Air quality improves in Metro Cebu during ECQ

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Amidst the implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), the air quality in Metro Cebu area has improved based on the monitoring of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB)-7.

The implementation of the ECQ has suspended public transport and limited the number of private vehicles plying the streets, reducing the number of air pollutants.

These are the reasons, the EMB-7 said, why the air quality in Metro Cebu has vastly improved.

Engr. Cindylyn Pepito, chief of EMB-7 Environmental Education and Information Unit, said that the Particulate Matter (PM)10 guideline value of air quality is at 150 micrograms per normal cubic meter.

PM10 describes inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 10 micrometers and smaller.

Based on the agency’s monitoring at their PMS Automatic Monitoring Station situated in Talisay City Hall, in the first quarter of this year, the pollutants in the air have been recorded at an average of 37.94 micrograms per normal cubic meter (µg/m3).

This is lower compared to 45.41 µg/m3 in the same period of 2019 and 53.01 µg/m3 in 2018. Further, the results at Talisay City station recorded a 31.29% drop in its results compared to the 37 reading before ECQ or equivalent to 25.42 µg/m3 during the ECQ implementation.

The agency’s Total Suspended Particulates (TSP) Monitoring Station situated in I.T. Park, Cebu City, and Cordova Municipal Hall, also recorded a reduction of pollutants in the air during the ECQ.

Pepito explained that TSP is larger-sized dust particles compared to PM10, and are visible to the naked eye.

From March 25 to April 19, the TSP monitoring station in I.T. Park has recorded a 72% drop in air pollutants while the station in Cordova recorded a 26% decrease. /rcg