Journal Article - A year-long observational analysis of atmospheric trace gases and particulate matter in Kathmandu

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Journal Article - Analysis of Surface Level PM2.5 Measured by Low-Cost Sensor and Satellite-Based Column Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) over Kathmandu

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Journal Article - Pre-monsoon submicron aerosol composition and source contribution in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

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Journal Article - Why firewood? Exploring the co-benefits, socio-ecological interactions and indigenous knowledge surrounding cooking practice in rural Nepal

Dusty Solar Panels Cost 30% of Efficiency

We always knew dirty panels don’t work as well as clean ones – now we can put a number on it. Newly published research by Engineering researchers from Kathmandu found that a dusty panel gathers 29.8% less energy if they are not cleaned for 5 months in dry weather – we are surprised it is not more. The findings in Elsevier-published Solar Power magazine studied “soiling and its effect on performance of solar modules in regions with a high deposition of dust and low frequency and less intensity of rain.” But some areas with abundant rainfall may also suffer from high dust deposits in the dry season. Kathmandu, with its peculiar environment conditions, suffers high air pollution and minimum rainfall during the dry winter. The study measured the effect of dust on PV modules taking into account meteorological variables for Kathmandu. During the study period of 5 months, the efficiency of a dusty solar module left to untouched decreased by 29.76% compared to a similar module which was cleaned on daily basis.

Read the full article @ Off Grid

Cloth Masks Provide Very Little Protection Against Air Pollution

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have suggested that in order to reduce exposure to air pollution wearing inexpensive cloth masks could be of only a little help and give you a false sense of security, especially in highly polluted areas. Washable cloth masks are widely used in India and other Asian for personal protection against airborne particulate matter.

"Wearing cloth masks reduced the exposure to some extent," but "the most commonly used cloth mask products perform poorly when compared to alternative options available on the market," said the study by scientists at University of Massachusetts Amherst. In a series of experiments with an experimental mannequin in Nepal, the researchers tested four masks -- one pleated surgical type, two cloth and one cone-shaped cloth with exhalation flaps. They tested for several variables and effectiveness in filtering out five different synthetic aerosol particle sizes plus three particle sizes of diluted whole diesel exhaust, which simulated real-world conditions.



Among the cloth masks, the one with exhaust valves performed fairly well, removing 80-90 percent of synthetic particles and about 57 per cent of diesel exhaust. Plain cloth masks were "only marginally beneficial" they said, in protecting people from particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers, often considered more harmful than larger particles because they can penetrate the lungs more deeply.

"Unfortunately, the least effective two mask types are also inexpensive, reusable and are widely used in developing countries, implying they are a popular consumer choice where pollution mitigation is warranted," the authors noted.

Read the full article @ India TV

Pollution Masks in Kathmandu

Only 10 years ago, donning a face-mask in Kathmandu meant a few odd things—you were a doctor, an invalid or just fussy. But in that short decade, face-masks have gone from quirky accessories to vital appendages. Today, everyone—pedestrians, motorists and cyclists—are covering their faces against life threatening airborne particulates. Increasingly, living in Kathmandu has also meant constantly struggling to keep it out of your lungs. The deteriorating air quality inside the Valley, due to a host of reasons—ranging from vehicular emissions to industrial fumes and forest fires—have increased the health risk associated with regular exposure to dangerous levels of air pollution. In turn, it has also given seed to a thriving market for face-masks that promise to keep its users safe. But how effective are they? “Masks are no longer an option but has become compulsory in current day Kathmandu,” says Sailendra Dongol, who commutes the city on his bicycle. 

An active member of the Kathmandu Cycle City (KCC), a group of cycling enthusiasts aiming to make Kathmandu an environment-friendly cycle city by 2020, Dongol believes that cyclist are particularly susceptible to prolonged exposure to Kathmandu’s air. Earlier this year, having tried several anti-pollution masks available in the market, Dongol finally settled on the newly-launched Totobobo mask. Now six months and hundreds of grey filters later, he finally believes he has found a mask that protects him from harmful pollutants, particularly PM 2.5 and PM 10. The Singapore-manufactured Totobobo masks are made from silicon and rubber and are advertised as being ‘leak-proof’. They have two valves placed with interchangeable, activated charcoal filters in each valve, and can be changed depending on the need and desired level of protection. 

