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National Clean Air Act
The creation of Ministry of Environment and Ministry
of Human Rights in Iraq is a positive step to build
a reasonable civil society and restore the dignity of Iraqi people. In my
previous reports I have cited some important reasons for the establishment of a
ministry to deal with the environmental disaster in Iraq.
On February/March of this year (2004), I visited my
beloved country after 29 years in exile. It was a major event in my life to
celebrate. Indeed I was very happy to be with my family and people.
The moment I arrived in Baghdad I started to feel the air
getting polluted; a cloud of smoke from the exhaust of cars combined with the
dust from roads saturated the air with unpleasant stench, sometimes the odor of
benzene and other times a burning smog depends on
day/night hours. I had experienced this situation in other 5 provinces that I
visited. I was coughing day and night without feeling cold or having a fever or
headache well after I arrived in Canada. Many Iraqi that I met were
carrying medicine in their pocket and offered me to take.!!!
Although this situation did
not ruin my excitement but made me more concern about the environment in my
country.
I understand why most of Iraqi are not worried about
the deterioration of the environment and not very concern about its ravage
effects on their life. The Iraqi saying is that “who have seen death will be
happy with fever”, so my attempts to bring this issue with some Iraqi
intellectuals were fruitless. They see it as a luxurious problem and too early
to talk about now. Many other more relevant issues are more important to them
than the environment and they are rightly so.
As an Iraqi patriot with some knowledge in this
field, educated and experienced in one of the leading country in the world that
have successfully tackled the environmental issues, I have committed myself to
help my country of origin. The Ministry of Environment should introduced a:
National Clean
Air Act:
A gradual but
firm introduction of this act is necessary to prevent and control air pollution.
Setting a target standards for air quality and limiting
emissions that cause the deterioration of air quality is the first step. It is
very urgent to regulate the motor vehicle emissions and fuel standards as one
of the major sources of pollution in Iraq. It is also to protect the
Ozone and control the acid deposition. The implementation of this and other
related acts depends on the ability of the ministry to increase public
awareness and participation. For the public Right-To-Know, the ministry should collect data of toxic chemicals
and waste management from industrial facilities in the country. Such
information should be kept as inventory that monitored and reported to the
public annually. This is very important tool for public awareness and for
future cleanup.
What is Air Pollution
It is the presence in the atmosphere of one or more
contaminants in such quality and quantity and for such duration as is
injurious, or tends to be injurious to human health or welfare, animal or plant
life. It is the contamination of air by discharge of harmful substances. Air
pollution can cause health problems and it can also damage the environment and
property. It has caused thinning of the protective Ozone layer of the
atmosphere, which is leading to climate change.
Air pollution results from a variety of causes, not
all of which are within human control. In Iraq most of air pollution
within our control, it is a man made pollution.
Major Air Pollution in Iraq
and their Sources
Carbon
monoxide (CO)
is a colorless, odorless gas that is produced by the incomplete burning of carbon base fuels including petrol, diesel, and
wood. It is also produced from the combustion of natural and synthetic products
such as cigarettes. It lowers the amount of oxygen that enters our blood. It
can slow our reflexes and make us confused and sleepy.
Carbon dioxide
(CO2)
is the principle greenhouse gas emitted as a result of human activities such as
burning of coal, oil, and natural gases.
Chloroflorocarbon
(CFC) are gases that are released mainly from air-conditioning
systems and refrigeration. When released into the air CFCs rise to the
stratosphere, where they come in contact with few other gases, which lead to a
reduction of the Ozone layer that protect the earth from the harmful
ultraviolet rays of the sun.
Lead (Pb) is present in petrol,
diesel, lead batteries, paint, etc. Lead affects children in particular. It can
cause nervous system damage and digestive problems, and in some cases, cause
cancer.
Ozone occurs naturally in the
upper layers of the atmosphere. This important gas shields the earth from the
harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun. However, at the ground level, it is a
pollutant with highly toxic effects. Vehicle and industries are the major
source of ground level ozone emissions. Ozone makes our eye itch, burn, and
water. It lowers our resistance to colds and pneumonia.
Nitrogen oxide
(Nox)
causes smog and acid rain. It is produced from burning fuels including petrol,
diesel, and coal. Nitrogen oxide can make children susceptible to respiratory
diseases in winters.
Suspended
particulate matter (SPM) consists of solid in the air in the form of smoke, dust, and vapour
that can remain suspended for extended period and is also the main
Source of haze, which reduce
visibility.
The finer of these particles, when breathed in can
Lodge in our lung and cause lung damage and
respiratory problems.
