The Megalopolis Environmental Commission announced this Thursday afternoon the suspension of phase 1 of the environmental contingency in the southeast of the Valley of Mexico, activated in the morning due to the accumulation of PM2.5 particles, a type of fine air polluting particles. The agency said air quality has gradually improved and its monitoring stations recorded “acceptable and good” levels. “The trend is towards decreasing concentrations, taking into account the ventilation that has occurred in recent hours and the weather conditions which have allowed the dispersion of contaminants,” the agency said in a press release.
The use of fireworks and the combustion of materials and fuels during the end-of-year celebrations triggered the dispersion of these particles in the territory in the morning and at midday. The phenomenon was fueled by the low temperatures recorded in the early hours of Thursday. At eight in the morning, the record for this particle was 107.3 micrograms per cubic meter of this particle at its Santiago Acahualtepec station, located in Iztapalapa.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a maximum exposure of 10 micrograms per cubic meter “based on evidence of health effects from exposure to ambient air pollution.” The territories affected by the situation were the municipalities of Iztapalapa, Milpa Alta, Tláhuac,
The WHO also states that exposure to these PM2.5 particles causes cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, as well as lung cancer. Their reports explain that this pollution mainly affects people who live in low- and middle-income countries and who disproportionately bear the burden of outdoor air pollution. The activation took place shortly after the atmospheric monitoring system reported that the air and health index of Iztapalapa City Hall was “extremely bad,” a report that also indicated that the indices were “very bad” in the municipalities of Benito Juárez, Gustavo A. Madero, Coyoacán, Venustiano Carranza, Nezahualcóyotl, Coacalco and Tultitlán.
The Mexican agency reiterated in the new statement the call for the population to avoid using fireworks and having bonfires “to avoid atmospheric environmental hazards and thus protect the health of the entire population.”
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