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Ozone and PM2.5 data in Beijing?
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Monday, 11 August 2008,
Written by Julien
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I blogged yesterday about how international pressure helps Beijing improving its air. Today I found this announcement : Beijing might start to monitor ozone and very fine particle matters (PM2.5) starting from next year.
Ozone is harmful for our health but there is no data available now. Having a daily monitoring of ozone would help people avoiding pollution peaks. It would also encourage Beijing municipality to take measures against ozone pollution.
Having PM2.5 data would also be interesting as particle matters are the main pollutants in Beijing. PM2.5 concentration is important as those fine particles are the most harmful for human health. Knowing both PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations would give us a more precise overview of the situation.
Let's hope Beijing officials will not forget this promise after August 24th!
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The green side of Olympics
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Sunday, 10 August 2008,
Written by Julien
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I usually see the dark side of air pollution in Beijing: the data! The reason is that air in Beijing is not good compared with international standards. It is a fact that on most days air in Beijing would be considered as bad in European cities.
However, if I step back and have a look at the general context I am impressed by the efforts Beijing made to curb the emissions and by its successes in controlling the pollution. It is amazing that with more than 10% yearly growth over the last 7 years, SO2 & CO levels have been significantly reduced and NO2 & particle concentrations have been stabilized.
The measures that have been taken are really bold and I am sure no developped country would have been able to implement them. As it might be hard to understand for people not living in China, here below are just few of the measures taken to modernize transportation:
- Replacement of old and polluting taxis (77.5% of Beijing taxis in 2001),
- Opening of 4 new subway lines in the last 10 months,
- Drop of public transportation price in 2007 (33% to 60% drop on subway fare),
- Replacement of many old buses by comfortable and ecological buses...
Thanks to these measures the use of public transportation is now cheap and comfortable. People can let their cars at home and commute with mass transport. It's good for our air and for the people!
For sure, air in Beijing is not good yet. But I think it would be much worse if the Olympics were not here: the international pressure helped Beijing to improve the environmental situation.
However, more efforts need to be made to achieve a good air quality and I hope the current momentum will be sufficient to stay on this positive trend.
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Anti-pollution measures, 5 days after
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Friday, 25 July 2008,
Written by Julien
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The new anti-pollution measures for Olympics started last Sunday. As you might already know, the main measures are:
- Reduction of traffic: cars with odd plates are allowed on odd days, cars with even plates on even days, old and very polluting cars have been taken away from roads,
- Reduction of industrial emissions: heavy polluting industries have to stop during Olympics, others should reduce their emissions by at least 30%,
- Freeze of construction sites to reduce dust and trucks...
As pollution is generated by human activity, if human activity is reduced dramatically, air pollution should rapidly fade off. However, since 3 days the pollution in Beijing is quite visible: a white smog is covering the city.
Smog come from three main factors: car emissions (nitrogen oxides ), volatile organic compounds and sun. Those three factors react with oxygen to produce ozone and particles . Ozone is a risk for athletes as it can aggravate or reveal asthma and reduce lung capacity by up to 20%. It is maybe not a health hazard, but athletes might find it harder to break records.
One of the reasons for such bad air quality is the really light wind and the absence of rain. There has been no occasion for pollutants that were already in the air to be flushed away. Such weather conditions should last for at least 3 more days and we could keep the same kind of pollution a bit longer.
All we have to hope is a heavy rain with strong winds to clear the skies in time for Olympics!
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Pollution speech at Greening the Beige
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Thursday, 10 July 2008,
Written by Administrator
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Greenig the Beige (GtB) is an innovative, eco-minded art collective
dedicated to nurturing awareness on pertinent environmental issues. It is happening this week-end in Beijing.
The idea is to bring together people concerned about environmental issues, artists, volunteers in NGOs, experts and even me! |
I will be giving a speech on Saturday July 12th at Yugongyishan at 8pm. Together with Vance Wagner (an expert on traffic policies) we will explain urban pollution, the impact on health and what we can do ourselves against it.
If you are interested, find out more on Greenig the Beige website !
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New content on outdoor pollutants
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Tuesday, 03 June 2008,
Written by Julien
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 I have been writing this blog for more than 18 months already and I have gathered quite a significant knowledge base. However, blogging has one disadvantage: it is not easy to find the content wrote months ago! For example, did you remember this nice article on thermal inversion or this one on traffic policemen life expectancy .
Thus, I decided to make the information more directly available to the readers! The first step in this process is to publish the basic data I gathered along the way. You can know access a whole section on outdoor air pollution , listing the main pollutants, their origin and their impact on health. As usual, would you have any question, just comment the articles and I'll try my bet to bring you the answers!
Next, I will arrange all the data regarding the pollution indexes around the world (including pollution in Beijing).
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How to reduce your environmental impact?
