STAFF
REPORT IBD: Pakistan’s first ever project to measure mercury pollution in the
air has recently been launched in the city.

The
collaborative project started by SDPI, European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and
Zero Mercury Working Group (ZMWG), is an attempt to identify and monitor
‘mercury emission and release sites’ in various cities of Pakistan and assess
their air quality to protect environment and human health.

As
part of commencement activities, the teams of SDPI monitors have been trained
on Lumex Mercury Analyzer and other specialized field instruments to accurately
collect and note measurements.

The
project was formally launched by SDPI’s Executive Director, Dr. Abid Qayyum and
Deputy Executive Director, Dr. Vaqar Ahmad. Main feature of the launch was a
demo measurement of mercury pollution at SDPI office.

The
team took indoor and outdoor air samples along with other climatic parameters
such as temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction.

The
project has garnered widespread support across the country where Ministry of
Disaster Management, Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak – EPA) and
Institute of Chemical Sciences, Peshawar University, Khyber PakhtunKhawa had
already extended their support for the study.

The
results showed mercury level to be between 10.44 – 10.89 (n=9) nano gram per
cubic meter of the air. These levels are considered safe, and are far below
than the permissible limit (2000 ng/M3) for safe occupational health and
safety.