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GET REAL

Why is PH experience with

LPG so different?
By: Solita Collas-Monsod - @inquirerdotnet
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 10:46 PM October 19, 2012

Check it out on the Internet, folks. Liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG, is a favored motor
vehicle fuel. Countries like the United States (a certain proportion of federal
government cars must be fueled by LPG), the United Kingdom (the royal familys auto
fleet includes LPG-fueled cars), Australia, and Israel, provide incentives for its use, and
the Philippines encourages it. Italy (1.5 million cars) and Japan (90 percent of all taxis)
are probably the largest users of LPG-fueled motor vehicles, and have used them for
decades.

There is a reason for this: LPG is considered green (i.e., it is friendly to the
environment). Compared to gasoline, LPG is claimed to have 75 percent less carbon
monoxide, 40 percent less nitrogen oxides, 87 percent less ozone-forming potential, 85
percent less hydrocarbons, and 10 percent less carbon dioxide. Compared to diesel,
LPG is reported to have 60 percent less carbon monoxide, 90 percent less nitrogen
oxides, 70 percent less ozone-forming potential, and 90 percent less particulates.

And the kicker is that it is cheaper, on a per liter basis, than either gasoline or diesel.
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In other words, it is not only green, and therefore healthier, it is also lean.

Is there a downside? Yes. LPG is a less efficient fuel than either gasoline or diesel
(covers less kilometers per liter). Cars manufactured for LPG use are less expensive
than those manufactured for gasoline use, and conversion from gasoline to LPG adds to
the cost. And finally, LPG is more flammable than its other fuel counterparts.

But the costs of conversion to LPG are quickly recovered because of the reduced fuel
costs; the more the vehicle is used, the faster the cost-recovery, which is why it is
particularly advantageous for taxis and other vehicles for commercial use. And the
flammability disadvantage is neutralized by safety features and/or requirements of LPG
equipment.

What about the health aspects? The only study I could find on the Internet on the health
aspects of using LPG was a 2010 article published in The International Journal of
Health Research, a peer-reviewed online journal, titled Health Consequences of Using
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) as an Alternative Car Fuel in Gaza Governorates, by
Sirdah and Rahma of the Al Azar University and the Palestinian Ministry of Health
respectively.

The cross-section study was carried out between May and August 2008, using a sample
size of 255, with 230 of the drivers filling out a pretested questionnaire designed to
include technical and descriptive (response rate 90.2 percent) information about the
cars, health characteristics, and complaints of the drivers, 98 of whom used LPG, 112
used diesel, and 20 used gasoline. The cars themselves were tested for volatile organic
compounds (VOC) using a C-21 gas sensor (ECO Sensors Inc., USA) in order to
quantify the amount of leakage of VOC inside the cars.
What were the results? That for all six possible complaints listedpoorer health,
headaches, blurred vision, nausea, dyspnea (labored breathing), depressionthe
percentage of complaints were significantly higher for drivers of diesel and gasoline
cars than for LPG cars. Similarly, the Mean Health Complaint Score Percentage
showed that LPG drivers had a much smaller number of complaints than diesel and
gasoline (highest number of complaints) drivers.

With respect to the VOC, the lowest amount was recorded in diesel-based engines,
followed by LPG-based engines; gasoline based-engines showed the highest VOC
score. None of the vehicles showed VOC of 50 ppm (parts per million) or higher
(danger/high).

Given all the foregoing, the Philippine experienceor rather the impression that the
public is given, based on a study jointly undertaken by the Department of Health (NCR)
and the University of the Philippines National Poison Management and Control
Centeris totally out of sync with what is happening in the rest of the world.
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The study was undertaken to determine the exposure to health hazards of users of LPG
vehicles versus that of users of conventional vehicles (diesel and gasoline). Conducted
last February, it covered a total of 53 taxis (28 using LPG and 25 using diesel/gasoline)
and 39 male drivers (26 LPG and 13 conventional). And it found that the LPG taxis had
much higher levels of dangerous chemicals than their conventional counterparts.

The media reports I read and heard made no mention of the health complaints of the
drivers in the survey, and since I havent been able to obtain a copy of the study, I dont
know if that was part of it. I havent a clue either as to the methodology used, or even
whether it was subjected to a peer review. But since it is a UP study, I am giving it the
benefit of the doubt (initially, anyway).

In the meantime, the question remains: Why should the Philippine experience be so
different from the experience in other countries, which have used LPG vehicles for
decades and have no health complaints?
The only answer I can think of is that the LPG taxis examined were not converted
and/or maintained properly according to government regulations. Which would explain
the leakages of the LPG vapor into the taxis. But even then, the leakages should have
been immediately detected and fixed, unless no odorant was added to the LPG
another requirement disobeyed.

Finally, the study findings that LPG taxis had carbon monoxide levels eight times
greater than found in conventional taxis is puzzling. As mentioned above, LPG has 60
percent and 75 percent less carbon monoxide than diesel and gasoline, respectively.

In any case, an explanation is in order. By the Department of Energy, or the DOH, or

both.

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TAGS: diesel, diseases, fuel for vehicles, gasoline, health, liquefied petroleum
gas, LPG, Solita Collas-Monsod

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