Air quality in Celaya

What is the current level of air pollution in Celaya?

Celaya is a city and its surrounding municipality in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. It is situated in the south eastern corner of the country. It was ranked as the third most populous state after a census conducted in 2005 estimated the population to be approximately 310,000 people. This number rises to 415,869 when the entire municipality is taken into account.

At the beginning of 2022, Celaya was going through a period of air quality that was classed as being “Unhealthy for sensitive groups” with a US AQI reading of 102. This United States Air Quality Index number is calculated using the levels of six of the most prolific air pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide and both sizes of particulate matter, which are PM2.5 and PM10. It can then be used as the metric when comparing air quality in other cities around the world. If data is unavailable for all 6 pollutants, a figure can still be calculated by using what figures there are. The levels of five main pollutants were measured in Celaya which were’ PM2.5 - 36 µg/m³, PM10 - 123 µg/m³, ozone (O₃) - 0 µg/m³, sulphur dioxide (SO₂) - 0 µg/m³ and carbon monoxide (CO) - 1963.7 µg/m³.

This level of PM2.5 is just over three and a half times over the recommended safe level of 10 µg/m³ as suggested by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as being an acceptable level. Although no amount of air pollution is considered to be safe.

When air pollution is “Unhealthy for sensitive groups” the given advice would be to remain indoors as much as possible, closing doors and windows to prevent the ingress of more polluted air. It would be advantageous to operate an air purifier if there is one available, but ensure it is set to recirculate the existing air and not import more dirty air from outside. Those who are more sensitive to poor quality air should avoid venturing outside until it improves. If this is unavoidable, then a good quality face mask should be worn at all times. All types of outdoor exercise should be avoided until the air quality improves. There is a downloadable app from AirVisual.com which is suitable for all operating systems and gives the latest information regarding air quality in real-time.

Does the level of air pollution change much throughout the year in Celaya?

Air quality is very volatile as it can be affected by many variables. Looking back at the 2020 figures published by IQAir.com, it can easily be seen that the month of August was the cleanest month for air quality as it achieved the WHO target figure of being less than 10 µg/m³. The recorded figure was 8.6 µg/m³. For the remaining eleven months the air quality was classified as being “Moderate” with readings between 12.1 and 35.4 µg/m³. The cleanest of these months was June with a 12.6 µg/m³ figure. The dirtiest was April with a 25.2 µg/m³ reading.

Historically, records for air quality have been kept since 2017 when a figure of 22.2 µg/m³ was noted. The following year saw an improvement when that figure was 20.1 µg/m³. In 2019 the recorded figure was 20.0 µg/m³ with 18.6 µg/m³ being the figure for 2020. This low figure was to be expected because it may have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as many vehicles were no longer in daily use because the offices were closed, in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus. Many factories and non-essential production units were also required to close which removed their emissions from the atmosphere, albeit on a temporary basis. Worldwide, cities reported a much better quality of air due to the general lack of traffic pollution in city centres due to the pandemic.

What is the main cause of air pollution in Celaya?

One of the main causes of air pollution is the excessive burning of seagrass in the fields and grasslands. These generate huge plumes of smoke which can be seen from several kilometres away.

There is the traffic of vehicles on unpaved roads, the suspension of powders, resuspension of powders later in avenues that are not paved, erosion in areas where it is not covered by vegetation, construction works due to the movement of materials that contributes to these particles, a little combustion and the burning of organic matter residues.

Celaya stands out for being one of the municipalities with the most contamination in Guanajuato, this, coming from the pollutants of the refineries and brickyards of which they release levels of sulphur dioxide, affecting the entire atmospheric basin of the municipality and its surroundings.

Can anything be done to improve air quality in Celaya?

The Salamanca Air Improvement Program (PROAIRE) aims to reduce the levels of pollution present in Salamanca, through the incorporation of firm measures to reduce and control pollutant emissions. The main measures consider significant progress in energy policy in the country, by seeking to generate energy with less impact on the environment, which has been a priority and a commitment of the Presidency of the Republic.

The commitment to solve the problem of air quality in the state is permanent, which is why we are currently working on the new Management Program to Improve Air Quality in the State of Guanajuato, which will give continuity to the current Programs. The following are highlighted;

• Reduction of emissions from mobile sources.
• Reduction of emissions from area sources.
• Reduction of emissions from the industry.
• Scientific research instruments and tools related to air quality.
• Responsible and participatory society.
• Comprehensive air quality management.

What are the detrimental effects of breathing in polluted air?

As science advances, we better understand the ways in which this pollution damages our bodies. Today, we know that some of these polluted air particles pass through the tiny holes in the barrier that are our lungs, navigating through the bloodstream to other organs. Sometimes they can be stopped by other filters - like our kidneys, heart, brain and bones - or our immune system can attack these particles and store them in immune cells. But recently, we have observed that these polluted air particles can also reach the placenta and foetus, and even our brain.

The problem is that it seems that these particles cannot be eliminated, so our body will accumulate these "foreign bodies", creating a chronic, continuous and low level of inflammation that is not good for our health.