IN CONVERSATION WITH LEANNE DE JAGER
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Gauteng residents have raised concerns about a persistent rotten-egg smell affecting parts of the province. The odour is reportedly caused by hydrogen sulphide, a gas that can cause dizziness, headaches and nausea, and aggravate respiratory conditions such as asthma.
The Democratic Alliance in Gauteng says the situation is concerning because several air quality monitoring stations responsible for measuring H₂S levels are reportedly not transmitting data, making it difficult to establish the extent of the pollution and identify its possible source.
Over the weekend, residents of Blairgowrie alerted the DA that eight City-owned monitoring stations were offline. These include stations in Buccleuch, Alexandra, Diepsloot, Ivory Park, Orange Farm, Davidsonville, Diepkloof and Jabavu. Kliprivier was reportedly the only City-owned station transmitting data.
The issue is not limited to Johannesburg, with Mogale City and Pretoria having experienced similar complaints about the rotten-egg smell.
According to readings from the Springs Girls High School monitoring station, which is listed as Sasol-owned on the South African Air Quality Information System, hydrogen sulphide levels remained above the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment's cited odour threshold of 5.02 parts per billion between 03:00 and 08:00. Readings subsequently increased to 28.22 ppb during the 15:00 hour, with a one-minute peak of 36.2 ppb recorded at 14:39.
The DA argues that the non-functioning monitoring network compromises the province's ability to track pollution levels, establish where the gas is coming from and determine the potential health risks to residents, particularly children and elderly people.
The Democratic Alliance in Gauteng says the situation is concerning because several air quality monitoring stations responsible for measuring H₂S levels are reportedly not transmitting data, making it difficult to establish the extent of the pollution and identify its possible source.
Over the weekend, residents of Blairgowrie alerted the DA that eight City-owned monitoring stations were offline. These include stations in Buccleuch, Alexandra, Diepsloot, Ivory Park, Orange Farm, Davidsonville, Diepkloof and Jabavu. Kliprivier was reportedly the only City-owned station transmitting data.
The issue is not limited to Johannesburg, with Mogale City and Pretoria having experienced similar complaints about the rotten-egg smell.
According to readings from the Springs Girls High School monitoring station, which is listed as Sasol-owned on the South African Air Quality Information System, hydrogen sulphide levels remained above the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment's cited odour threshold of 5.02 parts per billion between 03:00 and 08:00. Readings subsequently increased to 28.22 ppb during the 15:00 hour, with a one-minute peak of 36.2 ppb recorded at 14:39.
The DA argues that the non-functioning monitoring network compromises the province's ability to track pollution levels, establish where the gas is coming from and determine the potential health risks to residents, particularly children and elderly people.
