Budi Haryanto’s blog

Mon, 11/17/2008 10:49 AM  |  National

Despite reports of improving air quality in some Asian cities, many Indonesian cities still fall well short of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) standards.

Rapid urbanization, growing vehicle ownership coupled with poor transportation management have lead to higher levels of air pollution in Indonesia. The Jakarta Post’s Adianto P. Simamora discussed the issue with Budi Haryanto, chairman of the Department of Environmental Health, University of Indonesia’s School of Public Health and a board of director at the Pacific Basin Consortium for the Environment and Health, on the sidelines of the Better Air Quality (BAQ) Conference in Bangkok last Friday. The following are excerpts.

Question: A survey by the Clean Air Initiative Asia (CAI-Asia) shows that the average concentration of air pollutants is getting better in some urban areas but is still far below the WHO standard. What does this mean for Indonesia?

Answer: We all agree that the main source of air pollutants are motorized vehicles. The survey shows positive improvements have been made in air quality management but in terms of pollutant levels, including particulates (PM10), they still far exceed the WHO standard of 50 micro grams per cubic meter (mg/m3), which shows exposure to air pollution remains high.

In Indonesia, some cities, including Jakarta, proclaim to have cleaner air and healthier days. But we need to verify the data carefully, given the fact that vehicle ownership has risen by 15 percent annually while efforts to improve transportation management remain poor.

Indonesia’s air quality level is three times higher than the WHO standard. In PM10, for example, the government sets the standard at 150 mg/m3 compared to the WHO’s 50mg/m3. Some cities are still struggling to meet the government’s standard.

In comparison, we can check the Health Ministry’s reports showing more than 50 percent of diseases in urban areas are related to air quality, such as respiratory problems.

The 2008 survey by the Public Health and Air Pollution in Asia as presented in the BAQ conference revealed that the acute mortality impact of the current ambient particulate levels in several large metropolitan areas was still high. It said a 10 mg/m3 increase in the PM10 level was associated with a 0.6 percent increase in the daily rate of natural fatalities.

The WHO also found that about 500,000 people die prematurely in Asia every year due to exposure to urban outdoor air pollution. Therefore, exposure to polluted air is still a major threat in Indonesia.

Given the threat of air pollution, how do you judge the government’s efforts to improve air quality in Indonesia?

I think the government is still half-hearted. There are no integrated efforts by related ministries to clean up the air. The Environment Ministry seems focused on investing in establishing air quality monitoring stations (AQMS) rather than cleaning up air pollution.

To make it worse, the transportation management has not improved yet. In Jakarta, for example, the launch of the busway facilities, which were aimed at, among others, helping ease air pollution, have not worked as expected. More people use their cars or motorcycles in Jakarta and its surrounding areas, partly due to the absence of feeder buses.

The (Jakarta) administration also failed to seriously enforce the bylaw requiring regular emission tests for private cars.

The country’s success in phasing out lead in diesel fuel was not compounded by efforts to mandate the use of catalytic converters in vehicles, which screen up to 80 percent of pollutants. In addition, the government’s campaigns to convert to cleaner fuels, such as ethanol, did not work as expected either.

I agree with the government’s plan to set up more AQMS to measure air quality, but the project is just establishing an early warning system. It is not the real solution. The most urgent thing is for there to be real action to clean air pollution. It could be done by improving transportation management.

The clean air communities at the BAQ conference strive to integrate air pollution and climate change issues. What is your opinion?

It is a good idea. The BAQ is the first conference trying to integrate air pollution and climate change issues to form win-win solutions.

Indonesia, with over 230 million people, is very vulnerable to the impacts of air pollution and climate change. We need to formulate integrated actions to resolve the two problems.

The government has yet to take real action to tackle the impacts of climate change. We are still at the beginning in our efforts to deal with climate change although the impacts are already affecting us.

