Air Pollution

A general term which applies to a wide variety of solid or liquid particles of a size and configuration such that they tend to remain suspended in the air and can thus be drawn into respiratory passages. Results of ambient air quality monitoring showed that the total suspended particulate (TSP) concentration at location where there was heavy volume were high. The criteria air pollutants are Carbon Monoxide (CO), Ozone (O3), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) and Sulfur Dioxide (SO2). All pollutants are found below air quality standards.

It is undeniable that construction of the expressway will involve a significant amount of earthworks, and will certainly lead to increase of dust in area. Expressway passes through oil palm estates brings insignificant impact to the area as few residents are available. Besides that, transportation of construction materials will apparently increase the dust level. This is mostly due to spillage and mud carried by tyres of the vehicles.

There are many ways and efforts to reduce the pollution. Minimizing earth disturbance, recompacting, moistening and covering of exposed land are the main practical measures to reduce dust level. As operation is carried on, it is inevitably increased air pollution. However, the pollution will be accompanied with reduction along the existing road. This shows improvement as the area is less congested. During the peak periods, HC, NOX will exceed but only confined to areas close to.

We can minimize the impact by planting more trees. Trees act as natural filters for air that we breathe. In addition, new regulation should be enforcing on vehicles emission. Catalytic converters should be installed to every vehicle. This will helps to reduce the pollution caused by the emission from transportation. Future development along this corridor should provide enough buffer area when sitting sensitive receivers such as schools and clinics.