Main reason for air pollution in Tehran revealed

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

Iran has imported gasoline which contains Pollutant MMT (Methylcyclopentadienyl Manganese Tricarbonyl) – a gasoline additive that enhances octane to reduce knock.

The Iranian car manufacturers union has recently conducted a test on gasoline which is sold in Tehran.

It announced that the gasoline which contains MMT is the main reason for air pollution in the city, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported on November 18.

The State Inspectorate Organization has corroborated that imported gasoline contains pollutant elements.

However, Shahrokh Khosravani, Deputy Head of National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) said that one of the ten gasoline consignments which were imported in July may contain pollutant elements.

Air pollution is measured in particle matter of 2.5 microns in diameter or PM 2.5, were clean air is between 0-50, safe air is 50-100, 100-150 is considered not safe, 150-200 is warning while over 200 is emergency level.

Last year, according to PSI (Pollutant Standards Index), Iran had 147 days during which air quality was substandard. Two years ago, this number stood at 217 days.

Iranian deputy oil minister, Abbas Kazemi, said on June 27 that the administration has taken the decision to import gasoline with the highest international standards.

Saeed Motesaddi, the deputy director of the Iranian Environment Protection Organization, said on October 17 that the administration has taken great steps toward the protection of natural environment.

“One of the most important steps was to stop the production of gasoline by petrochemical units,” Iran’s Shana news agency reported.

Iran’s oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on May 23 that the “petrochemical gasoline’s quality is bad and inappropriate.”

In recent years, three petrochemical complexes were producing gasoline to meet the domestic need under the international sanctions imposed on the country’s oil sector, the Mehr news agency quoted managing director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company Abbas Kazemi as saying on May 17.

via Main reason for air pollution in Tehran revealed.

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Court puts more heat on diesels

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

The UK government will come under renewed pressure to cut pollution from diesel vehicles following the latest ruling in a battle over clean air.

Nitrogen dioxide in cities is illegally high and the European Court of Justice ruled judges must force ministers to clean up the air as soon as possible.

The pollutant comes almost entirely from diesel vehicles.

The group that brought the case says the government now has no choice but to restrict diesel emissions.

They say that could force ministers to order a major retrofit of pollution controls on buses and lorries; ban diesel cars from cities; and install new technology to ensure that diesel cars comply with the emissions data from manufacturers.

It’s estimated that 29,000 people die early from air pollution in the UK. The government is supposed to have cleaned up nitrogen dioxide pollution in cities by 2015 – but has been proposing to achieve the goal by 2030.

Alan Andrews, ClientEarth lawyer, said: “This ruling is a big victory for the millions of people who want to live healthy lives in the UK’s towns and cities. This will force the government to finally take this issue seriously and come up with an urgent plan to rid our towns and cities of cancer-causing diesel fumes.

“The government has done next to nothing to try to achieve the target of cleaning up the pollution by 2015. The UK Supreme Court will now set a standard that the government must achieve – and that will mean the government driving down diesel emissions.”

Environmentalists are celebrating the European court victory but it causes major political problems for the government. For many years politicians have encouraged drivers to buy diesel cars because they produce fewer climate-changing CO2 emissions.

Friends of the Earth urges ministers to respond by introducing low-emission and congestion charging zones; Scrapping road-building plans, and designing communities with key amenities within easy walking and cycling distance.

The chair of the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) Joan Walley MP said: “We have been warning the government for four years that it must tackle the public health crisis caused by heavy traffic in our towns and cities. Instead of taking action to save lives and protect people, ministers have complacently carried on with business as usual and put off serious efforts to deal with the problem.

“It is not acceptable for ministers who live in leafy suburbs to tell people living next to busy roads in towns and cities that they have to wait until 2030 to breath clean air. Today’s ruling will force the government to prioritise the issue of air quality in all decisions on transport policy and infrastructure.”

ClientEarth’s legal case refers to 16 zones where NO2 limits are being breached. West Midlands, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Teesside, The Potteries, Kingston Upon Hull, Southampton, Glasgow, Eastern England, South East England, East Midlands, North West & Merseyside, Yorkshire & Humberside, West Midlands, North East England and Greater London.

The case may be complicated by a review from the new president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker of pollution laws, which are causing a big problem for many member states.

via BBC News – Court puts more heat on diesels.

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Delay tackling traffic fumes ‘costing Scots lives’

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

THE Scottish and UK governments have come under fire over their failure to act on deadly air pollution blighting cities and towns north of the Border.

Environmental campaigners have hit out at ministers for delaying efforts to tackle the problem, which they say has resulted in further unnecessary deaths from breathing in toxic fumes.

Recent official figures from Public Health England blamed the effects of air pollution for killing around 2,000 Scots every year.

Exposure can lead to premature death from lung cancer, heart attacks and strokes, experts have warned.

The World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified the cocktail of chemicals in traffic fumes as a leading cause of deaths from cancer. Studies have also shown long-term exposure can stunt growth of unborn babies and increase the risk of heart disease and breathing problems such as asthma.

Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth, Dundee, and Aberdeen all suffer from dangerously high levels of air pollution, while 35 hotspots across 15 Scottish local authority areas exceed safety levels that should have been met in 2005.

via Delay tackling traffic fumes ‘costing Scots lives’ – The Scotsman.

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Respro® Masks FAQ: What size particles does the Techno™ mask filter out?

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

Techno maskWHAT SIZE PARTICLES DOES THE TECHNO™ MASK FILTER OUT?

The Techno™ filter has sub-micron filtration capability. What this means is that it is able to trap particles less than one micron in size which is more than capable of the removal of 2.5 micron particulate material (PM).
Typically particulate pollution in the cities appears to be in the 2.5 micron size range and above. Particles smaller than this are known as respirable dusts, which can lodge deep within the lungs and air sacs. This is the more dangerous type of particle pollution as chemicals from vehicle exhaust gases combustion known to be toxic, are carried by means of the respirable particles. Hence the need for a Hepa-type submicron particle filter.

