Abstract
Along with rapid economic growth and enhanced agricultural productivity, particulate matter emissions in the northern cities of Thailand have been increasing for the past two decades. This trend is expected to continue in the coming decade. Emissions of particulate matter have brought about a series of public health concerns, particularly chronic respiratory diseases. It is well known that lung cancer incidence among northern Thai women is one of the highest in Asia (an annual age-adjusted incidence rate of 37.4 per 100,000). This fact has aroused serious concern among the public and the government and has drawn much attention and interest from the scientific community. To investigate the potential causes of this relatively high lung cancer incidence, this study employed Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) transmission spectroscopy to identify the chemical composition of the PM2.5 collected using Quartz Fibre Filters (QFFs) coupled with MiniVolTM portable air samplers (Airmetrics). PM2.5 samples collected in nine administrative provinces in northern Thailand before and after the "Haze Episode" in 2013 were categorised based on three-dimensional plots of a principal component analysis (PCA) with Varimax rotation. In addition, the incremental lifetime exposure to PM2.5 of both genders was calculated, and the first derivative of the FTIR spectrum of individual samples is here discussed.
Highlights
During the first two weeks of March 2013, agricultural waste burning, coupled with forest fires in northern regions of Thailand, steadily enhanced the levels of air pollution above the safety limit and produced an eyestinging, throat-burning, yellow-tinged haze that reduced visibility to less than 1,000 metres
The monthly average concentrations of PM10 in March 2013 detected by the Pollution Control Department (PCD) of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) at Mae Hong Son (186±110 μg m-3), Chiang Rai (122±71 μg m-3), Lampang (123±75 μg m-3), Phrae (123±58 μg m-3) and Chiang Mai (124±11 μg m-3) were slightly higher than the PCD 24-h standard
Both monitoring campaigns were performed at nine observatory sites, namely, Chiang-Rai Province Observatory Site (CROS; The Eight Hotel; E: 593783, N: 2258302); Chiang-Mai Province Observatory Site (CMOS; Yupparat School; E: 498805, N: 2077713); Nan Province Observatory Site (NPOS; Thewarat Hotel; E: 687123, N: 2077209); Phayao Province Observatory Site (PYOS; Arunothai Coffee House Homestay; E: 594420, N: 2119215); Mae Hong Son Province Observatory Site (MHOS; Mae Hong Son Provincial Forestry Office; E: 391834, N: 2134869); Phrae Province Observatory Site (PHOS; Nana Charoenmuang Hotel; E: 620935, N: 2006155); Lampang Province Observatory Site (LMOS; Maemoh Training Center; E: 568200, N: 2020017); Lamphun Province Observatory Site (LPOS; Lamphun Provincial Administration Organization Stadium; E: 500441, N: 2052987); and Uttaradit Province Observatory Site (UTOS; OUM Hotel; E: 615923, N: 1948269) (Figure 1)
Summary
During the first two weeks of March 2013, agricultural waste burning, coupled with forest fires in northern regions of Thailand, steadily enhanced the levels of air pollution above the safety limit and produced an eyestinging, throat-burning, yellow-tinged haze that reduced visibility to less than 1,000 metres. PM2.5 samples collected in nine administrative provinces in northern Thailand before and after the “Haze Episode” in 2013 were categorised based on three-dimensional plots of a principal component analysis (PCA) with Varimax rotation.
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