Residents advised not to burn typhoon debris

Local

AS Cebu recovers from typhoon Tino, environmental watchdogs are urging residents not to burn disaster debris, a practice that endangers health and harms the environment.

The EcoWaste Coalition explained that disaster debris includes fallen trees, twigs, wood scraps, flood-soaked furniture, broken appliances, parts of damaged homes, and other general trash.

They said that burning these materials releases toxic pollutants that can cause serious health problems.

Aileen Lucero, EcoWaste Coalition National Coordinator, said she urged residents to work with local authorities to manage post-typhoon waste ecologically instead of burning it and sympathized with communities devastated by typhoon Tino.

The group said local fire authorities reported smoke in some neighborhoods after Tino, likely caused by burning debris.

The EcoWaste Coalition’s advisory reinforces government warnings to stop this practice in affected areas.

Philippine laws, including R.A. 8749 (Clean Air Act) and R.A. 9003 (Ecological Solid Waste Management Act), prohibit open burning because it releases toxic pollutants and destroys materials that communities could still reuse or compost.

The EcoWaste Coalition explained that open burning produces harmful substances such as dioxins and furans, particulate matter, heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde, and greenhouse gases.

These pollutants can trigger eye, throat, and skin irritation, headaches, respiratory ailments, asthma, bronchitis, heart attacks, cancers, and other health problems.

According to the World Health Organization, exposure to dioxins and furans can cause reproductive and developmental issues, weaken the immune system, disrupt hormones, and increase cancer risk, especially for unborn babies, children, the elderly, and people with chemical sensitivities or underlying health conditions.

The EcoWaste Coalition encouraged households and waste generators to adopt ecological waste management practices that avoid incineration, following R.A. 8749 and R.A. 9003.(MyTVCebu)