The World Health Organization WHO is warning that contaminated rainfall from pollution emitted by the attacks in Iran could pose health risks.

WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said the oil facilities being hit are causing fires and raising serious air quality concerns.

Fuel storage sites, including the Shahran oil depot in Tehran, have been hit by airstrikes, released thick clouds of black smoke into the air. The pollution prompted Iranian authorities to advise citizens to stay indoors last weekend.

When rainfall mixes with pollutants in the air, the polluted rain falls to the ground. Rain can become acidic when water reacts with gases such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.

“Black rain and the acid rain that comes with it is really a danger to the population,” Lindmeier said.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society warned of chemical burns to the skin and serious lung damage from acid rain after the attack on Iran’s Shahran oil depot. She urged people to stay indoors during and after rainfall following the oil explosions.

Iran is also facing a severe water crisis and residents have been eagerly awaiting much-needed rain. Acid rain, or black rain, threatens to damage the waters that Iranians rely on.

“Oil plants in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have also been hit, raising concerns about wider regional contamination, which could have long-term effects,” Lindmeier said.

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Source: prizrenpost