‘Severe’ air pollution spikes in Beijing

Posted on October 29, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

Beijing’s air quality reached “severe pollution” levels on Monday morning as the city was blanketed with dense smog.

Air quality in central Beijing and southern suburban areas reached level-six and other areas reached level five on a six-level scale, according to the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Centre, which described pollutions levels as “severe”.

US embassy measurements categorised air quality as “hazardous” with a PM2.5 level of more than 300 micrograms per cubic metre for most of Monday morning.

Beijing Meteorological Bureau said that visibility in certain parts of Beijing had dropped to less than 500 metres while China’s National Meteorological Centre on Monday morning issued a yellow smog warning, which is expected to remain in place until the evening, and advised people to wear masks and to avoid outdoor activities.

“High humidity levels and weak winds are preventing polluted air from dispersing,” China News Agency cited meteorologists as saying.

Beijing government last week introduced a series of strict emergency measures if PM2.5 levels exceed 300 micrograms per cubic metre for more than three consecutive days, in a bid to control rising smog levels.

Under the emergency measures, private vehicles will only be allowed to drive on roads on alternate days, school classes will be suspended, factories will be ordered to limit production, and construction sites must halt excavation and demolition work.

via ‘Severe’ air pollution spikes in Beijing | South China Morning Post.

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Study shows PM1 air pollution is most harmful

Posted on October 29, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

A recent study led by Chinese scientists shows a strong link between smaller air pollution particles and a range of serious health conditions.

Scientists said the smaller the airborne particles, the more likely they are to cause illness, suggesting the need for monitoring of particulate matter of 1 micron or less in diameter — a category of pollution rarely monitored.

In recent years, many locations across the country have been blanketed with heavy air pollution, raising concerns for public health. Among the main categories of pollutant measured is PM2.5, which can enter the respiratory system and contribute to a range of illnesses, including cardiovascular disease.

Now, in a new study published in the public health journal Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers from the School of Public Health at Fudan University in Shanghai have demonstrated correlations between PM2.5 pollution and the incidence of particular illnesses.

Researchers spent about two years collecting data in a medium-sized city in northern China, measuring the levels of particulate matter in 23 size categories ranging from 0.25 microns to 10 microns. They then plotted the health conditions of residents in the city against the concentrations of particles of different sizes found in their locations.

Among the key findings was that those areas with larger concentrations of smaller particles showed higher incidences of particular illnesses.

“Our study, based on epidemiological investigation, showed that fine particles in the air measuring between 0.25 to 0.5 microns in diameter have a closer relationship to human health, especially an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases,” said Kan Haidong, a professor at the School of Public Health at Fudan University.

The fine particles measuring between 0.25 to 0.5 microns in diameter accounted for about 90 percent of the total number of particles found in the air during the study.

Kan said the smaller the particle, the higher the concentration in any given volume of air and so the greater the number of particles coming into contact with tissues inside the human body.

“Besides that, there may also be a relationship with the settlement of particles of different diameters in the lower respiratory tract.” Kan said.

Kan said the smaller particles can also pass through the blood-air barrier in the lungs, entering the blood as toxins, and causing cardiovascular disease. Larger particles are not able to pass through the blood-air barrier so easily. He also said that smaller particles in the body can harm the regulation of the human nervous system.

Among the conclusions of the research is that the smaller the particle size, the more danger the pollution poses to public health, suggesting that more research is needed on PM1 pollution — particles of 1 micron or less in diameter.

“The significance of the study is that it has provided a new direction for the prevention and control of atmospheric pollution,” Kan said. “What we need to focus on is particles of smaller sizes, rather than PM2.5.”

Some scientists have already suggested more studies on PM1 pollution, citing its potential role in causing illness on a large scale.

“In Shanghai, for example, about 80 to 90 percent of the mass concentration of the city’s PM2.5 is PM1. So it would be more effective to carry out studies on PM1 than PM2.5,” said Yang Xin, professor at the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering at Fudan University.

PM2.5 is the main category of pollution monitored by government departments.

Yang said he has already approached government departments on the environment and related fields to suggest monitoring of PM1 levels, but he has yet to receive a response.

via Study shows PM1 air pollution is most harmful|Society|chinadaily.com.cn.

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Regional think tank proposed to curb air pollution problems

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

Hong Kong and its neighbours in the Pearl River Delta should establish a “regional think tank” and work closely to tackle air pollution in the region, according to a Beijing-based expert.

