Air Pollution in Indonesia : Estimates and Surveys | 8

ABSTRACT

Indonesia is an archipelago of about 17,508 islands laying along the equator in Southeast Asia� Large and small islands are spread throughout the country that will make a jet take 5 to 6 hours for a nonstop flight from one end at the city of Sabang to reach the other far end of the country at the city of Merauke�

Geologically, there are four kinds of islands in the country, namely coral islands, volcanic islands, tectonic islands, and the mix of these three (Achmadi, 2010)� This archipelago country is also rich with huge tropical forests and active volcanoes� Therefore from time to time reports of forest fire and volcanic eruption are common in the media and create the problems of air pollution, competing with the existing man-made urban air pollution�

4�1 Background ��77 4�1�1 Demographics ��77 4�1�2 Atmospheric Factors �� 79

4�2 Sources of Air Pollution in Indonesia �� 79 4�2�1 Air Pollution from Volcanoes �� 79 4�2�2 Air Pollution from Forest Fire �� 81 4�2�3 Anthropogenic Source in Urban Area �� 81

4�3 Public Health Studies for Ambient Air Pollution �� 82 4�3�1 Public Health Studies for Natural Sources of Air Pollution

in Indonesia ��86 4�3�1�1 Volcano ��86 4�3�1�2 Forest Fire ��88

4�4 Public Health Studies for Indoor Air Pollution ��88 4�4�1 Risk Assessment of Cement Industry Contribution: A Case Study �� 90 4�4�2 Thermal Inversion: The Case of Bandung City ��92

4�5 Economic Burden and Intervention ��93 4�6 Conclusion ��94 References ��94

The total population is reported at 253�6 million in 2014 and is projected to increase to more than 274 million in the year 2025 (Bureau of Statistics Indonesia, 2014)� According to a report in the year 2000, the total population living in urban areas was 47 million people� At that time, the number was projected to increase to approximately 187 million people in 2025�

From these figures, it is predicted that around 68% of the total Indonesian population will live in cities in 2025, as compared with approximately 23% in the year of 2000� Further, this high concentration of urban new population together with its changes of their social lives and income per capita will become factors contributing to the increase of pollution, including the air pollution in the urban area�

It is reported that 60% of the country’s total population live in the island of Java, which accounts for less than 7% of Indonesia’s total land area� The island of Java has large cities such as Jakarta, Jogjakarta, Surabaya, Semarang, and Bandung�

Jakarta, the capital of the country has about 9�6 million population� Together with its surrounding municipalities, namely Tangerang, Depok, Bogor, and Bekasi, the total population of this area is more than 23 million people� Except for the Bandung metropolitan city located on top of mountainous area with its population of 2�5 million (Bureau of Statistics Indonesia, 2014), other highly populated cities in Indonesia are located in the coastal area�

Outside the island of Java, there are other large cities like Medan, Makassar, Bandar Lampung, and Palembang, each with their overcrowded population of more than 2 million, reflecting potential air pollution problems�

As an area of sea and ocean with many islands, Indonesia has a tropical pattern of weather with rainfall and wind that to some degree have their impacts on air pollution problems of the country� The objective of this chapter is to generally describe the problem of air pollution on health in Indonesia�

Up to this time, no integrated air quality monitoring network with real-time and regional air quality information is developed in the country� Consequently, assessments reports of the degree of urban and volcanic air pollution are limited (Ministry of Environment, 2012; International Forest Fire News, 2000)� Nevertheless, the existing limited air quality monitoring systems and studies are still being used to develop part of the strategy of pollution prevention programs in Indonesia� Insofar, studies on the air pollution impacts on public health rely mostly on sporadic surveys or local case studies in the cities�

Since the 1970s, the government of Indonesia has had a commitment to the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide air quality data for the Global Environmental Monitoring System (GEMS) program� The WHO/UNEP project was intended to monitor the air quality of certain selected cities all over the world� The parameters used in this project are suspended particulate matters (SPMs), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen oxides (NOx)� Results of a decade ago indicate SPM and NOx were two predominant pollutants� In the large cities of Indonesia, oxides (Ox), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), ammonia (NH3), and carbon monoxide (CO) are also monitored� It was reported that the majority of air pollution sources of the country are land transportation, industrial emissions, and a densely populated residential (Tri-Tugaswati, 1993; Achmadi, 1996)�

In studying the air pollution problems and their impact on public health, it should be borne in mind that some considerations of the dynamics of the pollutants in the environment were essential (WHO, 2014)� Other than the origin of the air pollution, there are some factors not to be taken lightly, namely,

1� The wind velocity and direction are particularly important when developing an urban planning such as the site of industrial parks, settlements, and other sites, since it is expected that the wind will drive away any pollutant from those vicinities� In Indonesia, geographically it was good that most of the major cities where so much pollution was generated are located in the coastal areas of the islands, with the wind blowing throughout the years�

2� Relative humidity of the ambient air is also a factor need to be taken into consideration� Based on the existing data in most cities, Indonesia has an average of relative humidity in the range of 70%–80%� Due to this fact, there are conditions that may worsen the air pollution problems since the presence of so much water vapor in the air may boost the transformation of sulfur oxides (SOx) to sulfuric acid (H2SO4), a chemical corrosive and dangerous to properties and health� The relatively high air temperature in the tropic also intensifies the speed of chemical reactions in the air�

3� Solar radiation in the tropical area plays an important role in transforming hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides into photochemical oxidants, including ozone (O3) with its damaging effects on materials (Figure 4�1)�

From the many sources of air pollutions in Indonesia, a simple and broad category chosen is the natural and anthropogenic sources�

One of the most important natural causes of air pollution in Indonesia is from the volcanic eruption� Located in the Pacific Rim, the country lies in the ring of fire in the Asia Pacific region and has the capacity of one-third of the global volcanic activities� The most populous Java Island is also home to 45 active volcanoes� Emissions from volcanic eruption mostly contain SO2, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen fluoride, together with other volcanic gases and ashes� Volcanic ashes can move hundreds to thousands of miles downwind from a volcano to neighboring cities� Fresh volcanic ashes are gritty, rough, and at times corrosive� The ash may also contain some heavy metals, such as cadmium, mercury, and organic compound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (Symonds et al�, 1994; Harada et al�, 2013; Abishek and Jeremy, 2009)� As a whole, these ashes can cause respiratory problems among young children, the elderly, or those already with respiratory ailments�

The most abundant gas typically released into the atmosphere from volcanic activity is water vapor, followed by carbon dioxide and SO2� Other smaller amounts

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