TUNESS Chart of the Week (TCW), Friday Feb 01, 2013
Clean air is essential to human life. Developed countries have been making significant investments and have been implementing strategies to keep pollution and contaminants under control. While air pollution cannot be summarized into a single value, the particulate matter (PM) remains one of the key measured, monitored and reported pollutant that has short and long term effect on the respiratory system. Particulate matter plays the role of carrier for pathogens - disease causing micro-organism such as Virus, Bacteria, and Fungi.
Studies suggest that high particulate matter concentration increases the spread of airborne diseases. PM10 are known to be reaching deep into the thoracic region of the respiratory system. PM10, PM2.5 are frequently monitored in developed countries and more recently the PM1 started also to gain grounds in the radar of the environmental authorities in those countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) sets the limit on the PM10 to 20 micrograms annual mean and 50 micrograms 24hr mean. PM10 are suspended particles in the air that are below 10 micron in size. In the present study, Tunisia was compared to Sweden (a clean country), the USA (world economic power) and China (world economic power). From 1990 to 2009, Tunisia reduced its measured PM10 by an astonishing 67%, a respectful improvement when compared to the charted countries. While the drop in the PM10 level is still insufficient to reach the annual limits set by the WHO, the trend is encouraging. The current levels are asymptotically approaching a world power like the US and the limits set by the WHO. Lower particulate matter could have a positive economic impact by encouraging tourism and by reducing all sorts of health risk effects. More importantly, the impact is relevant to Tunisians who spend their entire life in the country where clean air should be a right and not a luxury.
(Chart prepared by TUNESS Research Team), Data source: World Bank