Professor Zhu Tong, dean of Peking University’s college of environmental sciences and engineering, said: “Air pollutants don’t recognise borders, they transfer through air whatever they can transfer and this makes it a regional problem rather than a local one.”

Cross-border air pollution has become a heated subject in Hong Kong, with many blaming the use of coal-fired power plants north of the border. A recent air quality study commissioned by Greenpeace linked 3,600 deaths and 4,000 cases of child asthma in 2011 to air pollution in the region caused by 96 plants in Guangdong and Hong Kong.

Hong Kong and its provincial counterparts have tried to work together to mitigate regional air pollution, including setting common reduction targets up to 2020. Both were forced to lower the targets last year after the original ones proved too ambitious.

Zhu proposed the formation of an independent think tank focused on co-ordinating regional air pollution research and providing cost-benefit analysis on air quality policies and measures.

“We need to find a way of institutionalising the research conducted in the region to provide systematic and consistent support for air quality policy,” said Zhu.

“If we get enough support, we will be able to establish it within the next few years.”

Its first initiative could be a cost-benefit analysis on existing measures in Hong Kong to see if they could be replicated elsewhere.

Zhu said if the proposal bore fruit, a similar partnership could be adopted to solve pollution in other regions such as the Yangtze River Delta area.

Air quality in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei failed to meet government air quality standards on 62.5 per cent of days in the third quarter.

via Regional think tank proposed to curb air pollution problems | South China Morning Post.

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​Air pollution shoots up, asthma cases rise among children

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

Seven-year-old Drishti had to be taken to hospital while on her way to school after she complained of breathlessness. Abhinav is only 9, but dependent on an inhaler since he was diagnosed with asthma last winter.

Cases of bronchitis, asthma and diseases caused by pollution have shot up in Gurgaon, its air contaminated by abnormally high levels of particulate matter as a result of rapid industrial development and the construction boom.

Doctors in the city say they receive 25% more cases of asthma and bronchitis and eight out of 10 children suffer meso-bronchial allergy attacks in the first 10 years of their life. “Air pollution is definitely a trigger for asthmatic attacks. Any attack may become severe and may even be life-threatening,” says Naval Jain, director, Sunrise Hospital.

The rise in air pollution should ring alarm bells in the administrative corridors of a city that prides itself on living standards and infrastructure, the latest data from the Pollution Control Board coming about a week after the World Health Organization classified air pollution as carcinogenic.

Hundreds of construction sites across NCR generate significant levels of dust from concrete, cement and other building material.

Dr Krishan Chugh, paediatrics director at Fortis, says, “Unfortunately, Gurgaon’s development has come with a whole baggage of problems, leading to not only significant issues of air pollution but also water and noise pollution.”

via ​Air pollution shoots up, asthma cases rise among children – The Times of India.

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China to send air pollution inspection teams to provinces

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

China’s Environment Ministry said on Thursday it will send inspection teams to provinces and cities most seriously affected by smog to ensure rules on fighting air pollution are being enforced.

Air quality in cities is of increasing concern to China’s stability-obsessed leaders, anxious to douse potential unrest as a more affluent urban population turns against a growth-at-all-costs economic model that has poisoned much of the country’s air, water and soil.

China’s smog crisis was thrown back dramatically into the spotlight this week when Harbin, a frigid northeastern city of 11 million people, virtually ground to a halt when a pollution index showed airborne contaminants at around 50 times the levels recommended by the World Health Organisation.

The problem was partly blamed on the government turning on the heating for the winter. Collective central heating, activated on a date set by the government, provides heat to 65 percent of Harbin, figures quoted last year in the state media show. Much of that heat comes from burning coal. Beijing’s central heating normally comes on in mid-November.

China’s government has announced many plans to fight pollution over the years but has made little obvious progress, especially in the country’s north and northeast, where coal burning has driven the rapid growth in heavy industrial output.

Enforcing rules has been a particular problem with growth-obsessed local governments and powerful state-owned enterprises often ignoring central government guidelines and even falsifying their emissions data.

The Environment Ministry said on its website (www.zhb.gov.cn) that teams would from now until March visit Beijing and its surrounding regions, the Pearl and Yangtze River deltas, Chengdu, Chongqing and Urumqi, all parts of China which have smog problems.

The teams will ensure that factories have installed the correct equipment to cut emissions of sulphur dioxide, that plants previously closed remain shut and that local governments are enforcing clean air policies, the ministry added.

