[Kabar-indonesia] Environment: Jakarta's Ashen Blue Sky

Fri Nov 3 10:58:36 MST 2006

Tempo Magazine 
No. 09/VII/Oct 31 - Nov 06, 2006

Environment

The Ashen Blue Sky

Jakarta’s air is only fit to breathe 20 days out of the
year. Other Indonesian cities are not much better.

A BLUE sky still appears far from achievable. Around 10
years ago, the Environment Minister launched the idea of a
Blue Sky Program in the context of creating clean air. And
there is one particular pollutant that is most threatening
to the fetus and children under 4 years old: Lead, a heavy
metal that does not kill directly, but rather instead
damages intelligence and can cause children to be born with
disabilities.

Last July, Pertamina stopped all production of leaded
petrol, even though it had long stated its desire to rid
itself of the evil of lead.

So, because leaded petrol will only disappear after several
more months, pregnant women should still avoid those areas
of Jakarta that are close to dense traffic. There are still
remnants of lead there. According to an environmental expert
from the Bandung Institute of Technology, Puji Lestari, lead
remains in the air for several weeks before it settles.
“Main roads and terminals are the places that have the
highest concentration of lead,” he told Tempo.

This advice should be taken seriously because the safe
threshold for this heavy metal in the body is extremely low.
The World Health Organization sets the maximum limit of lead
blood levels in children at only 10 micrograms (ug) per
deciliter (dl) and a blood level of 25 ug/dl in adults. The
difference between the safe lead threshold for older people
and children is because children are more susceptible to its
effects.

The fact is that lead is very easy to ingest but at the same
time difficult to remove from the body. The particles are
extremely fine and easily enter the lungs, then being
carried by the blood and accumulating in the brain and other
organs. Little by little the accumulation of lead undermines
human health. “Indeed its effects are not directly visible,
but very dangerous,” said Puji.

The head of the Health Research Center at the University of
Indonesia’s Faculty of Public Health (FKMUI), Budi Haryanto
says that lead in children can damage the brain, kidneys,
bone marrow and other systems in the body. An accumulative
substance, which functions to increase the octane level of
fuel, it can reduce the capacity to learn and cause children
to become hyperactive.

In adults, particularly those who have contact with motor
vehicle exhaust, lead can cause disruption to the
reproductive system, difficult pregnancies and miscarriages,
physical and mental impairment and a reduction in sperm
quality.
Considering the risks, the Committee for the Abolition of
Leaded Petrol (KPBB) has asked the government to ensure the
continued production of unleaded petrol, even though it
incurs higher production costs. “Don’t let fuel shortages
occur just because the production cost of unleaded petrol is
rather high,” said KPBB Coordinator Ahmad Safrudin.

Ahmad says that KPBB will continue to monitor the
government’s policy to end the production of leaded petrol
that has been postponed for the last 10 years. If the
production of unleaded petrol ends at some time in the
future, Ahmad promises to immediately take legal action
against the Minister for Energy & Mineral Resources. “If
necessary we will challenge them in court,” said the former
environmental activist.

The Environment Department is also determined to oversee the
removal of lead from petrol. According to the Deputy
Assistant to the Minister for the Environment, Ridwan Tamin,
his Department has only one principle: “The fuel that comes
out must be cleaner.”

If leaded petrol returns to use, the consequences are indeed
unimaginable. Research by FKMUI and the US Environmental
Protection Agency in 2005 found average lead levels in the
blood of primary-school students in Jakarta in 2005 to be
as high as 4.2 ug/dl. As many as 1.3 percent had levels
exceeding the normal limit for lead levels in the blood of
10 ug/dl.

Lead blood levels in primary-school students in Bandung is
of even more concern, averaging 12 ug/dl. Around 66 percent
had lead blood levels above 10 ug/dl. Meanwhile 90 percent
of children under 5 living alongside main roads and street
children in Makassar had lead blood levels of as much as 10
ug/dl.

