The Hanoi Environment Protection Sub-department (HEPS) is running 11 automatic environmental monitoring stations, including two stations located on Trung Yen 3 street and in Minh Khai Ward of Bac Tu Liem district.

The stations measure and provide six pollution indicators – PM10, PM2.5, NO2/NO/NOx, CO, SO2 and O3.

The other nine stations are located in the areas of Hang Dau, Hoan Kiem, Kim Lien, My Dinh, Pham Van Dong, Thanh Cong, Tan Mai, Tay Mo and French Embassy, monitoring four indicators - PM10, PM2.5, CO, NO2 and meteorological parameters. These are small sensor stations, using solar cells.

The Hanoi Environment Protection Sub-department (HEPS) is running 11 automatic environmental monitoring stations, including two stations located on Trung Yen 3 street and in Minh Khai Ward of Bac Tu Liem district.

The information about the air quality in Hanoi is also provided by AirVisual, an air quality measuring app. AirVisual said it collects materials from 14 air monitoring stations, 10 of which belong to the government.

These include the Hanoi air quality control network, the northern environment monitoring center, and the US Embassy in Hanoi. Non-government organizations include three AirVisual Contributors. One of the partners is run by GreenID.

Asked while the indicators and assessments about the air quality in Hanoi provided by the US Embassy and the municipal environment agency are quite different, Mai Trong Thai from HEPS said the one at the US Embassy is a sensor station and the station is located at the point where there are many construction works and heavy traffic.

He stressed that HEPS is the only agency in the capital city which runs 10 air monitoring stations which have been operating well since 2017. Two of them meet quality standards.

Also according to Thai, the US’ air quality index (AQI) is very high. Meanwhile, Vietnam is applying Vietnamese standards.

“With the same information about air quality, one would conclude the air quality is at the average level if referring to the Vietnamese standards, but this would mean ‘very bad’ if referring to the US standards,” he explained, adding that the different assessments lead to confusion.

Thai affirmed that in Vietnam, the General Directorate of Environment and local environment departments are the only agencies in the right position to make declarations about AQI in Vietnam.

The air quality reflected by the air monitoring network depends on many factors, including weather conditions.

“In foggy and humid days, the air cannot diffuse, therefore, the AQI will be high. But when sunny days come, the air diffuses, the index will be at the average level,” he said.

As Europe is applying Euro 5 and Euro 6 for emissions from transport vehicles, Vietnam should apply at least Euro 4 to improve the air quality.

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