DKI Provincial Government Calls Jakarta's Air Quality Bad Due To Drought Plus Industrial Estates In Buffer Areas

Air pollution is a serious problem that can have a bad effect on public health in DKI Jakarta. (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The poor air quality in Jakarta is again in the spotlight. Sub-Coordinator of the Environmental Monitoring Group for Control of Pollution and Environmental Damage of the DKI Jakarta Environmental Agency, Rahmawati revealed a number of factors that caused the worsening of air quality in the capital city.

According to Rahmawati, air quality can worsen periodically. Usually, Jakarta air will increase the concentration of air pollutants when entering the dry season, from May to August.

"The monthly average concentration of PM2.5 in April 2023 is 29.75 m3 to 50.21 mg/m3 in May 2023, but this concentration is still lower when compared to May 2019 when conditions were normal, which was 54.38 rupiah/m3," said Rahmawati in her statement, Thursday, June 8.

However, the increase in pollutants will decrease again when entering the rainy season from September to December. This can be seen from the trend of PM2.5 concentration from 2019 to 2023.

"The rain will help the decay of pollutants that float in the air, so that when it enters the dry season, it (the decay of pollutants) does not occur," he said.

Then, the low wind speed in Jakarta causes stagnation in air movement, so that air pollutants will be accumulated in addition can also trigger other air pollutants such as surface ozone (O3), whose existence can be indicated from a decrease in visibility.

Then, high relative humidity can cause the emergence of an inverse layer near the surface. The impact of the presence of the inverse layer causes PM2.5 on the surface to be blocked, unable to move over other layers of air, and resulting in a measurable accumulation of concentrations in monitoring tools.

Not only that, Rahmawati also did not deny that the high air pollution in the capital city was influenced by emissions generated from industrial estates, including from buffer areas.

"For the SO2 pollutants, the largest source comes from the industrial sector. The source of emissions in an area will affect other areas due to the movement of pollutants due to wind patterns that carry pollutants moving from one location to another, causing the potential for increased concentration at that location," he explained.

For information, since May 15, 2023, the air quality index in Jakarta has never been less than 100. This means that the air quality in Jakarta is not healthy. The number 101-200 indicates that air quality levels can affect human health or animals with sensitive body conditions.

Meanwhile, Particulate Matter (PM2.5) is an air quality pollutant, a dust particle measuring 2.5 microns. PM2.5 sources, according to IQAir, are very diverse, usually from motor vehicle fuel smoke, power generation smoke, industrial processes, and cigarettes.