Beware, Air Pollution Can Trigger Cancer

JAKARTA - Air quality in Jakarta was in sixth place as the city with the worst air in the world on Monday morning, September 25. Based on data from the IQAir air quality monitoring site at 06.53 a.m. Western Indonesian Time (WIB), the air quality index (AQI) in Jakarta was at 129 or in the unhealthy category with PM2.5 air pollution and a concentration value of 47 micrograms per cubic meter.

This figure explains that the level of air quality is unhealthy for sensitive groups because it can harm humans or sensitive animal groups or can cause damage to plants or aesthetic values.

Internal Medicine Specialist, Consultant Medical Hemato-Oncology, Dr Cipto Mangunkusumo National General Hospital (RSCM) Prof. Dr. Dr. Aru Wicaksono Sudoyo, SpPD, K-HOM, FINASIM, FACP said air pollution can cause cancer.

"90 percent of the causes of cancer are the environment, apart from smoking and air pollution," said Aru, quoted by ANTARA.

Air quality in Jakarta and surrounding cities is increasingly getting worse due to pollution from motor vehicle emissions and factories surrounding the city. Even though the risk of air pollution on cancer is only two percent, according to him, this air pollution can still cause cancer in the human body.

"Air pollution is only two percent, but two percent of the total (population) is big, yes, that's a big number," he said.

Apart from cigarette smoke, Aru said vehicle fumes are also carcinogenic, namely substances that have the potential to cause cancer. Vehicle exhaust is known to contain carcinogenic substances called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which can damage body cells and cause cancer.

Aru said that carcinogenic substances generally take between five and ten years to cause cancer in the human body.

"We see that the air pollution we get in Jakarta is not from forest fires. From where? "It's a chemical, then it's put into the body," added Aru.

Furthermore, Aru explained, even though the pollution inhaled is in the form of smoke, the type of cancer that has the potential to arise is not always lung cancer, but can infect other body organs randomly, depending on the health condition of each individual.

"For example, if you smoke, it doesn't necessarily mean that you will get lung cancer, it could also be liver cancer, colon cancer and so on. Each person is different, depending on our body, especially the lungs because it is inhaled directly, but not necessarily. It depends on the exposure to our body. which one reacts badly," he said.

For this reason, Aru advises people in urban areas to maintain a healthy lifestyle, including eating and sleeping regularly, and exercising regularly. According to him, bad food, especially those with preservatives, also contributes to the risk of cancer by 35 percent.