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Wednesday, 14 May 2008,
Written by Trouni
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It is important to know how to protect oneself against pollution, but a protection as effective as it can be will never replace the need to reduce our emissions for the sake of the environment.
Pollution is a solvable issue. But when it comes to environmental matters, everyone has to take action. So, for those of you who decided not to wait here are some advices on how to reduce your environmental impact.
There are actually many things you
can do and here is only a start:
- Watch the film An Inconvenient Truth from Al Gore, it gives a general overview of the state of our planet,
- Avoid using your car by walking, biking or taking mass transit wherever possible, you'll reduce your exposure to pollution as well as reducing your impact on the environment,
- Think and live green (many other ideas here)
- Talk around you and convince your friends to do the same!
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Conference on pollution tonight
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Tuesday, 13 May 2008,
Written by Julien
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Tonight, I will give a speech on pollution in Beijing to the Beijing Linux Users Group.
It's open to anyone! It is a great opportunity to learn more about pollution and about open sources softwares.
7 pm on Dongzhimen Nei Avenue. More information on the BLUG website .
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More pollution in a car than on a bicycle!
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Monday, 05 May 2008,
Written by Trouni
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If you live in Beijing or Shanghai, you probably already sat in a taxi during a smoggy day, watching people through the window riding their bicycle in the heavy pollution. Feeling safer in your cab, you pitied them since the air outside was so polluted.
Actually... you were more exposed to pollution than them!
A study shows that the mean concentration of fine particles inside a car could reach
levels up to 25 times the WHO air quality guidelines. The main source of in-car air pollution is the vehicle in front of you since air intakes and exhaust pipes are located at the same level.
Even if driving with the windows closed and recirculating air
settings could modestly reduce particle pollution exposure, it does not
reduce most gaseous pollutants at all.
In terms of solutions, bicycle is definitely a better transportation mean in cities, since when you sit in a car:
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- you are in the middle of the car traffic and so the air you breathe is extremely polluted,
- you stay longer in the traffic during rush hours,
- even if it might not have a direct impact on your health, pollution is generated by the car.
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While riding a bike, you are higher than the traffic, you are not
riding directly inside it, you are not stuck during rush hours (so you
reduce your time of exposure), and you don't generate pollution. Even
though efforts can be harmful for your lungs, you are still less
exposed to pollution than in a car.
According to ICTA's "In-car pollution" report: concentrations of benzene reach levels inside automobiles nearly two-and-a half times higher than in the air breathed by bicyclists.
A car doesn't protect you from pollution, it exposes you even more!
Sources: Le Journal du Dimanche (French), Xinhua, ICTA In-car pollution report
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Are surgical masks effective against pollution?
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Friday, 25 April 2008,
Written by Trouni
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You might have seen many Chinese wearing surgical masks in the streets
to protect themselves against pollution and you probably already asked yourself: are these masks really effective against air pollution?
These masks are not suited against pollution and the main reason is simple:
these masks are designed to protect others from droplets you might spread.
When these masks are
tested, the filtration is measured from the air you exhale and not the one you
breathe in. Even if they can slightly reduce the risk of infections through
droplets, they are definitely not a suitable solution against air pollution.
Quoting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), part of the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services:
 ”Facemasks are loose-fitting, disposable masks that cover the nose
and mouth. These include products labeled as surgical, dental, medical
procedure, isolation, and laser masks.
Facemasks help stop
droplets from being spread by the person wearing them. They also keep
splashes or sprays from reaching the mouth and nose of the person
wearing the facemask. They are not designed to protect you against
breathing in very small particles. Facemasks should be used once and
then thrown away in the trash.“
If you are sick during a flu pandemic you should definitely wear a
facemask to prevent the
spreading of the virus. But otherwise, if you are seeking effective protection against a
polluted environment or a flu pandemy, you will definitely need a respiratory mask.
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Measures for green Olympics
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Thursday, 17 April 2008,
Written by Trouni
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Beijing announced last monday some measures that will be taken against pollution to bring "green games" to the athletes this summer. The measures will officially be in effect for two months (from July 20 to Sept. 20) and will include:
- two-months halt of construction (even spray painting outdoors will be banned)
- traffic restriction to ban half of Beijing's 3.3 million vehicles during the Olympics (Aug. 8-24)
- 19 heavy polluting factories will be forced to either reduce pollution emissions by 30 percent or stop activity
Since most of Beijing's pollution is due to emissions from surrounding provinces, Du Shaozhong also mentionned that some of these measures will also take effect in five provinces and municipalities around Beijing (Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong and Inner Mongolia).
During the press conference, Du Shaozhong also said:
"Just tell everybody they don't have to worry."
Well, I guess athletes and tourists don't have to worry for the games period, but what about Beijingers like me who are still exposed to heavy pollution everyday?
Sources: International Herald Tribune, Aujourd'hui la Chine (article in French)
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