Industrial Emissions and Air Pollution: A Case

Study of Digos City

An Case Analysis Presented to the Faculty of the

Department of Teacher Education

UM Digos College

Digos City

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in

Environmental Science (GE15)

Presented to:

Jobell Villagonzalo

Course Facilitator

By

Alvin Jhon Tejadillo

Joshkian Leal

Kimberly Q. Santos

Vince Almano Camacho

Willian Jr. Soliman

September 2023
 Industrial Emissions and Air Pollution: A Case

Study of Digos City

Air pollution is a global issue, and acute instances are most damaging in
urban areas. Traditional approaches to air pollution mitigation focus on the technical
components of the problem rather than the involvement of citizen behavior and day-
to-day practices (Oliveira, K., and Rodrigues, V., Slingerlands et al (2022). The
impacts of air pollution on human health and the environment have recently
emerged as a major global problem. Increasing environmental challenges endanger
both nature and human health. Air pollution is at the forefront of this threat. Air, the
basic source of life, is essential for people and all living creatures. As a result, air
pollution is a global concern that has a profound impact on human health and
ecosystems. Natural causes of air pollution include forest fires, earthquakes, volcanic
activity, swamps, and human activities such as industrialization, heating,
transportation, and energy generation. Furthermore, population increase,
urbanization, industrialization, drought, topographic circumstances, inversion, and
climatic factors all have an impact on air pollution (Yonar, A., & Yonar, H. (2023).
This study investigates possible problems towards transportation and air pollution in
Digos City.

Road Transportation

The road transport sector is a major contributor to outdoor air pollution,

including elevated concentrations of ground-level ozone (O3), and fine particulate
matter (PM2.5), mainly through emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), and primary
PM2.5 emissions, including black carbon (BC), as well as carbon monoxide (CO),
sulphur dioxide (SO2), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), organic carbon (OC).
Road transport also emits greenhouse gases (GHG) like carbon dioxide (CO2), Short
Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs) like Black Carbon (BC), methane (CH4), hence
affects human health, agricultural productivity through degraded air quality and
climate through long and short-lived climate forcers [1–8]. Previous emission
estimates have identified road transport as an important source of NOX, CO, BC and
VOC emissions in Africa [9–12]. These regional emission inventories highlight
historical increases in African road transport emissions, but also the potential for
substantially larger increases in the future [9,11–15]. However, while these
estimates have been conducted at the continental scale, there are limited analyses
at the national level to evaluate the current state of road transport emissions,
projected changes into the future and the likely effect of mitigation measures in
individual African countries. National road transport analysis in Ghana [16], Nigeria
[17], Uganda [18], Cote ˆ d’Ivoire [7] and South Africa [19] demonstrate the
importance of the road transport sector in meeting national climate goals. Even
though the studies cited here do not constitute a systematic review of such studies,
they may demonstrate the need for more national and sub-national analysis on the
continent. Moreover, multiple pollutant inventories at national scale that are
contemporary, robust and accurate potentially improve the downscaling of global,
regional climate and chemical transport models [20]. Furthermore, the improvement
of national, regional road transport inventories may contribute towards a better
understanding and assessment of modelling uncertainties [21]. In sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA), vehicle ownership, especially in cities, has increased because of the
collapse of formal public transport, lax regulations on vehicle importations,
increasing urbanization coupled with increase in gross domestic product (GDP) per
capita [9,22]. In addition to the increasing number of vehicles, emissions from road
transport are exacerbated by the high average age of the fleet which is mainly
composed of imported second-hand vehicles (accounting for ~90% of vehicles in
SSA [9,10,23–25]), poor fuel quality, poorly maintained roads, lack of vehicle
emission regulations and inadequate implementation of vehicle inspection and
maintenance programmes [11,22,26–29]. There has also been a rapid increase in
the use of informal public transport vehicles [30], for which emissions have not been
quantified [10,31]. Combined with often inconsistent vehicle registration, there is
currently a large knowledge gap when attempting to quantify air pollution and
greenhouse gas emissions [9,10,21]. Therefore, robust national transport emission
inventories are needed to design and evaluate suitable policies to mitigate air
pollution that take account of the specific social and policy contexts for road
transport within each country [32].

