Health impact of smog | The Final Word - video Dailymotion

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Joining us now is Doctor Miriam Lalas from the Philippine College of Chest Physicians.   Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/  Follow our social media pages:  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNNPhilippines • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnnphilippines/ • Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines

Transcript

00:00 Joining us now is Dr. Miriam Lalas from the Philippine College of Chest Physicians.

00:05 Doc, good evening and welcome to The Final Word.

00:08 Hi, good evening, Ms. Menchuit, to all our viewers.

00:12 Well, Doc, you heard Paige Javier's report.

00:14 Now, the public should not underestimate the effects of the smog on their health.

00:19 But what are really some possible complications and long-term effects of this?

00:23 Yeah, OK, so that is true, no?

00:27 That we really need to be wary of this air pollution, of the air quality in our place.

00:34 Because in the short term, it depends really on the risk factor of patients.

00:40 So there are actually several factors that would determine whether we will experience health effects from air pollution.

00:46 So one would be the concentration of the air pollutant and the type of air pollutant.

00:51 And how long are we exposed to that air pollution?

00:54 And also, we need to take into account if we have pre-existing conditions that would predispose us to experiencing health effects of air pollution.

01:04 So maybe the minor effects that I can start to talk about would be, for example, in the eyes, we can experience eye irritation.

01:12 So we can experience redness or itchiness of the eyes.

01:15 The skin, as what was mentioned earlier, we can experience some itchiness and also redness of the skin.

01:22 But most importantly for the lungs and actually the heart as well and the rest of the body,

01:27 because these air pollutants, when they enter the body, they can cause minor effects like cough, throat irritation, sneezing and runny nose.

01:38 But for those who have conditions like asthma, COPD, for those who have heart conditions, they may experience worse health effects from this,

01:47 which can lead to hospitalizations and emergency room consults.

01:52 Okay, well, the DENR says that air quality in Pateros is very unhealthy.

01:58 In Makati, it's acutely unhealthy.

02:00 And in Paranaque, it's unhealthy for sensitive groups.

02:04 What do those mean exactly for residents in those areas?

02:10 Okay, so what is being reported now by DENR, that would be the air quality index for particulate pollution.

02:19 So there are corresponding health advisories per level of that category in that air quality index.

02:27 So basically, it's like a rough guide on how we can give our health advice to our population.

02:32 So like you mentioned, there would be those that would mean that acutely unhealthy or unhealthy for sensitive groups.

02:41 So as you can see, depending on how high the level of air pollution is, the worst health effects we expect from them.

02:50 But we can also see from that air pollution index that those who belong to the sensitive groups, like what I mentioned, asthma, those with COPD,

02:59 are the ones who are more likely to experience the health effects more than the rest of the population.

03:05 So what should local governments do to minimize the harmful effects on their residents?

03:11 Okay, so in terms of what local governments can do, we've seen giving away of face masks.

03:18 So that's good for the people, but also to mitigate the sources of air pollution, especially in this case here in Metro Manila.

03:27 So right now, what I can think of is that, for example, there are some cities who have anti-idling ordinances.

03:34 So that's good that if they can implement that and if more cities can actually adopt that,

03:40 because it will lessen the level of air pollutants in the atmosphere.

03:44 And also strict implementation of anti-smoke belching laws so that we are not adding air pollutants into the air.

03:54 So those are just some of the things that local governments can do.

03:59 All right. Well, you know, some of the tips that people give is stay indoors, wear the N95 masks.

04:07 But obviously people can't stay indoors forever and the N95 masks are expensive.

04:14 Let's face it. What else can the public do to avoid the health risks of smog?

04:19 Okay, so yes, like you mentioned, one is stay indoors and two is the mask.

04:25 Well, really, it's really the N95 that is most ideal to be used in this situation.

04:30 But understandably, we may not always have access to that because it's quite expensive.

04:35 But at least wear a surgical mask, probably that is tight fitting to ensure that, you know,

04:42 less of the air pollutants are going through the mask, especially on the sides of the face.

04:47 And also there would be instances that patients really would not, some people would really not have access to any form of mask.

04:54 But like a cloth that, you know, that is slightly moist can also help in filtering out some of the large particles.

05:01 But of course, these are not guaranteed to protect against the smaller particles.

05:05 But still, that's better than nothing at all.

05:08 All right. And how about people with asthma and other respiratory conditions?

05:11 How can they take care of their health in these situations

05:16 and also protect our children and babies who might be too young for masks?

05:23 OK, so for those who belong to the sensitive groups like the asthma patients,

05:27 well, they really need to take their medications.

05:30 I mean, if they are maintained on some sort of inhaler, then they really have to take it religiously

05:36 because now is not the time to be missing out on these medicines

05:40 because then you will be more susceptible to having a flare up of your asthma condition.

05:45 And also to communicate very well with your doctor so that anytime that, you know,

05:50 you experience a worsening of symptoms that is no longer relieved by the usual inhalers or the usual medications,

05:56 then you proceed to the nearest hospital in your place to have yourself checked.

06:03 And at the same time, let's follow the same precautions like wearing a mask and staying indoors as much as possible.

06:10 Now, for the babies, for the kids, well, kids normally want to play outside,

06:15 but especially in conditions where the air quality is so poor,

06:18 we wouldn't want them to be going out and playing outdoors because, you know, as they exert more,

06:24 they're going to breathe in more and more of that particles of that pollution.

06:29 So we don't want that. We really want to keep them indoors as much as possible.

06:32 All right. And as for Taal Volcano, if e-Volcs really can't predict when the vog will end,

06:37 very quickly, what should residents near the volcano do?

06:41 Is there something special in that circumstance?

06:45 Okay. So in highly voggy areas, actually, the first protection is really to move away from the source of the vog

06:53 because vog is composed primarily of gas.

06:56 So it's going to be the masks are going to be less effective.

07:00 Vog still contains some of the particulate pollution that masks protect against,

07:06 but the protection could be limited.

07:09 So really, we need to follow the advice of the local governments there in terms of how far away to evacuate.

07:15 And also, again, stay indoors and then pretty much the same precautions

07:19 as what we have here in Metro Manila for the smog.

07:22 All right. Thank you for joining us.

07:23 And for your advice, Dr. Miriam Lalas from the Philippine College of Chest Physicians.

Health impact of smog | The Final Word

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