The Battle to Breathe: Chile’s Toxic Threat
In 1996, heavy smog clouded Chile’s capital city Santiago. The air quality was so poor that influenza spread violently throughout the city, sending approximately 3,500 children to the hospital daily.[1] Three years later, the capital’s smog concentration only continued to increase, breaking records and forcing the government to declare a city wide environmental emergency.[2] Despite legislation to decrease air pollution, on Monday June 22, the deadly clouds of smog once again hung in Santiago’s skies, causing the Environmental Ministry to declare an environmental emergency—the first since 1999. As a result, the city partially shut down, closing more than 1,300 factories and forcing 80 percent of the 1.7 million cars in Santiago to cease operation.[3] Approximately 6.7 million people flooded the city’s subway system, because they were unable to operate their vehicles and urged to avoid physical activity outside.
Although smog is common in Chile, one of the most air polluted countries in the world, according to the Environmental Ministry, the declaration of an environmental emergency is induced by the amount of small breathable particulate matter, PM2.5, in the air. PM2.5, PM10, CO, NO2, and O3 are Chile’s main air pollutants.[4] The growth of air pollution in Chile stems from both increased industrialization and environmental factors that continue to affect the region’s climate and are critical to the country’s health.