Public Awareness/Attitude

Modern cities with high population density and extreme anthropogenic

activities are typically subjected to pollution emission from different sources. Air
pollution is a significant environmental consequence of increasing commercial and
industrial activities, particularly in large urban cities (Al-Shidi et al. Citation2020a).
Human activities include fuel combustion from motor vehicles, heat and power
generation, industrial facilities, and waste incineration (WHO Citation2020a). In
urban areas, mainly cities, studies have shown that major anthropogenic sources of
air pollution are traffic emissions and industrial processes (Kamani et al.
Citation2018; Rajaram et al. Citation2014). Urbanization with its significant levels of
automobile emissions and a modern lifestyle are associated to the increasing rate of
respiratory allergic diseases and bronchial asthma observed over recent decades in
most developed countries in comparison to the rural areas (D’Amato et al.
Citation2016). Recent study revealed that living in the vicinity of traffic areas is a
multifaceted concern representing sensitive exposure to air pollution and noise
(Chen et al. Citation2017). Hence, people who live near roadways or who use
sidewalks in urbanized cities are likely to be more exposed to traffic-related
emissions (Chen et al. Citation2017; Duong and Lee Citation2011). Traffic emissions
are contributing to substantial levels of particulate and gaseous air pollutants for
human exposure. Previous studies have reported that frequent exposure to air
pollution is associated with increased mortality from respiratory and cardiovascular
disease in addition to the lung cancer (Cohen et al. Citation2005; Pope and Dockery
Citation2006). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 4.2 million deaths
occur around the world every year as a result of exposure to air pollution (WHO
Citation2020b). The particles with aerodynamic diameter less than 10 µm are
classified as inhalable particles, which reach the lungs easily. Particles bigger than
2.5 µm and smaller than 10 µm can infiltrate the bronchi, while finer particles less
than 2.5 µm are respirable particles and can get into the alveoli (Heyder
Citation1986). Atmospheric particles are the mixture of solid-liquid components in
solid phase and these particles differ in their physicochemical and morphological
characteristics (Pipal, Kulshrestha, and Taneja Citation2011). Fine particulate
matters can absorb toxic elements and penetrate the human body by inhalation and
then accumulated in the lungs, subsequently resulting in several respiratory and
cardiovascular problems (Wiseman and Zereini Citation2009). Breathing combustion-
related fine PM even at different levels contributes to cardiorespiratory disease
mortality and reduced life expectancy (Pope and Dockery Citation2013). Regular
exposure to a specific level of particulate matter can lead to substantial health
impacts such as increasing respiratory symptoms, decrease in lung function, asthma,
cough, sore throat, cardiac arrhythmias, and so on (Massey et al. Citation2009).

Humans can be exposed to air pollution via different pathways including

inhalation, ingestion and dermal contact adsorption (Al-Shidi, Al-Reasi, and Sulaiman
Citation2020b). Muscat is the capital city of Oman located in northern-eastern part
of the country. The governorate of Muscat occupies a land area of 4000 km2 with a
population of 1,421,409 accounting for almost 30.8% of total Oman population
(NCSI Citation2020), which make the governorate as the most densely populated
area in Oman. It is experiencing rapid socioeconomic growth noticeable via swift
urbanization and industrialization. Traffic and the total number of vehicles operated
in Muscat have significantly increased in recent years. In 2019, the total new driving
licenses issued in Muscat itself were about 23,065 (NCSI Citation2020), which is a
clear indication for increase in the number of private cars and the road users. This
increase was associated with expanding of the roads/streets network in the Capital
city. Al-Shidi, Al-Reasi, and Sulaiman (Citation2020b) and Al-Handasah
(Citation2011) found that, there are 4193 to 5643 (vehicles/hour) passing Sultan
Qaboos road, the main highway in Muscat. Apart from high usage of vehicles,
Muscat has several power plants, oil and gas related industries as well as
construction companies which contribute to overall emissions of pollutants like
PM10, PM2.5 and heavy metals into the environment. Traffic emissions and common
anthropogenic sources of air pollution in the study area along with the barren nature
of the land and the spring sandstorms contribute to air pollutants that ultimately get
suspended into the surrounding atmosphere. Al-Shidi, Sulaiman, and Alrubkhi
(Citation2020c) reported that, the concentration of finer particulate air pollution
(PM2.5) in Muscat was 20.74 μg/m3 which is closer to the WHO (Citation2005)
standard limits. Consequently, these particulate air pollutants may enhance the risk
to the public health include asthma attacks, acute and chronic bronchitis, respiratory
symptoms, and premature death (Hall, Brajer, and Lurmann Citation2008). The
annual average of PM2.5 in Muscat is 48 μg/m3 which is almost five times above the
WHO standard and the annual deaths from air pollution are 944 deaths/year (WHO
Citation2021). Therefore, the country needs to work in order to maintain better air
quality in their cities with respect to the issue of elevated PM as emphasized in the
sustainable development goals (SDGs) report (Citation2019). In a study conducted
by Amoatey et al. (Citation2020), the hourly concentrations of CO were within the
US EPA limits, while NOx concentration has exceeded the US EPA standard in most
studied locations in Muscat. Levels of understanding and response of the public to
the outdoor air pollution might be a key factor for protecting the health of urban
inhabitants. Public awareness might play a significant role for promoting behavioral
changes that reduce individuals’ personal exposure to air pollution and minimize
personal emissions to improve air quality to encourage walking, cycling and use of
public transport (WHO Citation2013). Additionally, public attitudes toward the risks
caused via air pollution and related actions that might affect prevention and
mitigation behaviors such as information seeking behavior, avoidance of polluted
roads as well as acceptance of related air quality policies. Studies have reported that
increasing public environmental awareness and knowledge is essential to the success
of pollution prevention (Oltra and Sala Citation2018). Public beliefs might change
individuals’ perceptions and reactions to air pollution. Previous studies documented
that, some variables such as age, gender, educational level, or respiratory symptoms
have been correlated with perceptions and concern about air pollution (Elliott et al.
Citation1999).
 Vehicle Emission

