Hang on to your masks: SA’s air quality is, according to the experts, ‘very bad’

So maybe don’t ditch that mask after all. In fact, maybe upgrade to an N95. I’ve been vaguely monitoring Gauteng’s air quality online for several weeks from afar, via my weather app.

And sometimes I wondered if there was a glitch in the system.

Now I’m here and the Jozi sky is cloudless winter blue, the birds are singing, the frost makes diamonds on the grass.

Yet on Thursday morning in Benoni we might just have had the worst air quality in the world.

Yes, worse than the usual contenders in India and China, worst even than Lahore in Pakistan, current holder of the unenviable title of Worst Air Quality in the World 2021-2022, a trophy you don’t want in your cabinet.

On a universal scale out of 100, Benoni clocked in at 84, which is “very bad”.

“The current air quality could be hazardous to your health,” said Yahoo weather. “Avoid intense outdoor activity and stay indoors with an air filtration system if possible.”

Thanks. I would, if we had an air filtration system and then magical electrickery to power it.

Luckily, intense activity – indoors or outdoors – has never been a concern for me so I went for a gentle stroll, and sucked in my share of the dominant pollutant of the day, PM 10, which is “inhalable particulate matter” largely from combustion processes (heating, fires), mechanical processes (construction, mineral dust, agriculture), and biological particles (bacteria, mould and the like).

At least, I told myself, it is not PM 2.5, which is very fine particulate matter that, according to the World Health Organisation, goes deep into the lungs, causing numerous health problems.

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And then Friday came and Benoni was still “very bad” at 81/100.

However, the dominant pollutant was now the dreaded PM 2.5…

Meanwhile in Lahore, air quality was 52/100. In Kolkata it was 51/100, in Delhi 66/100, in Beijing 47/100, while Johannesburg was 55/100, Pretoria 58/100, and Vanderbijlpark 70/100.

However, as an incurable optimist I might have found a silver lining: at least we know what we’re facing air quality wise – many cities don’t – which means someone competent is monitoring air pollution, so one South African system is still working well.

Go us!

Also, I’m planning my next exotic holiday, to Pakistan, to give my lungs some respite.