The theme for this month is Atmospheric Particulate Matter, I shall give a brief description of what it is, as my fellow ambassadors all have written about the same subject.

Particulate Matter (also called pollution) is a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air. Some particles, such as dust, dirt, soot, or smoke, are large or dark enough to be seen with the naked eye. Others are so small they can only be detected using a microscope.

Particle pollution includes:

PM10 : inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 10 micrometers or smaller

PM2.5 : fine inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 2.5 micrometers and smaller.

(EPA, 2016)

Focusing this report on Mexico, I must talk about Mexico City, which has approximately 9 million people, with a land area of 1,485 square kilometers. According to the most recent definition agreed upon by the federal and state governments, the Greater Mexico City population is 21.2 million people, making it the second-largest metropolitan area of the western hemisphere, behind New York City, the tenth-largest agglomeration in the world.

Given its size, the city evidently produces great pollution, although the air quality inside the city, it has an average of 82 while some days it can be in the 50s. The biggest pollutants are the outside skirts of the city, where most of the industries are, which are the ones that produce the most pollution to the air.

Despite the efforts made by the different orders of government and the private sector to measure and comply with the current legal framework, air pollution continues to be one of the most important public health problems affecting the population at a national level.

Exposure to particulate matter is associated with different health problems and the magnitude of effects depends on the concentrations in the air, the dose being inhaled, the time and frequency of exposure, as well as the characteristics of the exposed population. For this reason and in order to prevent the possible negative effects of exposure to said contaminants on human health, the Mexican State recognizes in Article 4, the right of everyone to the protection of their health, as well as the right to ?a healthy environment for their development and well-being?. In this sense, Articles 116 and 118 of the General Health Law indicate that the health authorities will establish the standards, take the measures and carry out activities aimed at protecting human health against risks and damages depending on the conditions.

Mexican official standards are a regulatory tool that contributes to the establishment of maximum permissible limits of pollutants in the air, in order to guarantee the protection of the health of the population. Therefore, its updating should be based on the precautionary principle and available scientific information.

Therefore this is what the law limits are:

Particulates less than 10 micrometers PM10:

 24-hour limit: 75 ?g / m3, averaging 24 hours, and

Annual limit: 40 ?g / m3, as an annual average.

Particles smaller than 2.5 micrometres PM2.5:

24-hour limit: 45 ?g / m3, averaging 24 hours, and

Annual limit: 12 ?g / m3, as an annual average.

This has stayed consistent since the law was presented in 2014, Mexico City IS in fact an enormous city, but it is on the right track of battling air pollution, especially because the government is very involved in this subject.

In a future report I will write what I believe is the biggest pollution problem in Mexico: water pollution, especially what we do with our garbage and the big problems we are facing regarding rivers and lakes.

References:

Particulate Matter (PM) Basics. (2016, September 12). Retrieved March 22, 2017, from https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/particulate-matter-pm-basics#PM

NORMA Oficial Mexicana NOM-025-SSA1-2014, Salud ambiental. Valores límite permisibles para la concentración de partículas suspendidas PM10 y PM2.5 en el aire ambiente y criterios para su evaluación. (n.d.). Retrieved March 22, 2017, from http://www.dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=5357042&fecha=20%2F08%2F2014

The World Air Quality Index project. (2017). Merced, México, Mexico Air Pollution: Real-time PM2.5 Air Quality Index (AQI). Retrieved March 22, 2017, from http://aqicn.org/city/mexico/mexico/merced/