Air pollution is a growing concern among nations around the world

due to its environmental and health implications. The World Health Organization
estimates that 91% of individuals globally are exposed to unsafe levels of air
pollutants.1 Poor air quality was also disproportionally higher among nations in
the Western Pacific and South-East Asia regions. The means of road transportation
has been identified as the primary source of air pollution in several studies as these
emit toxic air pollutants.2-4 Emissions of these pollutants are further aggravated by
the number and density of motor vehicles in the area and the age of the
vehicles.3,5 Moreover, poorly maintained vehicles are also prone to smoke-
belching.6 The latter is defined as the “vigorous discharge of smoke from the
vehicle’s pipe and considered as the number one contributor to air pollution.”7 The
air pollutants measured in vehicle emission testing are carbon monoxide (CO),
nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matters (PM), total hydrocarbon (THC), non-
methane hydrocarbon (NMHC), and diesel smoke.8These emissions cause health
burden as it was estimated that 4.2 million deaths were associated with
cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, aggravated by air pollution.1The region of
Davao is located in the southeastern part of the island of Mindanao in the
Philippines. The region is composed of the provinces of Davao del Sur,
Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, Davao Occidental, and Compostela Va l l e
y.9 As of the latest census of the Philippine Statistics Authority in 2020, the
Davao region is the 8th most populous region in the country with a total
population of 5,243,536, and the center of commerce in Mindanao.10The number
of vehicles registered in the Davao Region is increasing. Motor vehicles in the region
grew to 632,601 in 2019 from 425,081 in 2016.11,12 Despite the results of the air
quality monitoring of Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) in 2017 that the
overall air quality in the region is of Good to Fair criteria, the primary contributor of
air pollutants in the area are motor vehicles or mobile sources.13The latest data of
emission inventory in Davao showed that Carbon Monoxide (CO) was the
highest emitted air pollutant amounting to 311,941 tons. This was followed
by total organic gas (TOG) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) at 103,399
tons, PM (17,040 tons), NOx (32,861 tons), and SOx (22,805 tons). Motorized
vehicles contributed the highest in the emission of carbon monoxide (193,634
tons), volatile organic compounds (91,084 tons), and particulate matter
(23,738 tons).13This study aimed to determine vehicle emissions of motor
vehicles caught for smoke-belching within an urban city in the Philippines
using data collected from the Land Transportation Office. This is about the
Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999 that was passed into law to address the
issue of air pollution within the country.14 The law recognizes the contribution of
vehicles in causing air pollution and poor air quality. Within this law, parameters
of acceptable emission limits for certain vehicles are emphasized. Through the
Land Transportation Office, the Department of Transportation was mandated
as the enforcing body to ensure safe vehicle emissions across the country.
Their roles encompass inspection and monitoring vehicle emissions, prohibition of
vehicles with hazardous emissions, and accreditation of emission testing
centers.14

