Air Pollution Management in Two Colombian Cities: Case Study (original) (raw)
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Similarly to other Latin American countries, urban air quality is a major concern in Colombia. The purpose of the present study was to explore citizens' perception on local air pollution, its causes and impacts. A questionnaire was individually applied to a sample of 994 participants. Relationships between demographic features and the perception on air quality were analyzed using a logistic regression, its odds ratio (OR), and a Chi-square test. Eighty percent of the respondents perceive their local air quality as either bad or fair, 65% recognize particulate matter as the main local air pollutant, and 90% recognize negative impacts on people's health as the main consequence of air pollution. In contrast to other studies where age and economic status are variables highly related with public perception on the level of atmospheric pollution, in this study only the size of the cities has a statistically significant relationship with the perception on local air quality regarding the level of pollution(OR ≥ 1, confidence intervals > 1 and p-values < 0.05). While area sources such as mining and infrastructure construction are identified as the main sources of pollutant emissions in small towns (less than 50,000 inhabitants), in big cities, road traffic is identified as the main source contributor to atmospheric pollution. Opposite to data from official reports, and regardless of the size of the city, households are perceived as the place with greatest contribution to personal air pollution exposure. Results show that citizens are aware of the state of air quality and its health impact is a major concern. Such findings suggest people's opinions can be used as provisional indicators in cities without data, as well as to monitor the results of local air quality management. As a com-O. Ramírez et al. 2 plementary process, or at the same level of importance given to technical-based policy, citizen participation can contribute to a collective construction of urban air pollution control strategies.
Dealing with air pollution in Latin America: the case of Quito, Ecuador
Environment and Development Economics, 1999
Located in a high Andean valley, Ecuador's capital city suffers from severe air pollution, emitted by manufacturing plants as well as motor vehicles. Improving air quality would result in diminished respiratory illness, which currently costs Quito's residents several millions of dollars annually in lost earnings and medical expenditures. Technology transfer has succeeded in reducing industrial emissions at a modest cost. But diesel-fueled trucks and buses, which are a major source of various pollutants, have been the primary focus of the local government's strategy for air quality improvement. To date, that strategy has met with some success, although future initiatives will involve higher abatement expenses and therefore will test the commitment of municipal authorities and the citizens they represent to pollution control.
A Decade of Air Quality in Bogotá: A Descriptive Analysis
Frontiers in Environmental Science, 2020
In this work we apply a rigorous and reproducible data analytics process for validation and analysis of the historical data from Bogotá (Colombia) air quality monitoring network since 1998. The reasons for addressing this research study stem from the lack of a consistent approach for cleaning, validating and reporting air quality data. By analyzing the whole dataset, we are aiming at providing citizens and the city authorities with a clear view of the current situation of air quality and of its historical evolution. Without any loss of generality, we focus our analysis on both respirable and fine particulate matter (PM 10 and PM 2. 5) concentrations, which in Bogotá and worldwide are source of concern for their negative impacts on human health. We develop a reproducible and flexible data cleaning methodology for particulate matter concentration data reported by the local authorities, which allows customizing and applying configurable validation rules. Then, we present statistical descriptive analyses by providing intuitive data visualizations, characterizing historical and spatial change of air pollutant levels. Results raise concerns for the high percentage of invalid data, as well as the high levels of PM 2. 5 and PM 10 ambient concentrations as observed in the valid portion of the available data, which frequently exceed national and international air quality standards. The data exhibit encouraging signs of air quality improvement, particularly for PM 10. However, the analyses indicate that significant differences exist across Bogotá, and particularly in the southwest zone of the city annual concentrations of particulate matter are up to three or four times the WHO recommendations. We are confident on the methodology and results from our analysis are useful both for local environmental authority and the general public to help in obtaining consistent conclusions from the available data.
The Development of Air Pollution in Mexico City
Journal of Environment & Development, 2020
The present essay documents changes to both objects of inquiry and the meaning of the epistemological concept of air pollution and it explains the processes that produced them. Smog as a result of production processes and the use of the automobile was not a concern for researchers and government managers in Mexico City, who were used to the dust storms resulting from the desiccation of the great Texcoco Lake during much of the 20th century, until the most industrialized nations of the West and the World Health Organization (WHO), alongside other international bodies such as the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), reframed what was understood as air pollution, between the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s. Concerns about dust storms were displaced by concerns about factory and automotive emissions that contained new dangers—invisible hazards, just then being estimated, which altered what was understood or considered air pollution and gave rise to the quantification of particulate matter (which was then known as suspended dust particles) and new practices such as atmospheric monitoring. This essay concludes that what is understood as air pollution is situated; its meaning is not finite but simply evolves with time and with the rise of new global risks and concerns.
Revista panamericana de salud publica = Pan American journal of public health, 2016
To assess the status of the legal framework for air quality control in all countries of Latin America and Caribbean (LAC); to determine the current distribution of air monitoring stations and mean levels of air pollutants in all capital and large cities (more than 100 000 inhabitants); and to discuss the implications for climate change and public policymaking. From January 2015-February 2016, searches were conducted of online databases for legislation, regulations, policies, and air pollution programs, as well as for the distribution of monitoring stations and the mean annual levels of air pollution in all LAC countries. Only 117 cities distributed among 17 of 33 LAC countries had official information on ground level air pollutants, covering approximately 146 million inhabitants. The annual mean of inhalable particles concentration in most of the cities were over the World Health Organization Air Quality Guidelines; notably, only Bolivia, Peru, and Guatemala have actually adopted th...
