 levels are currently around 150-200). A smoker, on the
other hand, will inhale 10,000 mcg to 40,000 mcg of PM2.5 pollutant for every cigarette consumed.
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Eight Scientific Facts About The Haze - October 02, 2015
Asian Scientist Magazine | Science, Technology and Medicine News Updates From Asia - http://www.asianscientist.com
Photo: Fried Dough/Flickr/CC
#8 N95 masks work better than surgical masks, if you wear them properly.
The N95 designation means that the masks have been certified by the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH) to block out at least 95 percent of very small test particles (0.3 microns).
Surgical masks are designed for a different purpose (preventing the spread of biological fluids) and do not
filter out particles. But even N95 masks have to be fitted properly to reach their maximum filtration
capacity. So strap on those masks when you are out on the streets!
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Eight Scientific Facts About The Haze - October 02, 2015
Asian Scientist Magazine | Science, Technology and Medicine News Updates From Asia - http://www.asianscientist.com
Photo: Kai Hendry/Flickr/CC
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