By Emmanuel T. Erediano
Variety News Staff

To help people know when it’s safe or not to go outdoors during volcanic haze episodes, the Department of Public Health and the Emergency Management Office yesterday released a chart that shows the sulfur level in the air and its health hazards.
Copies of the chart can be obtained from Public Health.
Referring to the haze that blanketed the islands on Saturday and Sunday, Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez said there is a need to regularly monitor air quality and inform the public when its healthy and not healthy to go out.
EMO’s seismic division continues to monitor the haze with the use of newly installed equipment that detects sulfur dioxide, or So2.
The Public Health chart shows that a hazardous level of volcanic sulfur in the air is 420 ppb, or parts per billion.
When it reaches this level, children, asthmatics and people with heart or lung disease should remain indoors, and everyone should avoid outdoor activities.
On Sunday, the level was up to over 600 ppb, Villagomez said.
This, he added, prompted him to start working with the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs to cancel all outdoor activities sanctioned by the government.
“This chart will help educate the entire community….when the sulfur level is high (such as it was a few days ago), people should take precautionary steps to ensure that their health is not comprised.”
He added, “We will continue to monitor (the air condition) but you do not have to wait for the advisory to come out. EMO will be informing the public whenever there’s an increased level of sulfur in the air.”
Public Health’s medical director Dr. Richard Brostrom said the public should familiarize themselves with the sulfur levels.
Although the emergency room staffers at the Commonwealth Health Center said they received over 100 complaints of breathing problems as of Sunday afternoon, Brostrom said they recorded only about 40 people, including those who came in yesterday, having respiratory problems, sore throats or watery eyes.