Air quality in Rayong

What is the air quality like in Rayong?

Rayong is a city located in the east coast region of Thailand, with a relatively small population of some 64,000 people living there. It ranks fairly well out of all cities in Thailand, having some of the cleaner air as compared to the more densely populated cities.

When calculating how good, or bad a cities air quality is, PM2.5 is a very important factor in gauging how clean the air is. PM2.5 refers to fine particulate matter that is 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter, making it approximately 3% of the size of a human hair. Due to its incredibly small size, it has a number of severe health issues when large amounts of these particles find themselves in the air, and as such a city (or countries) pollution levels can be ranked based on the presence of these microscopic particles.

In 2019, Rayong came in with a yearly average of 17.5 μg/m³, in terms of the PM2.5 present in the air. This puts it into the lower end of the ‘moderate’ pollution bracket, which requires a reading of any number between 12.1 to 35.4 μg/m³ to be classed as moderate. With this reading of PM2.5, Rayong came in at 62^nd place out of all 68 cities ranked in Thailand over 2019, as well as being number 1059 in terms of most polluted cities ranked worldwide, in the same year.

This gives Rayong a somewhat decent quality of air, with some months showing good levels of air quality, although there were also some that displayed much worse numbers, which will be discussed in short.

What are some of the causes of air pollution in Rayong?

Pollution finds its way into Rayong's air from several sources, one of which would be the smoke and fumes emitted from vehicles, although this does not have as much of a prominent effect when compared to more densely populated and therefore more polluted cities like Bangkok, as the traffic load is significantly less, with a far lower number of cars, motorbikes and trucks populating the roads.

Despite them being fewer in number, pollution from vehicles always plays a part in many cities year-round averages, with commutes from both local people as well as touristic vehicles such as buses and taxis all giving off large amounts of noxious gases as well as fine particulate matter.

The other main cause, and one that seem to be of chief concern for Rayong's citizens is industrial pollutants, with a relatively large number of factories and industrial plants being located around the city’s limits, in a much denser fashion than is usual in coastal cities. Many of these factories are involved in the production of materials such as rubber, industrial chemicals and food products. As such, there would be a large amount of the haze and particulate matter coming from these sources, whilst the vehicular emission serves only to further compound the overall levels of pollution.

What are some health problems related to breathing polluted air in Rayong?

Whilst Rayong does not see drastic levels of pollution for many of its months, meaning that there are large portions of the year where the air is somewhat cleaner thus making its citizens far less susceptible to the ill health effects of respiring pollution, there are other months when the levels can climb higher, making the possibility of adverse symptoms far more prominent.

Some of these issues would include many lung and heart related conditions, with respiratory ailments such as bronchitis, emphysema, aggravated asthma and other issues falling under the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease bracket.

Due to the extremely small size of PM2.5, it can make its way deep into the lung tissues and the air sacs, causing a reduction in full lung function as well as raising the possibilities of lung cancer. Of note is that their microscopic size allows these polluting particles to cross the blood barrier via the lungs, where they can enter the circulatory system and cause a number of issues related to that. These would include damage to the blood vessels, as well as increased rates of cardiac problems such as heart attacks and arrythmias.

When these fine particles enter the blood stream, other problems may occur, such as damage to the hepatic and renal systems (liver and kidneys) as well as causing adverse effects to occur in reproductive health. Exposure to plastic fumes, both from factories as well as the occasional open burn sites of refuse material can cause cases of severe headaches and damage to the nervous system. Babies in the womb exposed to these fumes also run the risk of being born with a low birth weight or prematurely, with higher chances for birth defects to also occur.

As mentioned before, the chance of such adverse effects occurring correlate directly with the level of pollution in the air, and as such the air quality should be considered before undertaking outdoor activities.

When is air pollution at its worst In Rayong?

Observing the readings taken over the year of 2019, Rayong came in with a wide range of numbers. To note the worst month, January came in with the highest reading by a wide measure, with a PM2.5 reading of 41.4 μg/m³, putting it up a notch into the ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups bracket’, which requires a reading of anywhere between 35.5 to 55.4 μg/m³ to be labelled as such. November and December also came in with fairly elevated readings, with 25.9 and 29.1 μg/m³ respectively.

June through to August came in as the cleanest months of the year, as is typical in many Thai cities due to the change in weather, becoming more prone to rain due to the appearance of the monsoon season.

Is air quality improving in Rayong?

Looking back at the data taken over the last few years, in 2017 Rayong came in with a PM2.5 average of 19.9 μg/m³. This was followed in 2018 with a reading of 21. μg/m³, showing a poorer yearly average. However, in 2019 the yearly reading was 17.5 μg/m³, showing that a decent amount of improvement was made over the last two years.

If further initiatives to keep industrial and vehicular pollution low are employed, then Rayong may edge its way closer to achieving numbers that fall into the World Health Organizations target goal of 0 to 10 μg/m³ of particulate matter in the air, which would be very desirable for its citizens and a respectable quality of air to breathe.