The DACC Activated charcoal layer within the Techno™ filter has excellent adsorption properties when it comes to SO2 and NO2 uptakes. With this capability and its capability of filtering VOC’s it is the best filter available in our range for dealing with the broad spectrum of pollutants commonly found in major cities across the globe.

For more FAQ,  go to Respro® Mask FAQ

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Air pollution spreading

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

POLLUTION levels on parts of Fabian Way are causing environmental chiefs in Swansea concern.

The situation emerged during hearings into the planned Swansea Bay tidal lagoon.

A written submission by Swansea Council to the panel of examining experts said the authority was “under pressure to designate parts of Fabian Way as an Air QualityManagement Area”.

The Post understands that the outbound carriageway by Vale of Neath Road is under the spotlight, and that mobile monitoring equipment is likely to be deployed on the incoming carriageway opposite.

Areas within Hafod, Sketty and Fforestach have suffered air pollution level breaches for years and are contained within an amended Swansea Air Quality Management Area.

A progress report in July this year said the area was still set to exceed mean nitrogen oxide levels, and that this might also be the case in Mumbles, St Thomas and the city centre. The report added: “Several other areas also exhibit the potential to exceed the annual mean objective.

“Revised guidance issued by (UK Government department) Defra indicates that the annual mean objective may not be achieved until after 2020 at some sites.”

via Air pollution spreading | South Wales Evening Post.

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Protest highlighting pollution closes Oxford Circus

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

Protestors march through Oxford St and hold mass ‘die-in’ at Marble Arch to highlight air pollution and cyclist fatalities

Thousands of protestors brought Oxford Circus to a standstill on Saturday afternoon (November 15), with a horse-drawn hearse leading a march through Oxford Street to highlight air pollution and cyclist deaths in London.

Organised by campaign group Stop Killing Cyclists, the march began at Bedford Square before the horse-drawn hearse paused at Oxford Circus for a two-minute silence to remember those killed in London by road collisions, as well as the 50,000 UK patients estimated to have died as a result of transport pollution over the last decade.

The march later ended at Marble Arch, where protestors led by a bagpiper held a mass ‘die-in’ and placed the symbolic coffin on a Dutch-style catafalque.

The campaign group unveiled 10 demands at the protest, one of which urged authorities to ‘stop the killing from lung, heart and other diseases caused by vehicular pollutants’ and to ‘make it mandatory for particulate filters that meet the latest EU emission standards to be fitted to all existing buses, lorries and taxies’.

In addition, the group are seeking all transport fuels to be from environmentally-sustainable sources within 10 years.

According to Stop Killing Cyclists, the march is one of the first large-scale protests in the UK to raise the issue of traffic air pollution as one of its main concerns.

Another demand called for the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street – a policy also recently supported by London Assembly Member Stephen Knight, partly due to air pollution concerns (see airqualitynews.com story).

In his speech, Professor Delaney said: “This car culture is destroying our bodies through pollution and inactivity as much as it destroys lives through so called accidents and our environment through emissions.”Speakers included Professor Brendan Delaney, Kings College London; Tom Kearney, campaign group Safer Oxford Street; and Caroline Russell, Green Party transport spokesperson.

The Professor of primary care research added: “I spend my working life dealing with the end results of our collective blindness to the hidden killer. Diseases of inactivity will break our national health system in the coming decade. We have to stop.”

via Protest highlighting pollution closes Oxford Circus | AirQualityNews.

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Air pollution may up chronic kidney disease risk

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

Air pollution may raise the risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD), a new study indicates.

After taking into account patient risk factors including age, diabetes and hypertension, the investigators found a link between the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the increasing level of particulate matter (PM) in some areas in the United States.

An elevated prevalence of CKD was observed when particulate matter levels were as low as 8.4 microgram per cubic metre – which is much lower than levels typically considered to be unhealthy for sensitive groups such as the elderly (40 microgram per cubic metre).

“If air pollution is a risk factor for CKD, the impact is likely to be even greater in countries where pollution levels are much higher than in the US,” said lead study author Jennifer L. Bragg-Gresham from the University of Michigan in the US.

In October, the US embassy’s pollution monitor in New Delhi labelled its air quality as “very unhealthy” – at 248 microgram per cubic metre.

“Future investigations should include lab-based diagnosis of CKD, longitudinal data, measures of multiple air pollutants and individual exposure,” Bragg-Gresham added.

The findings was presented at the “ASN Kidney Week 2014” at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.

via Air pollution may up chronic kidney disease risk | Business Standard News.

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European Court verdict on air pollution case due

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Respro® UK Ltd

This Wednesday 19th November 2014, the European Court of Justice ECJ will deliver its judgment in ClientEarth’s case against the UK Government over its failure to tackle air pollution.

ClientEarth, a member of the Healthy Air Campaign, took the UK Government to court for the illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide a harmful pollutant whose main source in our towns and cities is diesel vehicles. Last year, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the Government was breaking the law by failing to ensure that legal limits of this pollutant were met.

The ECJ’s ruling will determine what action the UK courts can take against the Government. It will also be binding for all EU countries. So it sets a precedent that will enable challenges against any EU countries failing to protect their citizens from air pollution.

The EU Air Quality Directive requires EU countries which have failed to meet air quality limits to prepare a plan to reduce air pollution in the “shortest time possible”. However, current UK Government plans will not meet nitrogen dioxide limits until after 2030 – 20 years after the original deadline. Is this the shortest time possible? The ECJ’s verdict will help make clear what needs to happen.

via European Court verdict on air pollution case due – HealthyAir.

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