Sulfur dioxide
(SO2) is a gas produced from
burning coal, mainly in thermal power plants. Some industrial processes, such
as production of paper and smelting of metals, produce sulfur dioxide. It is a
major contributor to smog and acid rain. It can lead to lung diseases.
Regulation
of Motor Vehicle Emission
The lax of environmental standards and no existence
to clean air bylaws and burning unleaded gasoline, air pollution becomes a much
greater hazard. The rapid growth in automobile use and
numbers +, coupled with minimal
maintenance and low vehicle-turnover rates ++
require urgent attention. Two parallels steps to be considered:
1.
Reformulation of Gasoline
The motor vehicle fuels should be reformulated to
burn more cleanly. Countries with strict environmental standards have
encouraged the blending of motor vehicle fuels with some “safe” organic
compounds to increase the octane level in gasoline. The purpose of this program
is to reduce the automobile emission of Ozone-forming volatile organic
compounds during the summer high-Ozone season, and of
toxic pollutants and nitrogen oxide during the entire year in large cities.
Oxygenation of the motor vehicle fuels is another
way to reduce the toxic tailpipe pollution, particularly carbon monoxide (CO).
This can be achieved by adding some hydrocarbons that contain one or more
oxygen atoms to the fuels. The primary oxygenates are alcohol and ethers,
including methyl tertiary butyl ether, fuel ethanol, ethyl tertiary butyl ether
and tertiary amyl methyl ether.
2. Prohibition of Leaded Gasoline
Lead was outlawed as automotive
gasoline additives in many countries to address the myriad health and safety
concerns that have shadowed the toxic additive from its first appearance on
roads. There is no lead in gasoline unless somebody put it there. About eighty
years ago some of America’s
leading corporations – GM, Du Pont, and Exxon, they got together and put lead,
a known poison, into gasoline for profit.
The deadly effects of lead have been known for about
3000 years. Lead can be detected only through chemical analysis. Unlike such
carcinogens and killers as pesticides, most chemicals, waste oils and even
radioactive materials, lead does not break down over
time. It does not vaporize, and it never disappears. For this reason most of
the lead that burned in gasoline remains in the soil, air and water and in the
bodies of living organisms. It is estimated that modern man’s lead exposure is
300 to 500 times greater than background or natural levels.
Children are the first and worst victims of leaded
gas, because of their immaturity, they
are most susceptible to
systematic and neurological injury, including lowered IQs,
reading and learning disabilities
impaired hearing, reduced attention span, hyperactivity and much more. In
adult, elevated blood-lead levels are related to hypertension, and
Cardiovascular disease,
particularly strokes heart attacks and premature death. Lead exposure before or
during pregnancy is especially serious, harming the mother’s own body,
affecting fetal development and frequently leading to miscarriage.
While most of the leaded gasoline is sold in the
Third World countries, because of the current state of knowledge regarding the
hazards of lead and the lax or no existence of environmental laws. Americans
and other developed nations cruise their freeways burning exclusively unleaded
gasoline. As of 1996, 93% of all gasoline sold in Africa and 94% in the Middle East contained lead.
According to the World Bank, 1.7 billion urbanites
in developing nations are in danger of lead poisoning, including neurological
damage, high blood pressure and heart disease from airborne lead, 90% of which
of which is attributed to leaded gasoline. In Alexandria Egypt, where gas is heavily
leaded, concentration of air-lead levels is often double the European Union’s
recommended level, and traffic controllers have been found to suffer central
nervous system dysfunction. In Cairo more than 800 infants die
annually because of maternal exposure to lead.
It’s Cleanup
Time
The public health benefits and cost saving to
societies of removing lead from gasoline are so vast that the business-friendly
World Bank was moved. At 1996 UN conference in Turkey, where
leaded gasoline still account for 82 % of market, to call for a complete global
phase out.
The bank calculated that the United State have saved more than $ 10 for every $
1 it invested in its conversion to unleaded, by reducing health cost, saving on
engine maintenance and improving fuel efficiency with modern engine
technologies. Further claiming that no lead fuel may increase
engine life by as much as 150 %. Banning the leaded gasoline and other
sources of lead is very important environmental issue that has to be taken
seriously.
To be continued
+ About 1
million additional vehicles have been brought to Iraq since the fall of regime.
++ Cars live of 20 years are not at all uncommon in Iraq.
**
The author is a Biotechnologist
and Environmentalist, has been working with the Canadian Government and
Environmental Companies for the last 14 years, and can be reached at hsnatar@hotmail.com
