Jakarta – Dozens of high school students protested about the dangers of lead pollution in the air at the National Monument in Central Jakarta on Saturday.
The coordinator of the students grouped in the Indonesian Lead Information Center (ILIC), Edi Purwanto, told Antara that high lead emissions – generally from cars, trucks and buses – were long known to be dangerous to human health.
Too much lead in the atmosphere caused a variety of health problems and was even thought to reduce male sperm counts, Edi said. Lead is a heavy metal that is used extensively in car batteries.
It is also infused in automotive fuels to boost its octane level and produce more engine power. The metal is also used in paints, especially industrial coats used to cover buildings and houses.
Edi said lead was toxic and could damage human nervous systems, especially in young children, with long exposure proven to cause a series of blood and brain disorders.
It was thought low-level lead poisoning might also be a cause of autism, he said. "Here (in Jakarta), lead is often inhaled through air that is polluted by the smoke spewing from vehicles."
More than four million cars drive on Jakarta streets each day and the city is believed to be one of the most polluted in the world. In a bid to clean up Jakarta's smog, the city administration issued a bylaw last year on air pollution control.
One of its articles obligates public transportation and private car owners to have their car emissions regularly tested. However, despite the new bylaw, little seems to have changed, with public buses and trucks belching thick clouds of black smoke still common sights on city streets.
Edi said premium fuels distributed in the country usually contained between 13 and 30 microns of lead per one million milligrams. However, the government-set tolerable level of lead concentrations in air was only two microns per cubic meter.
The lead levels along with the sheer numbers of cars on city streets meant this limit was being breached daily, he said. "With such levels, the lead in the fuels commonly used by vehicles passing around us every day has gone beyond the tolerable boundary," Edi said.
He said the group had asked state oil company PT Pertamina to reduce lead levels in its fuels. High levels of lead also shortened the age of vehicles' engines, he said.
ILIC research predicted lower leaded fuel would cost less than current fuels, at only Rp 4.100 (less than US$1) a liter, including distribution expenses, he said. Premium fuel prices are currently set at Rp 4.500 per liter.