I attended a recent meeting at the Health Ministry. It is still trying to identify the health impacts of climate change. The National Council on Climate Change has yet to result in real action. They still focus on planning rather than doing. We need to go forward to take real action to help the people adapt to the impacts and mitigate the problems.

Monday 06 11, 2007

Jakarta Post - The fluctuating number of dengue fever cases in hospitals every month this year proved dengue control measures including fumigation have so far been useless, a health expert said Saturday.

Environmental health expert Budi Haryanto told The Jakarta Post the city’s dengue control measures had not tackled the root cause of the problem because the campaign to eradicate larvae was useless. He said the fumigation campaign lacked proper technique, used improper dosages of insecticide, was managed by unprofessional fumigation officers and suffered a widespread misunderstanding of fumigation by the public.

Budi said dengue fumigation designed to kill adult mosquito carriers of the disease was much more important than eradicating mosquito larvae. “In the context of a dengue fever outbreak, when many people are infected with the disease, there are three crucial transmission factors — adult Aedes mosquitoes, dengue-infected patients and the general public,” Budi said. “If you want to break the cycle — its viability and its effectiveness — we need to focus on adult Aedes mosquitoes.

“But what has the government’s campaign been about till now?” “It still hinges on the 3M campaign, which is about vector habitat management,” Budi said, referring to the city’s weekly anti-mosquito drive that included mengubur (burying), menguras (cleaning) and menutup (covering) mosquito larvae. “But the campaign is useless at a time when there is a dengue outbreak,” he said.

According to WHO, dengue viruses are transmitted to humans through infected female Aedes mosquitoes. Once infected, a mosquito is capable of transmitting the virus for the rest of its life.

An April field study at Cawang demonstrated fumigation was not effective because it did not cover the recommended 200-meter radius from any dengue infection and did not meet the required dosage of insecticide. “Most of the residents would immediately open windows and use fans to get rid of the smell right after fogging,” Budi said. “And that defeats entirely the fumigation purpose.”

Fatmawati Hospital in South Jakarta saw a gradual decrease in dengue patients this month but only after an influx of patients early last month. “Our patients are now down to around 120 from about 150 early last month,” Fatmawati hospital’s duty manager Sudarmi said.

The city health agency data shows South Jakarta with the largest dengue outbreak, followed closely by East, West and North Jakarta.

Head of Disaster Management for the Indonesian Red Cross Arrifin Muh. Hadi said early last week that climate change was the most likely cause of the sharp rise of dengue fever cases in Jakarta this year. (09)

City News - Thursday, June 28, 2007. Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A glass of milk a day helps keep the effects of air pollution away, according to a study.

Calcium-fortified foods like milk can sharply reduce the level of lead in the body, according to a study by Budi Haryanto of the University of Indonesia’s Department of Environmental Health.

In a study involving 400 elementary school students from 40 schools in Bandung, West Java, Budi found the level of lead in the blood of children given calcium supplements for three months dropped by half. “The number is significant …. The average lead content of the children in the survey ended up at 7.1 micrograms per deciliter (mcg/dL), down from 14.1 mcg/dL,” he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control, the tolerable limit for lead in the body is 10 mcg/dL. A high level of lead, which usually enters the body through air and food, can damage brain cells, marrow, kidneys and other vital organs. Children are the most susceptible to the impact of lead on the human body.

“The lead in children’s blood has a half-life of between 28 and 35 days. This means that if we move children poisoned with lead to an area with clean air, like Singapore, the lead level would drop within 30 days,” Budi said. He said some 80 percent of the lead in the environment came from the emissions of vehicles that run on leaded gasoline. Other sources of lead are manufactured goods like paints, canned foods, batteries and electronic waste. Budi will announce his findings at the 14th World Congress on Air Pollution and Health in Brisbane, Australia, in September.

State-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina said last year it would phase out leaded gasoline across the archipelago. Jakarta was the first city in the country to offer unleaded gasoline in 2001. However, said Budi, the level of lead in Jakarta’s air still poses a threat to human health.