The face-mask with ‘N92’ designated filters means that they can block at least 92 percent of very small particles when properly fitted, while the N96 is effective in filtering 96 percent of the small fine particles and microbial agents that otherwise easily pass through the normal cloth and surgical mask commonly in use in the city. According to Nelson Labs, an independent testing centre in the US, “N95 respirators are used to filter contaminants such as dust, fumes, mists, as well as microbial agents including tuberculosis bacteria and flu virus. They are certified to filter greater than or equal to 95 percent of all challenged particles free of oil and greater than 0.3 microns in size, much smaller than the PM2.5 microns, the key pollutants that can directly enter inside the lungs.” The Nelson Labs has certified Totobobo with 99.85 percent effectiveness.

Read the full article @ Kathmandu Post

Mobile Pollution Monitoring in Kathmandu

The Department of Environment plans to introduce mobile air pollution monitoring service in the city within a month. The service would allow the public to contact their municipality or concerned office if they wish to have the air pollution level in their locality measured. The department informed that works on the project began a month ago, and the Kathmandu Metropolitan

With the works on installing three fixed air quality monitoring stations in Kathmandu and Kavrepalan chowk in full swing, the government started this project especially for places where fixed stations won’t be available.

The mobile van will monitor dust particle levels and levels of four air pollutant gases, and send the data in real time to the central server at the National Information Technology Centre, and a separate portal at the Department of Environment. The van will monitor levels of carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and ozone in the air. A dust particulate monitoring equipment has been provided by the Kathmandu Sustainable Urban Transport Project to the department. Kathmandu Metropolitan City informed that although the decision to provide the department a van was made one-and-a-half weeks ago, the department is yet to receive it.

The department is in the process of installing 56 stations throughout the country with the help of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, and the Kathmandu Sustainable Urban Transport Project. According to the Environment Performance Index- 2016 that quantifies the environmental performance of state’s policies, Nepal ranks 149 among 180 countries.

Read the full article @ the Himalayan Times

More Cities Polluted in Nepal

Bhaktapur is home to over 120 brick kilns registered and operating under Bhaktapur Cottage and Small industries. A recent report of Leaders Nepal shows that air in Bhaktapur has become much polluted due to the brick kilns. An e-sampler machine has been installed at Putalisadak, Kathmandu, Siddhi Memorial Hospital, Bhaktapur, and Panchkhal, Sindhupalchowk to measure the levels of air pollution in various cities.

In the month of Baisakh, the average pollution level in Bhaktapur was recorded to be 83 microgram per cubic meter, and in Kathmandu the pollution level was recorded to be 63 microgram per cubic meter. The National Ambient Air Quality Standard has set a standard of 40 microgram per cubic meter to protect public health. However, frequent rainfalls in this season has caused pollution levels to decline.

Dhiraj Pokharel, general secretary of Leaders Nepal, blames the polluted air flowing from Kathmandu to Bhaktapur for the high levels of pollution there. Air flows from Balaju through Pokhrel added, “Another reason for pollution is low chimney hoods in factories today. The earthquakes last year destroyed all high chimney hoods, and only small ones remain functional.”

Dr Amod Pokhrel, a professor of University of California, said, “The main source of pollution is the use of partially burnt wood and coal as fuel, and smoke from vehicles that run on petrol and diesel.” Air pollution has a stronger impact on the health of young children and the elderly. Health issues such as respiratory problems, high blood pressure, and eye infection can arise due to pollution.