Factories that have particular problems will have environment inspection teams permanently based on site and legal means will be used to punish companies with particular problems, it said.

Regional environment inspection teams who do not do their jobs properly will be prosecuted and the media will be used to name and shame the most egregious examples of pollution, the ministry added.

The public will also be encouraged to report pollution problems to the ministry, it said.

China published a detailed action plan on tackling air pollution in September, saying it would cut coal consumption and ban new industrial projects like power plants and steel mills in key cities and regions such as Beijing and the Yangtze river delta.

Beijing, sometimes derided as “Greyjing” or “Beige-jing” by English-speaking residents, suffered its own smog emergency last winter when the pollution index reached 45 times the recommended level one particularly bad day in January.

Smoke from factories and heating plants, winds from the Gobi Desert and fumes from millions of vehicles can combine to blanket the city in a pungent shroud for days.

via China to send air pollution inspection teams to provinces | Reuters.

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Chinese city of Harbin shrouded in smog as air pollution soars

Posted on October 23, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

Thick smog enveloped a major Chinese city for a third day on Tuesday, with schools and a regional airport shut and poor visibility forcing ground transport to a halt in places.

Images from Harbin, a northeastern city of more than 10 million people and the host of a popular annual ice festival, showed roads shrouded in smog, with visibility in some areas reduced to less than 50 metres.

Flights remained severely delayed, after more than 250 flights were cancelled at the local airport on Monday, according to Chinese media.

As Harbin residents struggled in the smog, officials in Beijing unveiled a raft of emergency measures to tackle the capital’s notoriously bad air pollution, saying they hoped other regions would follow suit.

Air pollution levels in Harbin were easing on Tuesday afternoon but remained as much as 15 times the levels deemed safe by the World Health Organisation.

Figures from monitoring stations showed that concentrations of PM2.5, the tiny airborne particles considered most harmful to health, averaged 266 microgrammes per cubic metre in the city, with one station showing 415.

That figure was down from Tuesday morning’s level of 822 micrograms per cubic metre and Monday’s level of 1,000. The WHO’s recommended standard is 25.

The overall air quality index had improved to a measure of 397, or “severely polluted”. Earlier on Tuesday, the figure exceeded 500, the highest level on the Chinese scale.

Residents of the far northeastern city described a smog that began choking people as much as a week ago but worsened considerably on Sunday night.

“You could feel the burning smell in the air, and on the second day the thick fog just blocked your way, keeping you from seeing anything,” said Song Ting, a 21-year-old student in Harbin. “It’s still disgusting.”

Zhao Yao, a 25-year-old IT engineer, said: “You feel sick when you breathe. You can’t see many people on the street now, and some people wear three masks when going out.”

The smog in Harbin came as it activated its public heating system before the icy winter, state media said.

It is China’s latest major pollution-related episode.

The issue causes significant public anger and several Chinese newspapers carried images from Harbin on their front pages Tuesday.

In January thick smog blanketed Beijing – with similar PM2.5 levels to Harbin this week – garnering headlines, as well as a nickname “airpocalypse”, in news reports around the globe.

At the time Harbin escaped the worst of the pollution, but huge areas of northern China have been shrouded by smog at various times this year.

Pollution from rapid development and heavy coal use plagues wide swathes of China, prompting public criticism and pledges from the country’s leadership to make improvements.

Last Friday American jazz singer Patti Austin cancelled a scheduled concert at the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing due to a “severe asthma attack” after arriving in the notoriously smog-ridden capital, according to a statement on her website.

The city government in Beijing said on Tuesday that it is preparing emergency measures such as factory shutdowns and traffic limits to kick in when air pollution levels in the capital are especially heavy.

Officials said the strictest emergency measures will take effect when the pollution index for PM2.5 is forecast to exceed 300 microgrammes per cubic metre for three days running.

Private vehicles will be allowed to operate only on alternating days, depending on the last number of their licence plates. Factory emissions will be cut 30 percent by suspending or limiting production, and construction sites must halt excavation and demolition work. Classes will be suspended, a measure likely to cause inconvenience in a city where most parents both work.

Fang Li, vice director of the city’s Environmental Protection Bureau, acknowledged that the measures would not prevent smog wafting into Beijng from neighbouring provinces such as Heibei. As much as 60 per cent of the capital’s air pollution is said to come from outside sources.

