The air quality of the federal capital on Wednesday was clean as air pollutants ratio recorded were below permissible limits and the air quality was recorded healthy due to rainy weather and reduced vehicular traffic on roads.
The air quality data has been collected by Pak-EPA which monitors air pollutants ratio for 24 hours based on three intervals of eight hours of data collection from different locations.
The Pak-EPA data revealed that the air quality throughout the three intervals of data monitoring remained high as the pollutants were below the permissible limits of national environmental quality standards (NEQS).
The hazardous air pollutant particulate matter of 2.5 microns (PM2.5), which was a lethal atmospheric contaminant, remained 21.07 micro grammes per cubic meter on average which is lower than the NEQS of 35 mic-programmes per cubic meter and denotes the air quality unhealthy. The PM2.5 is generated through combustion of an engine, industrial emissions, burning garbage or inflammable material and dust blown up by fast moving cars plying on non-cemented patches of the roads.
Moreover, the frequent forest fires in the federal capital also created high suspended particles, dust and particulate matter in the atmosphere. The particulate matter had exceeded the permissible limits beyond 40 microns prior to the onset of rainfall which was mainly due to persistent hot and dry weather.
The nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) were recorded below permissible ratio as it were recorded 3.9 and 10.73 micro-grammes per cubic meter in past 24 hours in the atmosphere against the NEQS of 80 and 120 micro-grammes per cubic meter respectively.
These effluents were mainly produced during the operational activities of industrial plants and factories that were already under control, she said. The EPA DG urged the masses with respiratory conditions and other critical heart or lungs diseases to avoid prolonged outdoor visits and wear face coverings and goggles when the air quality was unhealthy while venturing outdoors.