According to the Bangkok government, almost a third of the city's traffic cops suffer from lung disease and a fifth from breathing problems. Traffic booths are equipped with oxygen cylinders. Respiratory problems among Hong Kong residents led to 600 deaths in 1995. Asthma now kills as many as 90 people a year in the territory. About a third of those are younger than 34, three times the number that died from the ailment 20 years ago.
Children are also more susceptible than adults to lead poisoning.
Leaded fuel is still widely used in both Thailand and Indonesia. Jakarta introduced lead-free fuel last August. Lead is absorbed into the bloodstream through the air and certain edible plants grown on or near roadsides. The Thai government has acknowledged that even the lowest reported average blood levels of lead in Bangkok residents are three times as high as those in the U.S. or Europe. No one has yet calculated the financial burden of caring for those sickened by air pollution.