Air Emission

Air emission reduction plays a significant part in supporting sustainable

development. Greenhouse gases (GHG) such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane
(CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs),
sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and natrium trifluoride (NF3) (UNCC, 2018) are known to
contribute to climate change. The global concern of anthropogenic emission has
been principally focused on GHG compared to the air pollutants. GHG are subject to
global agreements and taxation, whereas air pollutants are governed by local
legislation and policy. GHG and the air pollutants share some of the components
(e.g. O3 and VOCs), but the evaluation perspective is different. Air pollutants such
as carbon monoxide (CO), contaminants (e.g. Pb), volatile organic compounds
(VOCs), sulphur oxide (SOx) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) (EPA, 2016) have an
instantaneous impact on the environment and human health. They contribute to the
formation of secondary pollutants (Harrison, 1986) such as O3, particulate matter
(PM) and in the atmosphere cause the formation of haze or smog. Air pollutants can
impair visibility and produce acidification. Fig. 1 summarises the sources, type of
pollutants and pollution (haze, sulphurous and photochemical smog).

The article published by the European Environment Agency (EEA, 2013)

stated that initiatives that protect the environment (air emission) should be towards
an overall system rather than the choice of either clean air or mitigating climate
change. In optimization assessment and performance analysis, it is commonly
noticed that environmental sustainability has been simply represented by CO2
emission/GHG/Carbon footprint. The significance of air pollutants, especially in
energy planning and freight transports mode choice is relatively less established.
Münster et al. (2015) optimized the waste to energy (WTE) handling solutions by
only considering the GHG emissions (CO2, CH4, N2O) for the environmental
component. Carbon Emissions Pinch Analysis (Foo and Tan, 2016) and Greenhouse
Emission Pinch Analysis (Kim et al., 2016) were proposed for emission reduction.
The Carbon Emissions Pinch Analysis has also been applied to transport sectors
(Walmsley et al., 2015). Different types of models or methods have been put
forward for the selection of freight transport mode. The optimization model usually
considers criteria such as the cost, reliability, flexibility, frequency, transportation
time/speed, safety/quality and environmental sustainability. However, based on the
environmental sustainability criteria summarized by Bask and Rajahonka (2017), it is
equivalent to GHG or CO2 emissions. Air pollutants form a significant part of
transportation planning. They could considerably affect the result of low
emission/environmentally sustainable solution and hence more attention is required.

The reduction of air pollutants is often promoted/proposed as the co-benefits

of the GHG mitigation. This has been highlighted by Zhang et al. (2016) with the
explanation that the sources of emissions are the same. However, this relationship
does not apply in all circumstances. Schmale et al. (2014) summarised the
importance of improving air quality and mitigating climate changes simultaneously.
The importance of incorporating air pollution measurement while developing climate
change control policies was also highlighted by Slovic et al. (2016). The individual
GHG and air pollutants assessment including the impact assessment, relationship
assessment, future scenario prediction and mitigation strategies are considered as
matured or well developed. However, it remains an open question whether the
available model/methodology is sufficiently comprehensive for an optimal emission
solution, as GHG and air pollutants are not always assessed simultaneously. A review
study which provides the current state-of-art, critically assessing the strengths and
limitations of the available air emission assessments are lacking.

Transportation networks are at the heart of the supply chain and are the
foundation of a country's economy. The transportation sector is one of the largest
contributors to air emissions, both GHG and air pollutants. It represents 26% of the
total US GHG emissions (EPA, 2017a, EPA, 2017b) and 23.2% of EU-28 (Eurostat,
2016a). The shares of pollutants (CO, VOC, NOx, SOx, PM10, PM2.5) range from
13.14% to 57.41%, and it is the main emitter for NOx (EEA, 2016a). This review
aims to highlight the importance of considering air pollutants for decision making
and evaluate the limitation of the current assessments for air emissions, particularly
on transportation.

Almost 90% of the European union's external freight and 40% of its internal
freight is moved by sea (EU, 2014). Shipping emissions are comparatively less
regulated (EC, 2017) and are very likely to continue to increase in the future
(business as usual) due to the increasingly global scale trade (EEA, 2013). In this
study, the source of air emissions (GHG and air pollutants) are firstly overviewed
with the focus on the non-stationary sources particularly freight and sea
transportation. The type of emissions measurement is summarised with the
discussion of their pros and cons. The available optimisation model for freight
transport mode choice selection and the limitation in incorporating the second
dimension of sustainability, the environmental criteria, are then discussed. This is
important as the strategy of shifting 30% of transport over distances of 300 km or
more from road transport modes to transport modes with lower CO2 emissions has
been proposed (Eurostat, 2017). The intensive review identifies the strength and the
limitation of assessment models to support an appropriate decision making
(achieving optimal connectivity of freight transport mode) with the minimal potential
of footprint shifting.

