FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

Bangkok district to control crematorium standards in fight against PM2.5

Bangkok district to control crematorium standards in fight against PM2.5

The Phra Nakorn district in Bangkok is considering monitoring cremation activities after figuring in the list of districts with PM2.5 in the air at unsafe levels.  PM2.5 is particulate matter measuring less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter. 

The district office is planning measures to cope with the situation, and one of them is to standardise crematoriums emitting smoke.
The deputy director of the district office, acting Sub-Lieutenant Rittiphan Nanthasupakorn, revealed that the district officer often visited temples to check crematoriums.
District officials will use equipment and smoke charts under Ringelmann’s method to measure the opacity of soot from the cremation furnace, which will be read every 15 seconds totalling 120 times in 30 minutes, then calculated. The result must not exceed 10 per cent of the standard. Ringelmann's method quantifies emissions according to the density of the observed smoke.
The crematorium officer of Wat Makut Kasatriyaram Ratchaworavihan said that cremation pollution was caused by incomplete combustion, such as the body is too large or personal items were put into the coffin that contained metals such as cadmium, lead, mercury and dioxins and furans. He urged deceased relatives to refrain from adding materials more than necessary into the coffin.
In the 50 districts in Bangkok, according to 2019 records, 313 crematoriums used diesel fuel while only seven still used firewood.

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