Vietnam Warned of Air Pollution from Steel Manufacturing

Vietnam’s government has issued a document on managing air quality, targeting to have 70% of heavy metal production facilities equipped with automatic gas monitoring systems by 2020. However, the goal is somewhat out of reach, especially in steel manufacturing, the online Thoi Bao Kinh Te Sai Gon newspaper has reported, citing an official. Few of 70 steel plants having capacity of 100,000 tons annually each across Vietnam has invested in the automatic gas-monitoring systems serving regular supervision by local authorities, Nguyen Van Sua, deputy head of the Vietnam Steel Association, told the newspaper. Dust and carbon dioxide discharged from steel manufacturing will largely cause greenhouse effects in Vietnam due to lack of technologies inhaling carbon dioxide at the steel plants, Mr. Sua said. Pham Chi Cuong, head of Vietnam Foundry and Metallurgy Science and Technology Association, said that supervision of hazardous gas discharge at metallurgy plants must be tightened to curb air pollution which gets worse in Vietnam. To deal with the issues, the government on June 1 approved a national action plan on air quality management until 2020 focusing on supervision of gas discharge at steel, chemical, and fertilizer plants. An air quality reading on a day in Hanoi by the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi recorded a ‘hazardous’ air quality index at one point during the day, causing worry among local residents. The embassy had earlier announced on their official site the installation of an air quality monitor to measure PM2.5 particulates as an indication of the air quality at its building at 7 Lang Ha street, Ba Dinh district. PM, or Particulate Matter, is the term for a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air. PM2.5 particulates are fine particles with diameters that are 2.5 micrometers or less. (www.thesaigontimes.vn June 7, www.laodong.com.vn May)