Conclusions

This study provided an overview of unsafe vehicle emissions within an urban

city and suggested a need for more robust monitoring of vehicle emissions within
safe limits. Vehicles that do not meet safety standards should not be allowed on the
road and disposal of old inefficient running vehicles may be beneficial in reducing
dangerous air pollution.

Solutions

The hunger for change breeds various pollutants that affect not just Earth but
also its inhabitants. As humankind progresses into an age of heavy economic
change, motor vehicle ownership rapidly increases and significantly alters Earth's
biogeochemical composition, resulting in environmental pollution and loss of
ecological stability. Motor vehicular exhaust pollutants to the air and cause various
health-related issues and environmental challenges such as climate change and
global warming due to excessive greenhouse gases (Bennett et al., 2002; Karlsson,
2004). Also, ignorance and irresponsible human activities yield poor environmental
health (Peter and Cheruto, 2013; Rogan, 2019).

Moreover, the lack of environmental consciousness among vehicular drivers

worsens environmental challenges; hence environmental education is crucial in
awakening one's awareness about environmental problems and providing
sustainable solutions.

Rapid motorization caused by heavy industrialization, urbanization, and

overpopulation aggravates the environmental crisis. Atash (2007) and Tanaka (2015)
examined that the growing fleet of motor vehicle ownership in developing countries
strengthens environmental pollution. This was supported by the International Energy
Agency (IEA) based on their recent study that developing countries such as China
and India and developed country such as the USA has an increasing percentage of
vehicular ownership, therefore, are the leading contributor of carbon dioxide thus
pose an even more significant threat to the global environment. Countries such as
Malaysia and Bangladesh have a recurring environmental issue due to vehicular
emissions and improper environmental actions, especially in urbanized areas
(Mahmood et al., 2019; Valavanidis et al., 2016). Thus, environmental action and
awareness are being utilized globally to lessen the impact of vehicular emissions and
negative human activities towards the environment, i.e., fuel standards
implementation in China, limitations of fossil fuel emissions in the US, and more.

Moreover, environmental issues such as environmental deterioration, ozone

layer depletion, pollution of air, water, and soil, loss of biodiversity, etc., are
environmental awareness elements. These dilemmas become an egregious threat to
both man and nature (Goleman, 2010). Despite learning these scenarios, it is not
enough to suppress the underlying problem regarding the environment. Hence, the
practice of sustainable living, environmental attitude, and values are the concepts of
environmental awareness (Cui, Hoje, and Velasquez, 2015). Moreover, to ameliorate
environmental degradation, man must reflect on how their action impacts the
environment and the effect it produces. Anthropogenic pressure is said to be the
leading bane of the global environment. As heavily emphasized by Stern et al.
(2016) that unending human exploitation of nature further exacerbated
environmental problems. Balundė, Perlaviciute, and Steg (2019) also postulated that
these problems could be reduced if the citizens acted in friendlyenvironmental
actions. The human population is slowly trampling Earth's resources,
notwithstanding that there is life beyond their own.

In the Philippines, environmental pollution is a growing problem that is yet to

be provided with long-term solutions due to the absence of environmental sensitivity
and public awareness despite promulgating policies and regulations. For the past
decades, the Philippines has already experienced the harsh reality of global warming
due to emissions from various particulate matter sources, i.e., motor vehicle
emissions. Thus, it is undoubtedly vulnerable to climate risk (Kreft, Eckstein, &
Melchior, 2017). Aside from health risks, the natural aesthetic of nature will no
longer prevail (Lualhati, 2019). Further, based on the report taken from the Land
Transportation Office (LTO) and National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB),
tricycles and motorcycles significantly increased until they became the leading MV in
the Philippines (DENR-EMB, n.d). Unfortunately, only a few examine the role of MV
drivers in the environmental quality in the country. There is still a growing need to
address environmental illiteracy among
MV drivers. As the main transportation locally, tricycle's exhausts emissions affect
the city's environment and its inhabitants more. Environmental education and
awareness among tricycle drivers can lessen environmental degradation and be
more environmentally educated on the many aspects of environment-related issues.

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