The Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) of Central Visayas has reported a reduction of around 15 to 30 percent level of air pollution in Talisay City after community quarantine measures were implemented in Cebu.
The automatic monitoring station of the EMB 7 is situated in Talisay City, where it conducts an hourly monitoring of air pollution within the city, according to a report.
Chief of the EMB 7 Environmental Education and Information Unit Engineer Cindylyn Pepito said that the agency uses the particulate matter (PM) 10 parameter for monitoring.
The decrease was logged from 53.935 milligram per normal cubic meter (mg/Nm3) of PM 10 on Feb. 13, 2020, it went down to 34.344 mg/Nm3 on March 24.
Moreover, the drop went further to 34.344 mg/Nm3 on March 24.
This was due to the decrease in the number of vehicles in the roads and less factories and industries’ operations, Pepito said.
Aside from the Talisay station, they also have two manual stations where they conduct air pollution sampling every six days.
She added that the agency planned to install three more manual stations in Consolacion, Cebu City and the City of Naga, which was stalled due to the pandemic.