Budi did a separate study on lead levels in Jakarta children a year after Pertamina began supplying unleaded gasoline to the capital. The study found the lead content in the blood of elementary school students in Jakarta dropped to 4.2 mcg/dL from 8.6 in 2001. “The government should keep monitoring the provision of unleaded gasoline and withdraw its plan to use ferrocene as it could harm people’s health,” Budi said.

The environment ministry has proposed the use of ferrocene, a kind of chemical compound, to replace lead as a booster for gasoline. Lawmaker Sonny Keraf, a member of the House of Representatives’ environment commission, also called on State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar to drop the ferrocene plan.

“We have worked hard to phase out the lead in gasoline, so why should the ministry propose the use of ferrosene?” he said.

City News - Saturday, August 25, 2007Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakartans have experienced more days of “good” air quality this year than in the same period of any other year since 2000, the city environmental management agency says. The agency speculates the increased number of days of good air quality from January to July is due to the success of the vehicle emissions control programs run by the agency and private firms.

In the past seven months, the agency has recorded 54 days of good air quality. Last year, it said there were only 45 days of good air quality all year. “We suspect the vehicle testing program has significantly reduced air pollution. But we will carry out further studies to be certain,” Rina Suryani, the head of the agency’s air pollution unit, said Friday. Rina said more people were voluntarily taking their cars to emissions testing stations but agency data on the number of private cars tested has yet to be made available. “The increasing interest in the program is partly due to our campaigns,” she said.

2006 data from the Partnership for Clean Emissions, however, reveals that only about 1 percent of private vehicles in the city have undergone in-shop emissions tests in the last two years.

There are more than 2.5 million private cars in Jakarta. The emissions test is a key part of the 2005 bylaw on air pollution, which requires private cars to undergo emission tests and public transportation to run on compressed natural gas (CNG).

The administration says it is aiming to boost participation in the program in October, after the Idul Fitri holidays. Last week, to demonstrate its commitment to reducing air pollution in the capital, the administration issued a gubernatorial decree that also makes it mandatory for motorcycles and public transportation vehicles — including buses and bajaj — to be tested. Despite the encouraging data on air quality, the agency has warned the public that this month’s dry weather could pose serious health risks.

Rina said dust pollutants or particulate matter (PM10) remained one of the highest contributors to air pollution in the city, exceeding the tolerable standard of 150 micrograms per cubic meter. She said people should carefully watch for any signs of weather-related health problems, such as respiratory diseases from dust, during the dry months. “The volume of dust can rise when there is very little rainfall,” she said. Diesel-powered vehicles, factories and coal-fired power plants are considered among the major sources of dust.

Budi Haryanto, an environmental health expert from the University of Indonesia, said dry air and dust could cause coughing, wheezing and other respiratory problems. “Exposure to dust could also trigger asthma.” He said respiratory diseases were among the top 10 diseases in urban areas like Jakarta. “The administration needs to inform the public of the health risks from dust exposure so they can limit their outdoor activities.” He said the administration also needed to convey the results of air quality monitoring to the public.

The monitoring stations measure the concentrations of five main pollutants — PM10, nitrogen oxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and ozone (O3). Clean air campaigners have long doubted the validity of the city’s air quality tests because the five existing monitoring stations are poorly maintained.

Ahmad Safrudin, the chairman of the Joint Committee for Leaded Gasoline Phase-Out, said the administration had not taken serious action to combat air pollution in the capital. “The administration must ensure residents experience at least 10 months of good air quality a year,” he said. He said people in the low-income bracket were more vulnerable to air pollution hazards.

Number of good air quality days in Jakarta: Year (total days)

2000 (108); 2001 (75); 2002 (21); 2003 (21); 2004 (56); 2005 (28); 2006 (45). Source: Jakarta Environment Board

City News - Saturday, June 02, 2007

Adianto P Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Although the use of lead in fuel was stopped last year, lead contamination in city soil hit dangerous levels in the aftermath of the February floods, a survey has revealed. The survey, carried out by the State Ministry for the Environment, showed the lead level in soil at industrial areas in Pulo Gadung, East Jakarta reached 359.5 milligrams per kilogram after the floods, far higher than tolerable standard of 100 mg/kg.