Air Pollution, Citizen Data Collectives and Communication Agenda Setting in Colombia
Air Pollution XXVII, 2019
Air pollution levels in the cities of Bogotá and Medellín (Colombia) are now reaching dangerous levels, as measured by the few government monitoring stations available and operative. So far, government actions have focused on enforcing private car and industrial emission limits, prohibiting the circulation of vehicles for a few days during particularly polluted periods and vague promises of switching a percentage of public transport vehicles to alternative power. Official measurements are increasingly being reported in the national and local media, as well as through social media, but citizen distrust of their quality has mounted. Citizen collectives are starting to work designing low-cost mobile sensors, monitoring pollution in some areas and in public transport, sharing their georeferenced data over the internet and trying to raise awareness of the dangers of pollution and the necessity of radical actions to deal with the problem. This paper describes the current actions of some o...
Environmental Research, 2006
Urban centers in Latin American often face high levels of air pollution as a result of economic and industrial growth. Decisions with regard to industry, transportation, and development will affect air pollution and health both in the short term and in the far future through climate change. We investigated the pollution health consequences of modest changes in fossil fuel use for three case study cities in Latin American: Mexico City, Mexico; Santiago, Chile; and Sa˜o Paulo, Brazil. Annual levels of ozone and particulate matter were estimated from 2000 to 2020 for two emissions scenarios: (1) business-as-usual based on current emissions patterns and regulatory trends and (2) a control policy aimed at lowering air pollution emissions. The resulting air pollution levels were linked to health endpoints through concentration-response functions derived from epidemiological studies, using local studies where available. Results indicate that the air pollution control policy would have vast health benefits for each of the three cities, averting numerous adverse health outcomes including over 156,000 deaths, 4 million asthma attacks, 300,000 children's medical visits, and almost 48,000 cases of chronic bronchitis in the three cities over the 20-year period. The economic value of the avoided health impacts is roughly 21to21 to 21to165 billion (US). Sensitivity analysis shows that the control policy yields significant health and economic benefits even with relaxed assumptions with regard to population growth, pollutant concentrations for the control policy, concentration-response functions, and economic value of health outcomes. This research demonstrates the health and economic burden from air pollution in Latin American urban centers and the magnitude of health benefits from control policies. r 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Environment and Urbanization, 1999
Paulo which has sought to reduce air pollution by banning the use of every car for one day a week. After summarizing the serious problems that São Paulo faces from air pollution and the extent to which these are generated by motor vehicles, it describes the difficulties the city authorities faced in getting approval for this programme, including opposition of the press. However, it has still been implemented -for a month in 1996 and for the period June-September in 1997 and 1998 -and accompanied by a large information programme. Its implementation brought significant reductions in some air pollutants and reduced traffic congestion. It also received considerable public support. The paper ends by reflecting on this experience in the light of the need for city authorities to increase information about environmental risks and ensure democratic interaction between local government and citizenry about environmental priorities.
Policy instruments surrounding urban air quality: The cases of São Paulo, New York City and Paris
Environmental Science & Policy
Fifteen years of major policies and programs on air pollution control in New York City, São Paulo and Paris were reported in order to draw attention to each city's management tendencies. The study highlighted the strategies implemented, showing that overall levels of atmospheric pollution have decreased in the three cities, but they continue to be above WHO recommendations. While regulatory approaches are commonly embraced to lower air pollution levels, the three cities differ in the way and extent to which they have prioritized control technologies, mobility, public transport accessibility and energy matrix. Despite all sharing the technological capacity to develop cleaner fuels and foster non-motorized transport modes, disparities in transportation options, infrastructure and commuting distance appear to have an impact on the use of privately owned vehicles and pollution levels. This is partly due to the lack of public transportation and to local political choices. The three examples show how regulatory approaches alone are not enough to ameliorate air quality and suggest that each city should incorporate programs that account for people's travel choices. For policymakers, prioritizing air quality offers the potential to have a positive short-term impact on health and on the local environment, particularly in low and middle-income countries.
Air Pollution in the Aveiro Region, Portugal: A Citizens’ Engagement Approach
Air Pollution XXVI, 2018
Air pollution has become a growing concern in the past few years, with an increasing number of acute air pollution episodes in many cities worldwide. In Portugal, especially in the region of Aveiro, high concentrations of particulate matter are frequently recorded, being one of the most critical air pollutants. Health impacts related with citizens' exposure to particulate matter has been threatening human health, increasing mortality and morbidity and contributing to a broad range of negative health outcomes. Different causes are attributed to air pollution over Portugal: agricultural, forest fires and dust emissions from Sahara Desert, amongst the natural emission sources, and road-traffic, residential combustion and industrial emissions, amongst the anthropogenic emission sources. Citizens' behaviour has a main role on air quality management. Each day individual choices, such as transportation or residential heating, have direct impact on air pollutant emissions. Therefore, citizens' play an important role to mitigate air pollution problems in their cities. However, the first step is to increase citizens' receptiveness about their contribution to the problem and, at the same time, to engage and empower them to contribute to the solutions. Aveiro Region is one of the case studies of ClairCity (Citizen-led air pollution reduction in cities) project. The project developed several activities to engage citizens on air pollution and carbon emissions issues. This work focus on the Delphi-like approach that includes surveys and workshops, to find out about people's lives in Aveiro Region and their vision for a low carbon, clean air and healthy future region. This paper presents an overview about air pollution in Aveiro region as well as the activities of the Delphi survey to see how citizens perceive this problem and their role on future air quality management.