The numbers are frightening about the environment

The current situation of environmental pollution is frightening, especially in big cities like Ho Chi Minh City and river basins, which are affecting the health of tens of millions of people every day.

Industrial and domestic wastes are seriously polluting canals in Ho Chi Minh City.Photo: DD.M

A recent analysis of the HCMC Center for Experimental Analysis showed that the amount of benzene in the air at the main transport routes of the city has reached the red alert level with the average benzene concentration of 33.6. micro gram / m3, 6.72 times higher than the World Health Organization's standard of 5 micrograms / m3.

Scientists believe that based on this result, the risk of leukemia for people who always breathe air in Ho Chi Minh City may be 5.4 times higher than in other areas. That also explains why in specialized hospitals, the number of people suffering from cancers increases at the arithmetic level.

A city with a population of up to 1/10 of the nation's population is facing every day, every hour with a source of "dirty" air, the anticipation of declining labor force is very worth setting out. and need urgent solutions.

Equally serious is the serious pollution in the Dong Nai river basin, which supplies domestic water for Ho Chi Minh City and some other provinces. The report of the results of elaborate investigations caused a commotion at a recent environmental conference by Associate Professor - Dr. Huynh Thi Minh Hang and colleagues from the Institute of Environment and Resources - National University of Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City shows that the polluted Dong Nai river basin affects about 15 million people living in 4 provincial cities, 19 inner districts of Ho Chi Minh City, 8 towns and 85 towns.

The pollution comes from the waste of 116 urban areas of different sizes; 47 concentrated industrial parks and export processing zones; over 50,000 industrial production facilities; 73 landfills; thousands of breeding establishments with industrial scale; dozens of ports . Only 47 concentrated industrial zones (of which 16 have centralized wastewater treatment systems), 31 industrial parks directly discharge untreated wastewater to to integrate into the water source of the Dong Nai river system with about 111,605m3 of wastewater every day, of which there are nearly 15 tons of TSS; 19.6 tons of BOD5; 76.9 tons of COD; 1.6 tons of Nitrogen .

The substances that are harmful to this person's health are getting more and more. The scientists also cite an example: due to irresponsible discharge of phenol derivatives in cashew oil, 20 workers in the sanitation sector were burned when dredging the drainage channel in one. Open canal route in Binh Chanh District - Ho Chi Minh City. In addition, scientists also commented that: " In the basin of the Dong Nai river system, there are many waste streams in which their components contain hazardous substances such as acids, basalt, needles. heavy types such as Hg, Pb, Zn, Cr, Ni ., plant protection drugs, mineral oils, pathogens . If these waste streams are not well controlled and managed, then the possibility of causing pollution, environmental damage and water sources are huge ".

Because of that severity, on January 13, 2006, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment sent an official dispatch to 12 provinces in the basin of the Dong Nai river system to propose the implementation of 8 urgent measures, including There are specific measures such as ensuring at least 70% of industrial zones have wastewater treatment systems meeting environmental standards, increasing investment levels for environmental protection at least 15% compared to the annual investment level. 2005, determined not to allow the establishment of establishments that are likely to cause serious environmental pollution and potentially causing environmental incidents .

The above measures are still on paper, while millions of people are still suffering every day the environmental pollution has a direct impact on health.