ICCS Haze Advisory for Organisers: At air quality readings above 100psi, please consider cancelling your event!

Dear Organisers,

regarding the haze in Singapore, we recommend the following:

1) At psi levels above 100, please consider cancelling your event.

• As the Organiser of your event, the decision is yours to make.
• Do inform us once you decide, and if you can, the latest by Friday (18 Sep 2015) 12.00pm
• We will inform NEA, NParks and SLA/SPF as needed and will cancel trash pickup arrangements.

Some of you may be wanting to delay your decision until the morning of the cleanup itself and we support this. But do let us know if you intend to do this and we can keep the relevant agencies updated.

I know this is extremely disappointing to us all after almost a year of preparation. But let us focus on staying healthy right now and work at protecting the marine environment directly when it is safer for us to do so.

2) In conditions of 50 – 100 psi, please advise vulnerable individuals

• Please caution vulnerable volunteers against participation in the cleanup event.
• These are individuals who are already experiencing discomfort or irritation even from low level haze conditions (0 – 50psi).
• A coastal cleanup requires at least least three hours of exposure which such individuals should avoid.

Note that the Ministry of Health advisory is less conservative, see their FAQ: Impact of Haze on Health (Updated 20 March 2015).

3) Attempt an alternative date in October for those who can?

• Some of you may be able to consider an alternative date within what Ocean Conservancy has informed us is the acceptable data collection period of Oct 2015.
• These two dates are identified as the best in relation to tides:
  • Sat 03 Oct 2015: 0800h – 1000h (tide: 1.1m – 1.5m).
  • Sat 10 Oct 2015: 1500h – 1700h (tide: 1.3m – 1.4m).
• If you intend to consider an October option, please let us know.
• Be prepared that the haze may not clear by these dates as well.
• We will make arrangements with relevant agencies accordingly.

Thank you for caring for the environment, everyone, and all the best!

Cheerio!

Sivasothi

p.s. I have been monitoring the haze since 19 Aug 2015. In this time, I have been reading various recommendations, reviewing the prevalence of respiratory conditions, consulted doctors about the matter, and examined various advisories. In early September, I decided the ICCS advisory would be a conservative one even if haze levels did not exceed 100 psi. Our priority is to safeguard our volunteers’ health and to live to fight another day!

—
N. Sivasothi
Coordinator, International Coastal Cleanup Singapore
Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum &
Department of Biological Sciences
National University of Singapore