“We have no control over Hebei, but this is a national priority and we hope we can be a positive role model,” the official told reporters.

via Chinese city of Harbin shrouded in smog as air pollution soars – Telegraph.

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Traffic-related air pollution a growing concern in Canada

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

There’s Evidence showing a link between traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) and the development of asthma in children and adults and it’s a growing Public Health concern in Canada, according to a paper printed in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Studies have shown that pollution from car and truck exhaust can be detrimental to children and adults, creating health problems. Additionally, further evidence shows diesel exhaust can cause cancer. A group of research scientists have published a commentary in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) outlining the problem, including some intervention strategies that would be beneficial to the public health.

Canada’s cities generally have good quality air, despite the fact that 21,000 people die from air pollution every year. This figure is 9 times the number of deaths caused by traffic accidents. The study found that 32 percent of the Canadian population, over 10 million people, live within 500 m of a highway or 100 m of major urban thoroughfares. These are considered areas where exposure to TRAP is the greatest.

Michael Brauer, of the School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, BC, wrote:” “This high prevalence of exposure, in addition to evidence of associated health problems, suggests that traffic-related air pollution is a substantial public health concern in Canada.”

Brauer and his associates have suggested four strategies with short and long-term options that will hopefully reduce the effects of TRAP. They include the following:

1. Reduction of vehicular emissions: This includes the introduction of programs and protocols that would remove or retrofit high-emission vehicles, reduce traffic congestion, and expansion of highways for electric vehicles.

2. Modification of current infrastructure: This plan would require the rerouting of highways for heavy truck traffic, and creating separate traffic lanes for cycling and walking routes away from busy highways.

3.Plans for better land use and traffic management: Would require that schools, nursing homes and daycares be located no closer than 150 m from busy highways.

4.Working with public on behavioral changes: Requires the development of policies to reduce traffic congestion in high-traffic areas, and educating the public in using alternative routes to avoid congestion.

The paper also cites evidence from London, U.K. showing these interventions will work, like adding a separate “drivers fee” for driving in a congested area. This reduced traffic volume and congestion , resulting in” “an estimated gain of 183 years of life per 100 000 residents within the zone over a 10-year period.”

In researching this story, it was apparent that traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) studies have been going on in Canada for a number of years. One study published in the May, 2010 issue of the American Thoracic Journal outlined a study done by Canadian doctors on the incidence of asthma in children caused by exposure to TRAP.

The study showed that “modest” exposure to TRAP at birth is associated with asthma being diagnosed in children by the age of 7-years of age. This study and others like it do show there is a direct correlation between TRAP and the incidence of asthma and other respiratory diseases in children and adults.

The paper published by Michael Brauer and his associates is intriguing because they give public health authorities some strategies in reducing the levels of PM2.5 in the air.

via Traffic-related air pollution a growing concern in Canada.

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Northern China smog closes schools and airport in Harbin

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

Smog has choked China’s northern city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, forcing schools and highways to shut and disrupting flights on Monday.

The density of airborne particles was several times above World Health Organisation recommended limits.

Visibility was reduced to below 50m (160ft) in parts of the city, reports said.

Local media have linked the pollution to the city switching on its public heating system for winter.

PM2.5 levels, used to measure the amount of particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometres in the air, were above 500 micrograms per cubic metre on Monday morning, state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

World Health Organization guidelines say average daily concentrations of PM2.5 should be no more than 25 microgrammes per cubic metre.

All of Heilongjiang province’s highways, and the Taiping International Airport in Harbin were forced to close, Xinhua reported.

A red alert for thick smog had been issued in the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning, the news agency added.

Earlier this year, air pollution in China’s capital, Beijing, also soared past hazardous levels.

The smog generated extensive discussion on Sina Weibo, one of China’s Twitter-like microblogs.

“We were all late for class today because we couldn’t find the academic building,” microblog user MaltzZz from Jilin province wrote.

Harbin-based Sina Weibo user Backpacker Xiao described Harbin as “today’s dead city”.

“Beijing, you’re no longer alone. You have us too now,” he wrote, in reference to the frequent air pollution suffered by Beijing.

Meanwhile, netizen Pen and Ink Silent, a student in Changchun, Jilin, posted the following tongue-in-cheek message: “My mother called… and asked how the air in Changchun was, and if I was coughing. I feel ok, I should be able to live to see my graduation.”

via BBC News – Northern China smog closes schools and airport in Harbin.

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