Long before this, research in 1978 indicated that bus
drivers in Jakarta had an average lead blood level of 24.6
ug/dl. This is two times greater than the level of
populations living in rural areas. According to research in
1984, a many as 30-46 percent of traffic police and public
transport drivers in Bandung even had lead levels above 40
ug/dl.

Lead-free does not mean the sky is already clean and blue.
Lead is not the only pollutant emitted by vehicle exhausts.
The results of monitoring petrol and diesel fuel in 20
Indonesian cities conducted by the KPBB between June 10 and
July 10 this year indicated that communities living in these
large cities only enjoyed good quality air for two months or
less in a year.

In Jakarta for example, you have to be content with 20 days
breathing air categorized as good. In Surabaya it is 21
days, Medan 24 and Bandung 40.

This standard air pollutant index is taken based on the
level of the pollutant materials Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2),
Sulfur Dioxide (SO2), Particulates (PM10), Carbon Monoxide
(CO) and Ozone (03) in the air. All of these pollutants
originate from fuels; in this case the mother of them all is
diesel fuel.
The results of monitoring by an independent committee formed
by the Indonesian Environmental Forum, the Green Consumers
Foundation and the Indonesian Center For Environmental
Law, found the level of sulfur in a number of large cities
turns out to be increasing. To take an example, the average
amount of sulfur in diesel fuel in Jakarta-Bogor-Depok-
Tangerang-Bekasi was as much as 2,700 parts per million,
higher in comparison with the previous year’s level of only
1,000 ppm.

What can be done, the sky is still the color of ash.

DA Candraningrum, Fasabeni, Nurhayati

The Evils of Lead

THERE is nothing trifling about lead. Its source being fine
particles scattered in the air, it can enter the body
through the mouth or the skin, and its effects on small
children and the fetus is particularly sinister.

Effects Lead can cause damage to anyone, but children under
4 and the fetus suffer the worst effects as it damages the
development of the brain and nervous system.

Sources of Lead # Petrol is only one of the sources of lead.
There are many other sources around us such as house paint
and pipes used in plumbing. In 2000 for example, drinking
water in Tangerang was positively tested as being polluted
by lead because of old piping. Leaded petrol # Dust # Water
# Old piping or water tanks # Air # Soil # Industry, mining
and lead smelting. Various types of pesticides and
fertilizer # Old types of paint # Food # Lead corrosion or
items soldered with lead, fishing weights, some kinds of
children’s toys

Means of Entry Lead is even able to enter the body through
the skin. The total amount of lead absorbed by the body is
greater for those suffering a deficiency in iron, zinc and
calcium, or those who consume food with high levels of fat.

   1. Inhaled    2. Ingested (food and drink)    3. Absorbed
(from the mother’s bloodstream into the fetus)    4.
Absorbed (through the skin)

High-risk Groups # Pregnant women and their babies #
Children under 4 # Workers in the lead industry #
Populations living in the vicinity of lead industries # Un-
renovated homes

Where Does Lead Go It is difficult for lead to be removed
from the body. The metal accumulates in specific parts of
the body. hard bone tissue: 95% soft tissues, particularly
the brain, liver and kidneys: 4% blood: 1%

    * Jakarta bus drivers, 1978. Lead concentration in the
blood averaging 24.6 ug/dl.     * Poor population of
Jakarta, 2001. 74% of those living in areas with dense
traffic have a lead blood level of more than 30 ug/dl.     *
Traffic police, 1984. 30-46% of traffic police have lead
blood levels of more than 40 ug/dl.     * Bandung workers,
1992. Half of those living in dense traffic areas have a
lead blood level of more than 40 ug/dl.     * School
students, 2001. 396 Jakarta primary-school students have
lead blood levels of more than 8.6 ug/dl and around 35% have
lead blood levels of more than 10 ug/dl.     * School
students, 2005. The average lead blood level of students is
4.2 ug/dl and 1.3% of these have lead blood levels of more
than 10 ug/dl.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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