More news @ Himalayan Times

Kathmandu Valley is Choking with Air Pollution

@ Himalayan Times - Constitution of Nepal has established ‘Right to Clean Environment’ as fundamental right of the citizens. It states, “Every person shall have the right to live in a clean and healthy environment.” There is also a provision that ‘victims of environmental pollution or degradation shall be entitled to compensation from the polluter as provided in the law’.

The Environmental Protection Act and National Ambient Air Quality Standard require the government to create a healthy and clean environment for people. But the government lacks specific plans and programmes to control pollution to make the Valley a cleaner place to live and breathe in.

The capital city, which is bursting at the seams with population growing rapidly, with which comes rapid urbanisation, is choking on polluted air. Numbeo, a crowd-sourced global database, has ranked Kathmandu (score 96.66 out of 100) the third most polluted city in the world after Tetovo (Macedonia) and Cairo (Egypt) at Pollution Index 2016. The situation of air quality is worsening in the Valley with each passing day.

Sadly, the DoE, the pertinent government agency tasked with monitoring ambient air quality of the Kathmandu Valley and formulating and implementing policies accordingly, is ill-equipped. Six monitoring stations were set up to monitor ambient air quality of the Kathmandu Valley in 2002, but they went kaput in 2007 and since then the agency has been relying on international agencies for measuring air quality. Govinda Prasad Lamichhane, Environment Inspector at the DoE, said that the government, in collaboration with ADB-funded Kathmandu Sustainable Urban Transport Project and ICIMOD, had been preparing to set up nine state-of-the-art real time monitoring stations with display board in the Valley, within this fiscal.

“We have already concluded an agreement with KSUTP in this regard to set up four monitoring stations. DoE will invest in three and ICIMOD two stations. It will assist us in monitoring the air pollution and act accordingly,” he added. Lamichhane said the government was also promoting the use of emission free electric vehicles and monitoring brick kilns to improve the air quality.

Vehicular emission is the major cause for deteriorating air quality in the urban areas where vehicular emission is much aggravated by substandard or adulterated fuel, narrow and poorly maintained streets, poor traffic management, old vehicles and poor vehicular maintenance.

Kathmandu Choking

With air pollution hitting hazardous levels in Delhi and Beijing, the respective governments are scrambling to put in place desperate measures to control emissions. But in Nepal’s capital city Kathmandu, which also chokes beneath a blanket of pollution, there is neither data nor any proper information available regarding air quality. The government seems to be in a fog about the presence of harmful pollutants, including particulate matter (PM) and dust particles that could cause cancer, in the air that the Valley denizens are breathing. The level of exposure and extent of threat to public health due to the pollution largely remain unknown.

Kathmandu to Thrashmandu !!

“The winter concentrations of particulate matter, dust, dirt, soot and smoke, along with diesel exhausts, are high,” said Jagadish Bhakta Shrestha, Director General at the Department of Environment (DoE), the authority responsible to make public air pollution status. “However, at the moment, we are not in a position to say the status of air pollution and its effect on public health.”

“We are already overwhelmed with the programmes to implement and with limited human resources and funds, we are unable to priortise our activities,” he added. Various independent researches carried out at different intervals have stated that Kathmandu residents are already “choking”.

Kathmandu to Thrashmandu !!

They don't call it Trashmandu for nothing. In Nepal's capital city of Kathmandu, garbage is pretty much everywhere. It's stuffed in plastic bags and dropped in drainage ditches. It's piled high in empty lots, on the roadside and on the edges of the city's sewage-filled rivers. It is thrown out of bus windows and off rooftops into neighbors' yards. It's hard to believe Kathmandu could get any worse. But this month, it did.

The piles of trash that are smothering Kathmandu are a reminder that the world itself is drowning in garbage. A World Bank report puts daily garbage generation at 3.5 million tons, expected to hit 6 million tons by 2025. And governments aren't always willing to pick up the trash. Nepal's government, for example, has shown little commitment to the disposal of the valley's garbage despite passing a Solid Waste Management Act in 2011. The government is trying to prepare a new landfill site, but a road needs to be built and a river needs to be diverted. That will take at least another three years.

Read more @ NPR