Air quality in Penang

How bad is the air pollution in Penang?

Penang is an island state off the coast of the northernmostpart of Malaysia, not far from the border of Thailand. It covers an area ofsome 1048km², with a population of 1.77 million as of 2018. Pollutionlevels in Penang came in with consistently moderate readings over the course of2019, with moderate referring to a number-based classification of pollutionlevels, and not just a descriptive. In order for a city, state or country to beclassed as moderate requires a PM2.5 (particulate matter of 2.5 micrometers orless in diameter) reading of anywhere between 12.1 to 35.4 µg/m³ to beclassified as such, although it should be noted that the yearly averages of thevarious cities in Penang, such as Balik Pulau, were at the lower end of themoderate spectrum in regards to its yearly average.

Despite this, there are months of the year when pollutionlevels rise significantly, the reasons of which will be discussed later ingreater detail. To quote some figures over 2019 to show examples of theelevated levels of pollution, in the month of September, Balik pulau came inwith a reading of 34 µg/m³, putting it at the absolute highest end of themoderate rating, with only 1.5 µg/m³ of PM2.5 required to push it up into thenext bracket of ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’, which requires a reading of35.5 to 55.4 µg/m³ to be classified as such. This shows that whilst the yearlyaverage is not overwhelmingly bad, there are months when the air pollutionlevels can rise significantly (with the month of September being over double ofBalik pulau’s yearly average reading of 16.1 µg/m³, which incidentally made itthe most polluted city in Penang over 2019.

The other cities in Penang also came in with similarmoderate ratings, all within several units of each other, not showing too muchdisparity between the four cities recorded over 2019, showing that the state ofPenang seems to suffer from similar levels of pollution in an even manner. Whilsta moderate rating is not bad, for an island based coastal state, it couldcertainly stand to improve its numbers, with factors such as vehicle pollutionand organic material burning causing worsened levels of air quality, with Balikpulau coming in at 21^st place out of all the most polluted cities inMalaysia, out of a total 60 recorded.

What are the main pollution problems that Penang has to deal with?

As with the whole of peninsular Malaysia, the state ofPenang has the same pollution issues to deal with year round, with ambientlevels of pollution being affected by normal human activities such as car andother vehicle use (with a multitude of trucks, bikes, cars and boats allrunning on diesel fuels, which are far more polluting than cleaner fuelalternatives) as well as industrial based pollution, which will be looked into.

The elephant in the room regarding air pollution in Penangis the forest and farm fires in Indonesia and Sumatra, with their smoke andhaze drifting northeastwards directly over Malaysia, where the smog canpermeate the sky and cause PM2.5 levels to skyrocket over the month ofSeptember (other months are also at risk but It is apparent that numbersrecorded during September consistently come in higher than others). Despitebeing highly illegal, with local and international pressure being implementedto try and put an end to this practice, slash and burn farming continues to beconducted unabated, with lack of local enforcement often allowing it continue.

This is often due the difficulty of enforcing it, due to thehigh volume of farms and forest areas in Sumatra and Indonesia, often timeswith the burning taking place in rural areas for out of the reach of thejurisdiction of a bigger city.

Besides the pollution problems caused by fires in Indonesia(as well as some locally produced ones) being the main cause of pollution,there would also be numerous pollutants released by the aforementioned cars andfactories. The pollutive matter that can be found permeating the atmosphere inthe form of smog and haze (when coming from forest fires) often containsnoxious compounds such as carbon monoxide (CO), black carbon and volatileorganic compounds (VOC’s), both of which are formed via the improper combustionof organic materials and fossil fuels, and as such would find their sources inboth the factory industry as well as the forest fires.

What other sources of pollution cause problems for Penang?

To touch again on the industrial sector, it can be observedthat there are a large number of factories on both the island side of Penang aswell as the mainland side (with the state of Penang extending to both theisland and cities found on mainland Malaysia). Amongst this industrial sectorinclude factories that deal in rubber production, electronic parts, foodproduction and packaging as well as chemical plants and an assortment ofindustrial product-based factories.

These would all primarily rely on fossil fuels for theirenergy, in particular coal. The combustion of this material can lead to furtherproduction of black carbon and all the other chemical compounds associated withthe burning of a fossil fuel. Factories that deal in plastic based goods orpackaging can often give off microplastics that can enter the atmosphere aswell as the water and food chain, with the fumes given off by molten plasticreleasing a myriad of chemicals such as mercury, furans, various forms ofdioxins as well as polychlorinated biphenyls (BCP’s), all of which would notonly contribute to Penang's ambient pollution levels year round but also havenegative health effects of those living nearby or subject to breathing the airpolluted by such fumes.

What are some of the health problems associated with living in Penang?

Before discussing the health issues associated withbreathing Penang's air, it must be stated that whilst there are months ofworsened air quality, with reports of state wide haze and smoke permeating theatmosphere combined with year round moderate ratings (which should be ideallybetter in an island based state due to coastal winds and other factors such aselevation and vegetation playing a role in pollution reduction), the overallair quality is not particularly terrible and as such these health risks aremainly associated with some of the more polluted months of the year.

To name a few of the ill health effects, ailments regardingthe lungs and heart often find themselves topping the list, with issues such aschronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) afflicting people who are exposedto pollution levels over longer periods of time (particularly during the worsemonths when the haze makes its way over). Within the umbrella term of COPDcomes other conditions such as asthma, bronchitis and emphysema, all of whichcan be worsened from breathing polluted air, or actually caused in those withno preexisting conditions if they are exposed over long enough periods of time.

Sensitive demographics such as young children may also findthemselves at risk. The black carbon and volatile organic compounds can causeissues related to growth development, with children who suffer fromoverexposure to pollution often having cases of respiratory diseases that canpermanently reduce lung function and therefore stunt growth. Beyond thephysical, there are cognitive defects that can occur from polluted air, as wellas an increased risk in cancers, particularly of the lungs.

Due to the insidiously small size of PM2.5, it has theability to penetrate deep into the lungs tissue upon inhalation, where it canaccumulate and cause risks of infection as well as general irritation to therespiratory tract, or in worst cases enter the bloodstream via the lungs andtravel to the rest of the body, causing damage to the circulatory system and bloodvessels, as well as travelling to the heart and causing heightened instances ofcardiac arrest, as well as other forms of heart disease.

Larger particulate matter such as PM10, also found in thehaze and ambient year-round pollution, can cause irritation to the skin, aswell as the nose eyes and mouth. Due to its larger size, the negative healthaspects are somewhat lessened, although it can still cause its fair share ofdamage and trigger off preexisting conditions such as aggravated asthma. Theseare to name but a few of the issues that one may encounter during months ofhigher levels of pollution, and as such preventative measures should be ofprimary concern to those that are at risk of overexposure.

What is being done about air pollution in Penang?

Whilst it is hard to control the transborder smoke thatdrifts across from its neighbor, initiatives are being taken such asencouraging the general public to not engage in open burning practices of anysort, as this can contribute to local levels of pollution and compound thesituation even further. When the haze has gotten to its worst, schools havebeen forced to close in order to protect the younger students.

It seems that preventative measures are of primary method ofdealing with pollution, with a larger number of particle filtering masks beingmade available to the general public as well as health messages being broadcaststatewide in an effort to get people to avoid outdoor sport activities duringmonths of higher pollution. Besides the preventative measures, as with allcities and states across Asia, the continued removal of black smoke emittingvehicles continues to be implemented, and with their increased disappearanceoff of the roads, the air pollution levels should see a correlated drop due to theirhigh smoke emissions.