Dr. Phongtape Wiwatanadate
Chiang Mai University

Particulate Matter Standard Recommendation in the Northern Region of Thailand

Dr.Wiwatanadate currently is the director of Northern Center for Air Quality and Health Research and now networking with Chiang Mai University and Thailand Research Fund to conduct a research entitled "Particulate Matter Standard Recommendation in the Northern Region of Thailand". The major goal of this project is to set the new air quality standard for particulate matters in the northern region of Thailand. A time series study of both daily air quality data (PM2.5, PM10, SO2, CO, NO2, O3) and pollutant-related symptoms of population in Chiang Mai province controlled for meteorological data will be conducted in Chiang Mai province for 1 year. The economical data will be collected to trade off the unit cost of illness due to poor air quality and cost of air quality management. This information will be combined and new particulate matter standards will be proposed to the policy makers.

Air pollution is directly responsible for a number of diseases and health disparities, as it has been extensively documented:

1. Grineski, S. E. (2007, Aug) "Children’s asthma hospitalizations, social vulnerability and air pollution: An environmental justice study" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Exploration of Health Disparities

2. Kawachi, I. and O’Neill, M. Exploration of Health Disparities. Essays on the Future of Environmental Health Research, (Goehl, T, ed.), 2005, p.100

3. Rubin, I., Nodvin, J., Geller, R., Teague, W., Holtzclaw, B., and Felner, E. Environmental health disparities: environmental and social impact of industrial pollution in a community - the model of Anniston, AL. Pediatric Clinics of North America 2007 54 375 - 398