TEHRAN – The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has provided air pollution analysis equipment worth $300,000 to Iran within the framework of a project for Improvement of Equipment for Air Pollution Analysis in Tehran, Fars reported on Monday.

JICA and Tehran Municipality signed a grant agreement on February 12, to provide grant aid of up to 1.242 billion yen (nearly $11.5 million) in order to improve the environment of Tehran, and air pollution analysis equipment is the first phase of aid planned to be granted to the country. 

As per the agreement, JICA will provide air pollution analysis equipment needed to measure emission gases, carry out chemical analysis on particulate matter and implement other related activities in the capital, so that the sources of air pollution substances, emission volumes and the generation mechanisms can be evaluated and analyzed with higher precision, contributing to a mitigation of the air pollution.

In addition, JICA is combining technical cooperation to help create an air pollution countermeasure system and train human resources for the operation of the air pollution analysis equipment and calculation of measurement and analysis results.

Although, the concentration of carbon monoxide reduced to below the standards set in Iran, but observing the levels of other particles, such as PM10, PM2.5, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, which are sources of air pollution, is therefore a priority, Yukiharu Kobayashi chief representative of JICA in Iran has said.

Due to the many types of pollutants and the complexity of pollutant sources and measurement methods, the ability to monitor such substances has been extremely limited, so that equipment measuring emission gases and chemically analyzing air pollution substances with a total value of $300,000 has been granted to Iran to reduce air pollution in its capital, he concluded.

FB/MQ/MG