Mexico City - Choking but Cleaner

[Guest guest]

March 3, 2000

International news - Mexico

EDs: removes editing notes at end of 13th graf MEXICO CITY'S SCARY AIR:

CLEANER, BUT STILL FILTHY

By Ferriss

Shortly after the dawn of the new year, Mexican authorities here proudly

announced that in 1999 Mexico City had experienced the cleanest air in a

decade.

Within days, the city was choking on those words.

One of the world's most polluted metropolises was again shrouded in smog

that clogged nasal passages, stung eyes and made throats raw. For a few days

in early February schools in the southeastern part of the city were ordered

to keep kids indoors to reduce risks to their young, developing lungs.

Prompted mostly by skyrocketing levels of suspended particles _ microscopic

solids in the air _ the government ordered some industries to cut production

by half, and used emergency laws to pull more old cars off the roads.

Officials completely shut down more than 150 brick-making factories known to

sometimes illegally use old rubber tires as fuel.

People crowded into emergency rooms with respiratory illnesses as the levels

of suspended particles soared to well more than double what's acceptable for

human health. Forest fires near the city also contributed to the mess.

Yes, it's true that more than a decade's worth of reforms have helped reduce

some aspects of classic air pollution, said Fernandez, the

director-general of information and measurement programs for Mexico's

National Ecology Institute.

" But I don't like to act too triumphant, " he hastened to add. " There is so

much more to do. "

Mexico City and the Greater Valley of Mexico are cursed by a ring of

mountains that trap pollution inside a bowl teeming with 18.5 million

people, 4.5 million vehicles and tens of thousands of factories.

Residents are exposed to a sickening stew of car exhaust and industrial

emissions. Add to that the ingredients of soil blowing from vast tracts of

unpaved land and wind-borne fecal matter dropped by legions of street dogs.

The region's bone-dry winter air makes pollution even worse.

Relief usually comes only with the spring rains.

A study released last year by the World Resources Institute, a Washington,

D.C.-based research group, estimated that Mexico City may have the world's

worst air for children under 5 years of age. Researchers here are studying

the damage pollution causes to kids; meanwhile those residents who have the

foresight and income buy air filters and limit their kids' outdoors

activities.

When air pollution here began approaching apocalyptic levels in the late

1980s, Mexico established one of the world's most sophisticated pollution-

monitoring systems and began to enact a series of reforms. Last year,

Fernandez said, measurements showed that action had indeed paid off.

Major contaminants like carbon monoxide, lead and sulphur dioxide had

dropped within normal levels with only a few exceptions during 1999. As a

result, the city experienced only five days of full-fledged emergencies last

year.

What helped, Fernandez said, was the phasing out of leaded gasoline use in

Mexico. It was completely eliminated in 1997. Heavy industrial oil, too,

contains a third less sulphur now. Two power plants and a number of other

industries in the metropolitan area have switched to the less-polluting

natural gas.

All cars produced in Mexico since 1991 have catalytic converters. Because

many Mexicans can't afford new cars, however, only about 40 percent of

vehicles are equipped with the pollution-reducing devices.

Mexico's 11-year-old " Today You Can't Drive " law pulls about 20 percent of

the city's older cars off the streets every day. Five years ago, officials

decided to double the program whenever pollution levels skyrocket as they

did earlier this year, pulling about 40 percent of old cars off the road

during emergencies.

The bad news, Fernandez said, is that ozone _ the product of fuel emissions

and sunlight - is still an alarming health hazard. Ozone peaked and remained

for several hours at levels considered well above the healthy norm almost

every day last year, Fernandez said.

Ozone irritates noses, throats and eyes. People with colds, the flu or

chronic respiratory problems suffer diminished lung capacity that leaves

them gasping for air. When ozone is strong, illnesses are prolonged and

doctors report a higher number of patients.

" Every day here seems more difficult, especially in the winter, " said

Altagracia , who is highly exposed to car fumes six days a week in

Mexico City while she sells newspapers at a curbside stand. " I've had a cold

at least two times a month recently and every day my eyes feel irritated.

Headaches at this time of year are also more common. "

The other contaminant that still plagues Mexico City's air at dangerously

high levels are suspended particles, the product of vehicle and industrial

fuel emissions, dog droppings and soil erosion from barren open space that's

devoid of trees or grass.

Suspended particles lodge in the lungs and cause acute or chronic

respiratory problems.

Reforestation projects have helped reduce suspended particles originating

from soil, Fernandez said, but the city still needs to do more work to fill

in bare patches of land.

Last year, Mexico City started a crackdown on pet poop, but disregard for

the law is more common than compliance. And with more than a million stray

dogs roaming the city, it's hard for maintenance workers to keep pace with

the refuse.

Fernandez said ozone and suspended particles should decline as more

industries and vehicles in Mexico City convert to using natural gas. Two

large natural-gas underground distribution centers are under construction

now, he said.

" That's going to have a very positive effect, " he said. " In five years,

about 90 percent of medium and big industries will be using natural gas. "

Skeptics, however, say the prediction is a wild one. At current, only 12

percent of factories in the Valley of Mexico use natural gas and two centers

won't be enough to fulfill the needs of the rest, said Guerra,

director of the non-governmental National Institute of Ecological Studies.

" There should be at least 100 centers, " said Guerra, a long-time critic of

the government who believes it has moved too slowly and too inefficiently to

curb pollution.

If the government really wants to get serious about pollution, he said,

federal and city officials should team up to convert the city's crazy-quilt

system of above-ground mass transit to buses and taxis that use natural gas.

Right now, thousands of the privately-owned mini-buses that careen through

the city are some of the worst contaminators.

It costs at least $3,000 to convert a vehicle's gas tank to one that can use

natural gas, Guerra said. But the investment can be recouped within a few

months because the price of natural gas is lower.

Unfortunately, Fernandez said, natural gas is heavily taxed in Mexico,

making it hard to persuade industries or vehicles to convert. He's been

wrestling with Mexico's Treasury Department over proposals to reform the

tax.

Guerra also suggested the government invest in the construction of

artificial lakes near clusters of industries so the humidity could help

capture suspended particles.

Both Guerra and Fernandez agree that more enforcement of Mexico City's

existing environmental laws is also a must.

At least half a million of the 4.5 million vehicles circulating in the city

haven't gone through mandatory smog-control testing, Fernandez said. Mexico

recently gave regular police, rather than special environmental officers,

the power to crack down on this massive flaunting of the law.