Through Metropolitan Resolution 341 of 2022, the Valle de Aburrá Metropolitan Area (AMVA) lifted the Level of ‘Prevention’ for air quality, declared since Monday, February 28 because about 80% of the Siata stations recorded an orange air quality index (harmful for sensitive groups).
However, according to the entity, the restrictive measure of the peak and environmental license plate to freight vehicles, added to the rains of recent days, helped improve air quality in the region.
Said resolution indicates that the declaration of Prevention level is lifted as of March 3 for the control of air pollution episodes in the first half of 2022, as well as the measures to restrict the movement of cargo transport vehicles and dump trucks. .
That is there will no longer be a peak and environmental plate for these vehicles.
The AMVA clarified that the air pollution episode, which began on February 14 and will last until April 1 of this year, continues, so it is not ruled out that during that time a level of prevention can be declared again, alert or emergency.
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Regarding the Air Quality Indices (ICA), the stations of the Early Warning System (Siata) that monitor the levels of air pollution, show that the majority present a yellow ICA (moderate) and the rest a green ICA (good). ).
“It is expected that at least eight stations would continue at a moderate ICA and another eight stations could reach a good ICA by the end of the afternoon on March 2 of the currents. This means that none of the population-based PM2.5 monitoring stations have exceeded the national daily air quality standard (37 ug/m³: micrograms cubic meter), during the last two days”, indicated the AMVA.
The resolution of the environmental authority, maintains the recommendations to companies to take Ecocity measures, such as: promoting teleworking and remote work or at home, enabling new temporary bike lanes, implementing logistics corridors to improve transport efficiency. of cargo, Promote the actions of the Sustainable Business Mobility Plan (Plans MONTH), as well as flexible and staggered schedules.
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Due to the increase in contamination levels detected by the stations that monitor air quality in Medellin and its metropolitan area, the authorities chose to take action in this regard.
Since February 24, most stations of the Early Warning System (Siata) reported an orange ICA (Air Quality Index), which indicates a noxious air for sensitive groups.
Due to the fact that the weather conditions will continue in the coming days, and some stations may even register a red ICA, the Aburrá Valley Metropolitan Area (AMVA) declared the ‘prevention level’ established in the Operational Plan to Deal with Atmospheric Pollution Episodes (POECA) starting Monday, February 28.
This implies an environmental bill and plate in the 10 municipalities of the Aburrá Valley for cargo vehicles (trucks and dump trucks). to four digits in the schedules from 7 to 8:30 am and from 5:30 to 7 pm
However, for models less than or equal to 2009, the measure applies with the same plate numbers, but between the hours of 5:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and from 4:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
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The restriction will be taking into account the last digit of the license plate, as follows:
– Monday: 6, 7, 8 and 9 – Tuesday: 0, 1, 2 and 3 – Wednesday: 4, 5, 6 and 7 – Thursday: 8, 9, 0 and 1 – Friday: 2, 3, 4 and 5
“We know that every month of February, March and April we have different weather conditions than the rest of the year, which leads us to attend to air quality episodes. In recent days we have seen an affectation in the air due to the arrival of a plume of smoke from forest fires in the rest of the country, that is why we declare the level of prevention that implies restrictions on cargo vehicles, which will allow us to reduce particulate matter by 10% in the territory“, explained the director of the AMVA, Juan David Palacio.
The entity clarified that there will be no additional restriction for motorcycles and private vehicles to the peak and plate that currently governs (two digits weekly).
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In addition to the environmental peak and plate, the AMVA reported that they will reinforce measures for industries, called fixed sources.
“Those that are not complying with the norm are suspended and, in addition, companies cannot carry out preventive maintenance of atmospheric emission control equipment,” Palacio said.
For having denounced an environmental crisis registered in a neighborhood of the city of Riohacha, which has been affecting the inhabitants for several years, a Venezuelan migrant received death threats.
María Pineda, who has been living in the El Manantial neighborhood for five years, through a video published on her social networks denounced on September 5 an environmental problem.
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Rainwater stagnation
which is generated by the rainwater stagnation on Carrera 27 with Calle 15, forming an immense lagoon that affects mobility, preventing free vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
Two days after the complaint, Mayor José Ramiro Bermúdez and the secretary of works visited this sector to review this situation and announced the completion of a project that is in the pre-contractual stage.
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Five months later, and given that the waters changed color, becoming an intense green, ‘Chan chan’, as the victim is known, decided to make another video on February 5 recalling the situation and the visit by the authorities, assuring that the cases of dengue increased and the issue remained the same.