“That’s a very dangerous level because it will pollute the sources of ground water in surrounding areas,” I Ketut Muliartha, the deputy assistant for the recovery of environmental quality at the environment ministry, said Thursday. He said deposits of lead in soil were toxic to both humans and animals. For humans, lead poisoning can cause birth defects and damage brain cells, marrow, kidneys and other vital organs, particularly in children. “We think the lead pollution is from metal processing plants in the area or paint from buildings that had been absorbed into the soil,” he said.

Lead was widely used in paint in the past. He said the finding had been handed over to the management of the Pulo Gadung industrial area for them to follow up. Dozens of industrial areas in Greater Jakarta were severely hit by the February floods. The ministry survey also took samples of floodwater at a hospital in Kepala Gading and at Pertamina’s fuel depot in Plumpang, both in North Jakarta. The survey found metal pollutants surrounding the hospital and the Pertamina depot were relatively low. “But the level of micro organisms in the flood water around the hospital was relatively high, reaching 98,000 to 157,000 per milliliter,” he said. The oil content found to have leaked into the water at the Pertamina depot was relatively low at 828 mg/kg. “We wanted to make sure the depot hadn’t leaked and polluted nearby areas during the floods,” he said.

The February flood was the largest flood in five years, inundating around 70% of the city and causing severe economic losses. Many industries were forced to close their operations by the high water level. Ketut said some industries, which had yet to set up waste water processing plants, might have used the flood as an opportunity to illegally dump their waste. The Jakarta administration has admitted that many businesses operating in the capital are not equipped with waste water processing plants. Ketut said the results of the survey could not be used to draw conclusions about the state of all the city’s soil. “But it is warning call (for the whole city) because the soil is seriously polluted. So companies also have to be serious about treating their hazardous waste by improving their waste water processing plants,” he said.

The ministry currently handles 15 areas polluted by hazardous waste across the archipelago. Most sites had been contaminated by the activities of mining, oil and gas companies. Ketut said his office recovered 12 hectares of contaminated land last year.

Meanwhile, Budi Haryanto from health department at the University of Indonesia was surprised with the finding. “The government must trace the source of the lead soon to avoid it polluting ground water in the area. It’s dangerous for the human health,” he told the Post. Half of the Jakarta’s approximately 10 million people currently rely on ground water for drinking. Groundwater has long had problems with contamination with E-coli bacteria. Environmentalists in Jakarta had urged the government to stop using lead in gasoline produced by state-oil and gas company Pertamina since 2001. Budi, who has conducted surveys on lead, said children were the most susceptible to poisoning. His survey found the lead content in the blood samples of Jakarta elementary schools students dropped from 8.6 microns per milliliter to 4.2 microns when the phase out of lead was introduced. The tolerable lead in human blood is 10 microns per milliliter.

