Mérida residents fear illnesses caused by air pollution

Since mid-2022 the residents of the Tixcacal Opichén subdivision began to observe that in the air they breathe there are particles of white dust, which can be seen on the surfaces of their cars and windows.

Ever since they noticed this situation, they have lived with the worry of not knowing what enters their lungs during the night, because in the mornings is when this layer of dust, which is difficult to clean, is observed with greater density, expressed lawyer David López Ambrosio, who has lived in the west of Mérida for more than 10 years.

The fear increased after Dr. Ángeles Andrade Oliva, from the Centro de Investigación Estudios Avanzados (Cinvestav), declared to local media that the particles expelled by the Cemex construction material factories increase the probability of suffering from Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease.

Andrade Oliva indicated that poor air quality causes alterations in the production of dopamine, a hormone that is released from the hypothalamus and directly influences behavior, motor activity and motivation, so that if exposure to polluted air is constant, the effects are quite relevant.

In this sense, he mentioned that this exposure to pollution is associated with a higher risk of developing neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, depression, autism, anxiety, and Alzheimer’s disease.

For this reason, last November the residents of Opichén, Tixcacal, Mulsay, Juan Pablo II, and Villa Magna, gathered signatures to ask the municipal, state, and federal authorities to analyze the air quality in this area of the city.

The only authority that gave them an answer was the Secretariat of Sustainable Development (SDS), which installed a sensor a couple of weeks ago, to identify what these particles in the air in the western part of the city are.

The resident of the area mentioned that so far they have not been informed about any results obtained, but they trust that this sensor will help to make decisive decisions to put an end to that nighttime haze.

“Many people tell us that the factory came first and then the housing complex, but that is inevitable, the city is growing and the old industrial corridor is already inside city limits, so it is time to think about moving the factory from the place, giving priority to our legitimate right to a healthy environment”, he concluded.

TYT Newsroom