Public Reminded to Observe Ban on Open Burning as the Nation Marks the Fire Prevention Month
As the yearly Fire Prevention Month is observed this
March, the EcoWaste Coalition enjoined the public not to burn household
garbage, as well as garden or farm waste, during the dry and hot weather.
The zero waste advocacy group said that burning discards
in the open can cause fire and pollution that can endanger people’s health and
lives.
“Open burning, especially during the dry and hot season,
can cause destructive fires in our communities, while permanently destroying
resources that can be reused, recycled or composted and generating toxic smoke
and ash,” said Ochie Tolentino, Zero Waste Campaigner, EcoWaste Coalition.
“Open burning can cause particulate matter pollution, as
well as dioxin pollution, that can trigger illness, especially among young
children, the elderly and people with chemical sensitivities. Pollutants from open burning can also affect
unborn fetuses,” she said.
“Because of its bad effects on health and the
environment, national environmental laws and related local ordinances have
rightly prohibited the open burning of garbage,” she said.
Tolentino cited Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological
Solid Waste Management Act, and Republic Act 8749, or the Clean Air Act, as two
major environmental laws banning and penalizing open burning.
Section 48 of RA 9003, in particular, lists “the open
burning of solid waste” as one of the prohibited acts punishable with a fine of
P300 to P1,000 or imprisonment for one to 15 days, or both.
To draw attention to this public health and environmental
menace, the EcoWaste Coalition released a new poster that says “Stop Burning
Garbage,” with a clear-cut reminder that “burning garbage produces toxic
pollutants that can harm public health and the environment.”
Among these toxic contaminants resulting from open
burning activities, especially when materials containing chlorine are burned,
are byproduct dioxins and furans that are targeted for global reduction, if not
elimination, under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
(POPs).
Other open burning pollutants capable of contaminating
the air and even our food sources include heavy metals such as arsenic,
cadmium, lead, and mercury, greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and nitrous
oxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds,
formaldehyde, and fine particles or particulate matter.
These pollutants are known to cause a variety of health
problems such as headaches, eye, throat and skin irritation, impaired
respiratory functions, aggravated asthma and chronic bronchitis, heart attacks
and even cancers, the EcoWaste Coalition warned.
The group encouraged all waste generators and regulators
to work for the "adoption of the
best practice in ecological waste management excluding incineration" in
keeping with the declared policies of R.A. 9003.
-end-
Reference:
http://www.pops.int/
https://www.epa.gov/dioxin/dioxins-produced-backyard-burning
https://www.lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2001/ra_9003_2001.html
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