Tag: sulfur dioxide

The State of Acid Deposition in East Asia – from data to policy

Posted on by Aurélia Lemoine

29 June 2022 – Bangkok, Thailand

The EANET Awareness Workshop in 2022 “The State of Acid Deposition in East Asia – from data to policy” was organized virtually on Monday, 20 June 2022. It gathered participants from 17 different countries, scientists, and policymakers who discussed the biggest challenges and successes in acid deposition management in East Asia in the last 20 years.

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Opening Session

Dr. Isabelle Louis, Deputy Regional Director of UNEP Asia Pacific office, opened the EANET Awareness Workshop in 2022 by delivering the opening remarks, followed by welcome remarks from Mr. Kenichiro Fukunaga, Deputy Director General in charge of Administrative Management at the Asia Center for Air Pollution Research (ACAP).

Key messages conveyed in the remarks celebrated the imminent release of the Fourth Periodic Report on the State of Acid Deposition in East Asia (PRSAD4) and the opportunities ahead for the EANET, in line with the expansion of its scope to air pollution, including the launch of the EANET Project Fund.

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General Lecture – Key Findings from the Fourth Periodic Report on the State of Acid Deposition in East Asia (PRSAD4)

Since 2006, the EANET has been developing Periodic Reports on the State of Acid Deposition in East Asia (PRSADs), published every five years, and aiming at providing high-quality data to be used for research, formulation of policies, and measures to reduce the impacts of acid deposition and related air pollutants on the environment. In 2022, the Fourth Periodic Report on the State of Acid Deposition in East Asia (PRSAD4), will be released.

Prof. Meng Fan, Former Chairperson of the PRSAD4 Drafting Committee and Deputy Director General in charge of the Network Center for EANET, Asia Center for Air Pollution Research (ACAP), presented the General Lecture: Key Findings from the Fourth Periodic Report on the State of Acid Deposition in East Asia (PRSAD4). Findings and recommendations from the PRSAD4 highlighted the improvement of sulfur dioxide-related air pollution mostly in North-East Asia, while nitrogen deposition, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and ozone-related pollution were detected at a high level in the EANET region. The importance to continue deploying more monitoring sites was expressed.

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Panel Discussion – From data to policy, good practices for evidence-based and data-driven policies in East Asia

The Panel Discussion gathered renowned scientists and key policymakers from the EANET Participating Countries. Discussions focused on the importance of regional cooperation and multilateralism to address global environmental problems including acid deposition and air pollution. Findings from the PRSAD4 were also discussed, in the specific context of Malaysia, Mongolia, Thailand, and the Philippines. Most panelists highlighted the incredible capacity-building efforts led by the EANET in the past twenty years, on emission inventories, acid deposition regulations, and monitoring support which have indirectly contributed to the development of regional policies. Finally, the panel also shared thoughts on the role EANET may play by helping fill the gap of the right to information on air pollution, as the right to a clean environment and clean air was recently included as a human right by the United Nations.

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Useful Resources

Read a more detailed summary of the Workshop’s content in the EANET Awareness Workshop in 2022 Event Report.

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View all Workshop’s recordings on the Secretariat for the EANET’s YouTube channel and the Workshop’s photos on Flickr.

 

 

 

 

 

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Photo credits: All rights reserved to EANET.

Joint Projects of the EANET with Participating Countries – Development of an Emission Inventory Manual for Mongolia

Posted on by Aurélia Lemoine

31 May 2021 – Niigata, Japan

Scientists from the EANET Participating Countries and the Network Center (located in Niigata, Japan) have been promoting joint research projects related to the EANET. In response to Mongolia’s request, an Emission Inventory Manual for Mongolia was developed and published in 2018 to provide key scientific data, including estimates of emissions of air pollutants, for policymakers to develop air pollution control measures.

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Assessing Air Pollution in Mongolia

Mongolia is facing serious air pollution problems, especially in the capital, Ulaanbaatar city, where the population density is high. Most emissions of air pollutants result from the use of coal in power plants and domestic cooking. The level of air pollutants is normally high during the winter season when coal is also used for domestic heating. Emissions of air pollutants from road traffic are also quite significant. The major air pollutants detected in Ulaanbaatar city are sulfur dioxides (SO2), particle matters (TSP, PM10, PM2.5), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).

To assist Mongolia in tackling air pollution issues, several international donors and agencies (World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency) are developing and implementing projects for air pollution mitigation in Ulaanbaatar city. Since 2016, Clean Air Asia has been working closely with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism of Mongolia (MET) and the National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring (NAMEM) on addressing air pollution at a national level.

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Developing Mongolia’s National Emission Inventory

In response to Mongolia’s request, the Asia Center for Air Pollution Research (ACAP), in collaboration with SUURI-KEIKAKU Co., Ltd, has developed an Emission Inventory Manual for Mongolia, as a part of the Integrated Programme for Better Air Quality in Asia (IBAQ Programme) of Clean Air Asia (CAA).

Available in Mongolian, English, and Japanese, the Emission Inventory Manual will be used for developing Mongolia’s national emission inventory of air pollutants and further support the formulation of effective air pollution control measures.

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Read the summary of the Emission Inventory Manual in the EANET Science Bulletin, Vol 5.

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The authors appreciated the cooperation and assistance received from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism of Mongolia (MET), the National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring (NAMEM), Clean Air Asia (CAA), and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

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Photo credits: Nogoonnuur, Mongolia, by Lightscape, free of the copyright license.

EANET Research Fellowship Programme – Study on the impacts of air pollution transport and its effects to human health in Cambodia

Posted on by Aurélia Lemoine

17 February 2021 – Niigata, Japan

The Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia (EANET)’s fellowship programme aims at funding researchers from the EANET’s Participating Countries to carry out research pertaining to acid deposition at the Network Center in Japan. Kong Savuth, from Cambodia, was awarded the EANET fellowship in 2018. Mr. Savuth’s research described human health effects of exposure to air pollutants, namely, ozone (O3) and particulate matter (PM2.5) in reference to the WHO Air quality guidelines (2005).

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Impacts of air pollutants on human health

PM2.5 can penetrate deep inside the lungs and contribute to increasing the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases including lung cancer. According to recent epidemiological studies, reducing the annual average PM2.5 concentrations of 10 μg m-3 could result in a significant reduction of premature mortality.

Ground-level O3 can cause respiratory problems leading to asthma, cough, inflammation of the respiratory tract, chronic bronchitis, and lung damage. A high-level concentration of O3 also causes premature mortality.

WHO estimates that in 2016, some 58% of outdoor air pollution-related premature deaths were due to ischaemic heart disease and strokes, while 18% of deaths were due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and acute lower respiratory infections respectively, and 6% of deaths were due to lung cancer.

 

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Estimating premature mortality caused by PM2.5 and O3 in Cambodia

The researchers (Savuth and Yamashita) estimated premature mortality caused by the exposure to PM2.5 and O3 in Cambodia by using PM2.5 and O3 data simulated by CMAQ (Community Multiscale Air Quality – a chemical transport model) and Concentration-Response (C-R) functions.

 

Read the full study and its results, published in the EANET Science Bulletin, Vol 5.

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Under the EANET Research Fellowship programme 2018, this study was conducted at the Asia Center for Air Pollution (ACAP), Niigata, Japan. The researcher, Kong Savuth, acknowledged the support and facilities provide by ACAP and by the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Japan, for performing the research.

Photo credits: Cambodia by Daniel Kirsch, free of the copyright license.