Self-employed Márcia Mendes and loader Jozenias Nogueira — Photo: Jadson Lima/g1 AM
The smoke caused by the fires that covered Manaus this Friday (9) made the routine of residents difficult, who reported problems breathing, throat irritation, sleepless nights and work losses. For the second day in a row, the capital of Amazonas recorded the worst air quality in Brazil, according to the international platform IQAir.
Faced with worsening pollution, Civil Defense issued a severe warning about health risks and recommended that the population avoid prolonged exposure to smoke. Educational institutions also suspended in-person activities in the capital.
On the streets, workers tried to maintain their routine despite the smoke. To g1, self-employed Márcia Mendes, who has rhinitis and sinusitis, reported that pollution has worsened her respiratory problems. According to her, the smoke causes throat irritation, nasal congestion and sneezing attacks throughout the day. At night, difficulty breathing and headaches affect sleep.
As she works in sales and needs to talk to customers for most of the day, Márcia says that exposure to pollution increases throat discomfort and makes her professional routine difficult. Even with the symptoms, she needs to leave the house to guarantee her income.
"Manaus, in Amazonas, is known as the lungs of the world, but we are suffocating with all this smoke. It is harming everyone," he said.
Self-employed Valdeci Moraes de Castro reported that pollution invades even homes and makes it difficult to rest. He criticized the lack of responses from public authorities and expressed concern about the effects of smoke on the population, especially the elderly and people with respiratory problems.
"You can't even sleep at home. All the smoke enters the room. The air is horrible," said Valdeci in an interview with g1.
He said the situation also affects those who need to leave their homes for basic activities, such as buying food, and advocated the use of masks to reduce exposure to smoke.
Smoke makes work and navigation difficult
The difficulty of reconciling health care and the need to work was also reported by porter Jozenias Nogueira Pereira, 63 years old. Living on the other side of the Rio Negro, he travels daily to Manaus to transport cargo and says that the smoke makes the journey more difficult, with a feeling of suffocation.
"There's this smoke in the morning that can't hold anymore. It's worrying because of our health, our children and our grandchildren," said Nogueira.
He also criticized those who set fire to land without considering the effects on other people. According to the worker, the smoke harms even those who have no connection with the fires.
In addition to affecting health, smoke reduces visibility and increases challenges for those navigating the Amazon rivers. Igor Gama, foreman of a vessel that transports cargo and passengers between Manaus and Urucurituba, in the Lower Amazon, says that navigation is increasingly dangerous due to the combination of smoke, drought and sandbars.
According to him, navigation equipment is essential for identifying obstacles, maintaining the route and avoiding accidents, especially during the early hours of the morning, when visibility is lower.
"It's increasingly dangerous, the river is drying up, now there's intense smoke. There are all these challenges, in the early hours of the morning. Many vessels suffer accidents due to the lack of equipment," he said.
Igor explained that the automatic vessel identification system (AIS) allows you to locate other boats kilometers away and anticipate maneuvers. When vessels do not have this technology, communication depends on radio, which can make it difficult to identify other boats and increase the risk of collisions and groundings.
"When the vessel automatic vessel identification (AIS) we are able to communicate. This time of smoke is very dangerous, it's just the equipment to help us", he declared.
With river levels lower and visibility impaired by smoke, the presence of ferries, ships and sandbars makes navigation even more challenging.
Air quality reaches dangerous level
The reports occur amid high levels of pollution recorded in Manaus. Around 5am this Friday, the air quality index (AQI+) in Manaus reached 366, considered "dangerous" by IQAir. The concentration of fine PM2.5 particles reached 258.2 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³).
The Electronic Environmental Surveillance System (Selva), from the State University of Amazonas (UEA), classified the air quality as "terrible" this Friday morning.
Around 6 am, the neighborhoods of Morro da Liberdade, Educandos and nearby areas recorded concentrations of up to 320.2 µg/m³ of polluting particles.
🔎 Air quality is considered good by Selva when the concentration of particles is between 0 and 25 µg/m³. Above this level, the indices undergo classifications that vary from moderate to terrible, according to the scale used by the Selva System.