01-Apr-2005 | 16:35

sumber: http://www.indopos.co.id/index.php?act=detail_c&id=164490

JAKARTA - Pusat Penelitian Kesehatan Universitas Indonesia (UI) bekerjasama dengan USAID/ US-AEP dan Swisscontact akan menyelenggarakan penelitian tentang seberapa banyak warga Jakarta menghirup Particulate Matter (PM) dan Karbon Monoksida (CO). PM dan CO adalah dua polutan dominan di Jakarta yang sumber utamanya adalah kendaraan bermotor. Kajian resiko kesehatan akibat polusi udara termasuk peresmian penelitian dibahas di Hotel Ambhara, Kamis (31/3). Peresmian penelitian ini dihadiri Gubernur Sutiyoso didukung para pakar. Tim peneliti Julian Marshall, Dane Westerdahl dari Unversity of California dan Budi Haryanto dari UI, Kepala BPLHD (Badan Pengelolaan Lingkungan Hidup Daerah) DKI Jakarta, Ir.Kosasih Wirahadikusumah dan ahli kesehatan, Lula Kamal. Penelitian di Jakarta akan dilaksanakan terhadap warga yang sering berada di wilayah dengan tingkat pencemaran tinggi atau yang sering hilir mudik melalui lalu lintas padat. Para ahli dari Amerika mengaku sangat prihatin dengan kondisi polusi di Jakarta. “Trafik adalah sumber pencemaran udara utama. Misalnya bus, bajaj dan sepeda motor. Pencemaran di Jakarta 10 kali lebih tinggi dari Los Angeles. Kami akan mengukur PM dan CO yang dihirup masyarakat. Alatnya mudah dibawa kemana-mana,”tutur Julian Marshall, ahli teknologi monitoring udara dari University of California. Ia memberikan 3 langkah mencegah atau meminimalisir pencemaran udara yaitu perubahan bahan bakar, teknologi mesin kendaraan dan manajemen transportasi. “Semoga pertambahan polutan dapat ditanggulangi. Walaupun aspek penelitian ini baru dan inovatif. Studi ini bisa mencapai tujuan langit biru, kota sehat dan bersih,” tambahnya lagi. Tom Stevens dari USEPA (United State of Environmental Protection Agency) mengharapkan penelitian ini bisa meningkatkan kesehatan dan kultur hidup masyarakat Indonesia, diawali dari Jakarta. Menurutnya, radang pernapasan akibat polutan yang dihirup menyebabkan 1 dari 12 kematian. Termasuk gangguan perkembangan otak anak-anak. Informasi akan disebarluaskan dan disosialisasikan. “Kami mencoba mendekatkan hasil penelitian langsung pada masyarakat. Percobaan pemakaian alat ukur dibatasi pada populasi tertentu selama 24 jam,” ungkap Budi Haryanto. Polisi, penumpang angkutan umum, anak sekolah (SD) dan pengguna kendaraan pribadi sasaran utamanya. Sementara ini, memang uji coba dilakukan pelan-pelan. Responden diikuti 3 mahasiswa UI dengan alat ukur portable yang mutakhir dan berakurasi tinggi. Hasilnya dapat didownload dari computer. Ini mempermudah pekerjaan. (sin)

Jakarta belum bebas timbal meski sejak Juli 2001 semua SPBU (Stasiun Pengisian Bahan Bakar Umum) di Jakarta hanya menjual bensin tanpa timbel. Kandungan timbal dalam bensin yang dijual SPBU di Jakarta memang turun drastis hingga 0,005 gram per liter sejak diberlakukannya kebijakan tersebut. Namun Budi Haryanto dari Fakultas Kesehatan Masyarakat Universitas Indonesia (FKM UI), saat diskusi tentang timbel di Jakarta, Rabu (17/4) mengatakan, meski kadar timbal dalam bensin saat ini turun drastis timbal dalam darah warga belum tentu turun. Itu terjadi karena banyaknya kendaraan dari luar Jakarta yang menggunakan bensin bertimbal masuk ke ibu kota setiap hari. Juga, banyak benda-benda berkadar timbal yang digunakan warga. Pencemaran darah oleh timbal, katanya, tidak hanya terjadi akibat pencemaran udara, tetapi juga akibat mengonsumsi makanan kaleng serta air minum dari pipa yang bahan kaleng serta pipanya mengandung timbal. Komite Penghapusan Bensin Bertimbel (KPBB) selama Oktober 2001 melakukan pemantauan terhadap 30 SPBU di Jakarta. KPBB menemukakan, kandar timbal dalam bensin sebesar 0,005 gram per liter. Padahal, April 2001, kadar timbal dalam bensin masih sebesar 0,061 gram per liter. Penyumbang terbesar pencemaran udara di Jakarta adalah sektor transportasi. Sektor ini menyumbang 70 persen dari total pencemaran yang terjadi. Sejak Juli 2001 pemerintah mencanangkan program bebas timbel untuk Jakarta dan tahun 2003 untuk seluruh Indonesia. Menurut Budi, berdasarkan sebuah penelitian pada 1991, 76 persen pekerja di jalan raya di Jakarta, termasuk tukang parkir, kandungan timbel dalam darahnya mencapai 30 mikrogram per desiliter. Sedangkan tahun 2001, 35 persen anak-anak sekolah dasar, kandungan timbal dalam darahnya mencapai 10 mikrogram per desiliter. Menurut organisasi Kesehatan Dunia (WHO), darah seorang anak yang tercemar timbal sebanyak 10 mikrogram per desiliter akan mengalami penurunan IQ sebesar 2,5 poin. Sedangkan pada orang dewasa batas konsentrasi timbal dalam darah yang dapat menyebabkan anemia adalah di atas 80 mikrogram per desiliter. (KCM)