She immediately received a text message “Chan, chan, stop making videos to stir up the hornet’s nest here in Riohacha Veneca… solve your country, go with your girlfriend, something could happen to you, take care of yourself in the motico.”
They offered money for an attempt on his life.
I have been creating the same social content for five years about what is wrong in Riohacha and how we can improve. But this year that we are precisely in politics was that this affected someone
Through his Facebook account, he made the threat public “Who is it that one holds responsible when they threaten him? I cannot believe that because she is a veneca, that Riohacha hurts, she has to receive these types of threats.”
What he did not imagine was that someone close to him warned him to be careful, already in another sector of the city, in the Dividivi neighborhood, they were offering a good sum of money for an attempt on his life, “rumors from the neighborhood 10 bars for shooting you”, points to the message.
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This Thursday he will file the complaints with the competent authorities, noting that he does not know who is behind these threats.
“I have been creating the same social content for five years about what is wrong in Riohacha and how we can improve. But this year that we are precisely in politics was that this affected someone, ”he maintains.
Mayor rejects threats
We had closed the budget, we did not have the powers of the council to be able to contract this type of works and we are ready to comply with the legal procedures and contract complementary works…
Regarding the threats, Mayor José Ramiro Bermúdez assured that “we reject any act of violence and threat against the life of Mrs. María Pineda.”
He explained that the contract was awarded for 150 million pesos, but on the other hand there is a problem with a channel that must be cleaned and requires sedimentation work in about three blocks, so they decided to do a single job, so as not to move the problem to another sector.
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“We had just closed the budget, we did not have the powers of the council to be able to contract this type of works and we are ready to comply with the legal procedures and contract the complementary works in the other sector, that is why we have not been able to move forward,” said the president.
Bermúdez assures that in approximately one month the issue of hiring could be resolved to start the execution of these works, if the legal terms allow it.
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Health, environment and air quality are strongly connected and related. The air we breathe is essential for health, well-being and quality of life. In the document “Air quality and health prevention”, twenty experts analyze ambient air from three angles: in the community, in the workplace and in the hospital environment
In this reflection document, promoted by the Health Sciences Foundation, specialists in infectious diseases, epidemiologists, microbiologists, pulmonologists and experts in preventive medicine, the environment, pharmacy and occupational safety and hygiene have collaborated.
Through questions to specialists, the report offers a panoramic view of the interrelationship between air quality and health care and protection.
The work, presented this week in a webinar, has been coordinated by Professor Emilio Bouza, patron of the Health Sciences Foundation, Professor of Medicine at the Complutense University and former head of the Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Service of the General University Hospital Gregorio Maranon of Madrid.
Among the experts is Professor Diego Gracia, president of the Health Sciences Foundation and professor emeritus of the Faculty of Medicine of the Complutense University, who offers a conclusion.
Professor Diego Gracia (d) during one of the Foundation’s conferences. On the left, Professor Emilio Bouza/Photo provided by the Health Sciences Foundation
Environmental pollution and health
“Environmental pollution is a global threat that has a high impact on human health and ecosystems, with emissions and concentrations that have been progressively increasing in recent years throughout the world,” says the report.
Atmospheric pollution, highlights the document, is currently considered the most important environmental risk factor for human health, being a leading cause of premature death and disease.
For experts, in Europe, “air quality remains below the level considered optimal in many areas, despite efforts to reduce emissions and air pollutants.”
What are the effects of environmental pollution on human health?
According to the WHO, currently 90 percent of the planet’s population lives in areas where acceptable levels of environmental pollution for health protection are exceeded.
The report makes explicit due to the effect of environmental pollution premature deaths from cardiovascular disease, among which are ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease, followed by deaths due to respiratory disease and lung cancer.
It is estimated that around 500,000 deaths from lung cancer and 1.6 million deaths from COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) in the world can be attributed to air pollution.
Both short-term and long-term exposure to environmental pollution can lead to reduced lung function, increased individual susceptibility to respiratory infections and aggravation of bronchial asthma, it is claimed.
The document also states that exposure to environmental pollutants is associated with negative impacts on fertility, pregnancy, newborns and children.
In 2013, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified air pollution as a first-order carcinogen and in 2018 a review study was published with data from different cohorts in Europe that related air pollution to breast cancer.
Other studies point to the existence of a link between the concentrations of suspended particles and mortality from cancer of any origin, especially in the upper tract of the digestive system.
Pollution is also related to diabetes and metabolic dysfunctions and, at the behavioral level, with the risk of anxiety and depression, as well as with cognitive capacity in adults.
