Effects on Mankind

The burning of the forest created huge amount of fumes which affected about 100 million people in Southeast Asia. This affected residents near the fire sites greatly; more than 90% people living around had respiratory symptoms. An estimated of 20 million people in Indonesia suffered respiratory problems and premature mortalities reached 19,800 to 48,100. Other problems associated with the haze include asthma, decreased lung function, eye irritation and skin irritation.

On top of health issues, the thick smokes created by these fires impair visibility. As a result, traffic accident rate increased and with the general lack of public health care service in Indonesia, many of these ailments caused by forest fire were not treated appropriately.

Neighboring country: Singapore

Singapore uses the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) to measure five major air pollutants: sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, nitrogen oxide, ozone and carbon monoxide. It ranges from 0 – 500 and describe the air quality as follow: 0-50 good; 51-100 moderate; 101-200 unhealthy; 201-300 very unhealthy; and more than 300 hazardous. During the period in 1997, Singapore air quality suffered and reached PSI of 138 which is in the unhealthy range. There was a 30% increase in outpatient attendance for haze-related problems. The graph below shows the increased in the different illness during the time.

Singapore health table 1

Table extracted from: Emmanuel, S. C. (2000), Impact to lung health of haze from forest fires: The Singapore experience. Respirology, 5: 175–182.