At 8:00 a.m. this morning, January 7, the IQAir air quality index application ranked Hanoi as the most polluted city in the world with an AQI of 272 - the purple level, very harmful to human health.
For many days now, West Lake (Hanoi) has been the most polluted area. This morning, To Ngoc Van (West Lake) recorded AQI 416, Ciputra (West Lake) AQI 408, Quang Khanh (West Lake) AQI 372, Quang Ba (West Lake) AQI 320... These are all pollution indexes at the brown level - a level that is harmful to human health.
Other areas recorded AQI at purple threshold such as Tu Hoa (Tay Ho) AQI 256, Le Duan (Hoan Kiem) AQI 256, Pho Lo Duc AQI 270, Tran Hung Dao AQI 233...
According to Dr. Hoang Duong Tung - Chairman of the Vietnam Clean Air Network, air pollution affects human health. There need to be long-term, medium-term, short-term solutions, managing each emission source. Recently, there have been solutions such as implementing low emission zones, converting gasoline vehicles to electric vehicles... However, we need to be more determined, raising people's awareness.
Up to now, Hanoi has not conducted a comprehensive inventory of air emission sources. However, a synthesis of various inventory studies by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the World Bank and other studies shows that: Regarding the contribution rate of emission sources to the concentration of primary dust PM2.5 at 11 locations in the capital: Depending on each location, the contribution rate of the sources is different. Traffic sources (including road dust) are the source with the highest contribution (from 58% - 74%), followed by industrial sources (from 14% - 23%), agricultural sources (from 3.4% - 18.9%), domestic sources and waste incineration sources have the lowest contribution.
The AQI is an air quality index that ranges from 0-500, with higher numbers indicating higher levels of pollution and health impacts. Readings above 300 are considered unhealthy, while 0-50 indicate good air quality.
