Eight villages from seven different provinces in Laos had their air quality tested and have experienced either good, moderate or slightly harmful levels of air quality Monday and Tuesday.
According to a recent report from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the current pollution levels, measured as fine particulate matter (PM2.5), provided information about villages in seven provinces in Laos, including Vientiane Capital, Luang Prabang, Oudomxay, Luang Namtha, Bokeo, Savannakhet, and Khammouane. All of the tests were below serious health risk and can be grouped into three categories.
Good Air Quality – Vientiane Capital’s Akad village and Naly village in Luang Namtha province were safe from pollution-based health impacts.
Moderately Good Air Quality – Oudom village where Bokeo airport is located and Khammouane’s Chomphet fell into this category. According to the assessment, the two villages’ air quality should not cause health risks but they must be careful that the air quality does not decrease.
Slightly Dangerous Air Quality – The last four villages, Xiengyeun of Vientiane Capital, Phouxangkham of Luang Prabang province, Donxay of Oudomxay province, and Chomphet of Khammouane province, all had enough particulate matter in the air to cause minor health risks.
These findings provide some evidence for safe levels of air pollution in these areas, but the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment also issued a warning last week about dangerous levels of air pollution now being recorded across the country. Also, A recent study from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) found that agriculture production and fire are the key drivers of air pollution in Laos, especially in the northern part of the country.