Penundaan penggunaan bensin bebas timbal di Indonesia yang semula direncanakan pada 1999 menjadi 2005 berdampak penurunan kondisi kesehatan dan tingkat kecerdasan anak di kota-kota besar di Indonesia. Saat ini lebih dari 35 persen anak usia sekolah dasar di DKI Jakarta memiliki kadar timbal dalam darah di atas normal, yaitu lebih dari 10 mikrogram per desiliter. Kondisi ini menimbulkan berbagai masalah, seperti; gangguan pendengaran, anemia, gangguan pertumbuhan, gejala autis, hingga penurunan tingkat kecerdasan. Demikian dikemukakan oleh Dr Budi Haryanto dari Departemen Kesehatan Lingkungan Fakultas Kesehatan Masyarakat UI.

Survei yang dilaksanakan Komite Penghapusan Bensin Bertimbal (KPBB bekerja sama dengan UI dan ITB di Kota Bandung ternyata mengungkapkan hal yang sama. Pada tes darah yang dilakukan awal Mei 2005, diketahui 30 persen anak- anak usia sekolah di Kota Bandung memiliki kadar timbal di atas 10 mikrogram/desiliter. Tingkat ini berpotensi menurunkan IQ sebesar 2,5 poin.

Dari data yang tercatat pada Komite Penghapusan Bensin Bertimbal Kantor Kementrian Lingkungan Hidup, kualitas udara di kota-kota besar di Indonesia semakin menurun akibat timbal. Timbal dalam bentuk tetra etil lead (TEL) merupakan bahan yang dicampurkan pada bensin untuk meningkatkan angka oktan. Namun, pembakaran timbal dapat menimbulkan pencemaran udara melalui asap kendaraan bermotor.

Sebelumnya pemerintah menargetkan Indonesia akan bebas bensin bertimbal pada tahun 1999, namun target ini tertunda beberapa kali karena kekurangan dana serta ketidaksiapan produsen BBM (Pertamina). Pada akhirnya, baru pada Minggu 29/5/05, Menteri Negara Lingkungan Hidup Rachmat Witoelar mencanangkan gerakan Indonesia bebas bensin bertimbal.

I am currently the Chairman of the Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Public Health, University of Indonesia and Research Associate, Center for Health Research, FPH-University of Indonesia.

I hold a Ph.D in Epidemiology from the School of Public Health, University of Indonesia, MS in Epidemiology from School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, USA, and MS in Public Health from School of Public Health, University of Indonesia.

My research interests include air pollution, blood lead levels in children, human health risks of fine and nano particles inhaled, environmental impacts of mining, exposure to arsenic and other contaminants, and other environmental health threats.

I was elected as a Board of Director of the Pacific Basin Consortium for Environment and Health in February 2008, Chair for Indonesian Environmental Health Colloquium in May 2008, Head for Climate Change Health Impact Board - Indonesian Public Health Association in January 2008, and Deputy Director for Organization - Indonesian Clean Emission Partnership in October 2006.