Lebaran Homecoming Path Can Be Invisible Killer, KPBB Reminds Vehicle Exhaust Toxins

Illustration of the density of going home and the return flow of Eid 2022. (Antara)

JAKARTA - The Commission for the Elimination of Leaded Gasoline (KPBB) highlighted the high pollution of carbon monoxide (CO) emissions during the 2022 Eid homecoming season. KPBB warned that vehicle exhaust emissions would become an invisible killer factor.

KPBB Executive Director Ahmad Safruddin reminded that of the 17 people who died during the 2016 Lebaran homecoming, 11 of them had symptoms of CO emission poisoning due to being stuck in traffic for hours, mostly at the Brebes Exit (Brexit) toll road.

"Those who died were not due to a collision, overturned, hit and/or a physical collision with a motor vehicle, but died by an invisible killer due to exposure to vehicle emissions that were stuck in traffic for hours on their way back and forth for Lebaran," Safrudin said in his statement, quoted by Antara. Sunday, May 8th.

Safrudin highlighted that the 2022 homecoming was an overflow of the accumulated ban on two Lebaran homecoming due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. The high number of vehicles used by travelers made vehicle exhaust emissions, one of the sources of air pollution, high.

He explained, generally air pollutant substances such as carbon monoxide and others directly affect the respiratory system, blood vessels, nervous system, liver and kidneys. Symptoms include dizziness, nausea with ARI, asthma, and high blood pressure.

Substances like this also have an impact on internal diseases such as impaired kidney function, damage to the nervous system, decreased intellectual ability (IQ) of children, brutality in adolescents, miscarriage, impotence, coronary heart disease, cancer, and premature death.

"Of course we don't expect that the tragedy of the invisible killer that killed the travelers will repeat itself this year. Invisible killers kill, especially CO, without being seen, without smell and lull the potential victim with drowsiness who then falls asleep and never wakes up again," he added.

To prevent the recurrence of the homecomer's death due to the invisible killer, Safruddin asked the travelers to prepare themselves to manage their journey.

"So you don't just stay in the car and its surroundings when there is a long and long traffic jam, but you have to get out of the car and move away from the car's position after first turning off the car engine," he said.