Dust all over: EPA needs to look more closely at air quality

Dear Editor,

It feels like this El Niño is drying out every water molecule that is in the air or on the ground. I keep searching for the coolness in the night to bring relief from this overwhelming heat that I endure during the day, but it is nowhere to be found. I guess it is because El Niño is in the air.

Yesterday, when I began cleaning my windows, I noticed that the dust on my windowpanes was a lot more than usual. I am accustomed to cleaning my windows with one medium-sized basin of water, and even then, that water would not need constant changing. But this time was different. For the first time in many, many years of cleaning my windows, I had to change the water so often. What is causing this?

Could it be that we are becoming drier because of El Niño, coupled with the fact that our country is under so much construction? Where does all this tiny construction dust end up? In our lungs? On our windowpanes?

Windows are the nostrils of our homes, so what exactly are we inhaling?

The dust seems to be lingering instead of dispersing. I would like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to look more closely at our air quality. Dry soil, heavy machinery movement, material cutting, construction activity, and increased vehicle traffic can all contribute to raising airborne dust particles. And if these particles are settling on our windows, where else are they settling?

Could the combination of dry conditions and increased construction activity be creating an air-quality problem that we are not paying enough attention to?

There must be ways to mitigate this problem, and we need to start now. The Ministry of Public Works and the Ministry of Local Government should work together with the EPA to help us dust out this problem while it is still small.