The Jakarta Environment Office has appealed to residents to wear masks, especially when venturing outside, as part of anticipatory measures against the recent deterioration in air quality to the unhealthy range.
“If you have to go outside the home, always wear a mask because the air quality in Jakarta is currently not good,” head of the Jakarta Environment Office, Asep Kuswanto, said here on Wednesday.
He also asked Jakartans to carry out vehicle emissions testing every six months.
Based on data from the Environment Office’s website, the number of vehicles that have carried out emissions testing in 2022 has so far reached 155 thousand.
Kuswanto also appealed to residents to use environmentally friendly fuels.
The air pollution in Jakarta has been caused by mobile and non-mobile sources, he said.
Mobile source air pollution includes air pollution caused by motor vehicles, while non-mobile source air pollution comes from industries and building construction, Kuswanto explained.
According to him, mobile source air pollution accounts for 75 percent of the air pollution in Jakarta. For that reason, he urged Jakarta residents to use public transportation and reduce the use of private vehicles.
Earlier, acting deputy for climatology at the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), Urip Haryoko, reported that the concentration of PM2.5 had shot up to 148 µg/m3 on June 15, 2022, which reflected unhealthy air quality.
On June 16–17, the PM2.5 concentration was lower compared to on June 15, he added.
“However, there was an increase in the PM2.5 concentration on June 18, reaching 147.5 µg/m3. On June 20, the PM2.5 concentration was again above 100 µg/m3,” he informed.
The threshold value (NAB) for PM2.5 concentration is 65 µg/m3. A reading in the range of 15–65 µg/m3 shows moderate air pollution and 0–15 µg/m3 shows good air quality.
Meanwhile, a reading of 66–150 µg/m3 shows unhealthy air quality, 151–250 µg/m3 very unhealthy air quality, and more than 250 µg/m3 hazardous air quality.
Source: Antara News