The latest results from the HCMC Environmental Protection Agency indicate that dust is the biggest worry as 90% of the measurements exceed permissible levels by many times. In particular, all testing at An Suong intersection shows that dust there exceeds the permissible level by 5.6 times.

The results also indicate that the concentration of lead and nitrogen dioxide in the air over Dinh Tien Hoang-Dien Bien Phu intersection in District 1 and over the Go Vap crossroad in Go Vap District had increased by 2.2 times compared to a year ago.

Huynh Thanh Nha, vice head of the Environmental Protection Agency, told the Daily that the benzene concentration around the city had been increasing rapidly and that some 77% of recent monitoring showed levels beyond standards.

“Higher concentrations of poisonous substances in the air such as benzene, toluene and xylene are the result of increasing vehicular circulation. It is more dangerous when many vehicles use poor quality petrol, and it is likely that leaded petrol is increasingly consumed in the city,” he said.

Nha said that through the media, he wanted to ask related state agencies to control the quality of imported petrol to curb leaded gasoline in the market.

To reduce the high level of dust in the air, Nha said the agency would petition the city’s construction inspectors and environment departments to conduct strict checks at construction sites along the city’s streets to reduce dust emissions.

Many industrial manufacturers in suburban areas, such as Le Minh Xuan Industrial Park in Binh Chanh District, Thu Duc Steel Factory, Nha Be Steel Factory and Ha Tien Cement Factory, are contributing to the alarming air pollution around the city.

Nha also noted that many industrial manufacturers had not installed proper facilities for the treatment of industrial smoke. The agency in the coming days will install a monitoring station and several mobile monitoring systems in District 7 and Nha Be District to monitor air quality.