DOE Plans Monitoring of Air Polluting Sources

Tehran’s office of the Department of Environment is to implement a more stringent scheme to monitor sources of air pollution in the capital over the second half of the current Iranian year (started Sept. 23) when temperature drops and air quality in the metropolis begins to deteriorate.

According to Kiumars Kalantari, director of Tehran’s DOE office, the scheme has prioritized 1,600 areas where industrial units, hospitals and other polluting establishments proliferate, IRNA reported.

“The monitoring plan is based on the Clean Air Bill passed by the parliament in midsummer,” he said.

“The 35-article Clean Air Bill aims to impose hefty fines on all stationary and mobile sources of air pollution that exceed emission limits.”

Mohammad Rastgaran, the deputy head of DOE’s Environmental Monitoring and Assessment office, said that following the inspection of 6,700 factories and industrial units in the first half of the current Iranian year (started March 21), 133 centers have been shut down for violating emission rules and 424 units have received warnings.

“Tracing the sources of pollution is a big step toward improving the capital’s air quality, if it is implemented effectively,” he said, adding that polluting units must expect stricter action.  

In line with the plan, the Energy Ministry has agreed to control the quality of fuel distributed in the capital and submit reports to DOE’s monitoring workgroup.  Mobile sources like vehicles make up about 85% of air pollution in the capital and poor fuel quality plays a major role in worsening the problem.

Experts say the three main sources of air pollution in Iran are motorcycle carburetors (that blend air and fuel in the engine), diesel cars without filters and gasoline guzzlers. They say if 10% of the highly-polluting clunkers are removed from the streets, it will help reduce vehicular pollution by 48%.

The government has already taken several anti-air pollution measures over the past few years, including the distribution of Euro-4 quality gasoline in a number of cities. Plans are in place to expand the sale of high-grade fuel to all Iranian cities within three years.

Every year, with the drop in temperature in winter, a phenomenon known as temperature inversion occurs, during which cold air underpins warm air at higher altitude, leading to the entrapment of air pollutants in the city, which causes heavy smog.