Especially important, the document points out, is the impact of air pollution on children’s health.
Some data
The most recent data available for Spain indicate that 15.3% of the urban population is exposed to ozone levels above the standard recommended by the EU and 3.6% to levels above the recommended standard for nitrogen dioxide. .
The report values that the exposure of these environmental contaminants has suffered a progressive decrease in the last decade thanks to the efforts of the different governments, but specifies that there is still much work to be done.
According to data from 2018, the estimate in Spain of deaths attributable to environmental pollution in one year rises to 31,600 people.
Estimates at the European level indicate an excess mortality attributed to air pollution of 790,000 deaths per year.
The latest study on “The global burden of disease”, published in The Lancet, indicates that exposure to polluted air is the fourth risk factor for mortality on a global scale, behind high blood pressure, tobacco and improper diet.
This impact also has an associated economic effect that is estimated at an expense of 4% of global GDP, according to the World Bank.
The impact that environmental contamination has on the spread and prognosis of COVID-19 has yet to be elucidated, the document points out.
Culture of respect for nature and its balance
In his final conclusion, Professor Diego Gracia points out that “the current health crisis is not a mere fortuitous event, but a consequence of the way in which human beings are preying on nature and altering its balance”.
“In the face of a predatory culture, it is necessary to promote another based on respect for nature and the maintenance of its balance. If this is not done, this pandemic will have been nothing more than a first warning, after which others will come, probably more serious”, predicts the president of the Health Sciences Foundation.
Medellin and its metropolitan area prepare for the first air quality episode of the two that the region crosses in the year, caused by the transition between dry and rainy seasons, which generates low cloudiness that prevents pollutants from dispersing correctly in the atmosphere.
The Aburrá Valley Metropolitan Area (AMVA), environmental authority in the region, has a series of tools to permanently monitor atmospheric conditions and thus make decisions in this regard.
One of the main ones is the Early Warning System (SIATA), which has 22 stations that measure the Air Quality Index (ICA) in the Aburrá Valley.
This system, which is free access to monitor 24/7, it has ranges of PM2.5 contaminant material levels which, depending on their severity, have a color scale, as follows:
• Good (green): 0 to 12 micrograms per cubic meter. • Moderate (yellow): 13 to 37 micrograms per cubic meter. • Harmful to sensitive groups (orange): 38 to 55 micrograms per cubic meter. • Harmful (red): 56 to 150 micrograms per cubic meter. • Extremely harmful (purple): 151 micrograms per cubic meter of air and above.
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Did you know that there is the Comprehensive Plan for Air Quality Management – PIGECA, which aims to drastically reduce polluting emissions. Know the importance of SIATA within the Plan and how it contributes to its fulfillment.#SustainableFuture#Airpic.twitter.com/cbivJaMoXv
— Aburrá Valley Metropolitan Area (@Areametropol) January 17, 2022
So when is an environmental alert decreed? The AMVA explained that since 2016 there is a Comprehensive Air Quality Management Plan (Pigeca)which contains short, medium and long-term strategies to improve air quality by 2030.
Said Plan contains the Operational Plan to deal with Atmospheric Pollution Episodes (POECA), which is an immediate response tool in the event of a contingency.
This protocol has three states: prevention, alert and emergencywhich are activated according to the ranges of pollutants in the air and the exposure times recorded by the stations that measure the quality of the Siata’s air.
In other words, depending on the levels of air pollution recorded by the stations, the environmental authority can take measures such as: the environmental peak and plate, restriction for freight vehicles, suspension of traffic charges, among others.
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The measurements will be in accordance with the proportions of the episode, in its fair measure and according to what is established by the Poeca
Juan David Palacio, director of the AMVA, also explained that “in a unanimous vote, the Metropolitan Health Council approved the Valle de Aburrá Metropolitan Area to make effective and timely decisions -based on the management of the pandemic- during these atmospheric episodes, related to the execution of strategies that are not included in the POECA and whose purpose is to preserve the health of metropolitan inhabitants, if necessary.
For the 2022 episode, which will begin on February 14initially there will be no restrictive measures beyond those already implemented, such as the bill and plate.
Although it is not ruled out that since February 21 there restriction of movement of cargo transport and dump trucksto 4 digitsfrom 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. and for these same vehicles with models less than or equal to 2009, with the same plate numbers, the restriction will be from 5 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
“The measures will be in accordance with the proportions of the episode, in its fair measure and in accordance with what is established by the Poeca,” added the director of the Metropolitan Area, who assured that any change in the measures will be informed in a timely manner to the citizenry. .
