Is Beijing more polluted than Paris?
Wednesday, 06 December 2006, Written by Julien   
I was recently discussing with someone living in Beijing for quite a while, and he told me: "Every one says that Beijing is polluted, but are you sure that it is really more polluted than Paris?" This question might seem stupid for anyone who breathed in Beijing for more than a month, but the answer is not that straightforward.

For example, ozone is a pollutant that normal people do not notice even if ozone have a big impact on health. On the other hand, everyone is concerned by the dust, which has very little impact because most of the dust is stopped by the nose and the mouth.

To answer this question, I decided to compare official figures provided by Paris and Beijing pollution bureau. First observation, the data provided by Paris bureau is more detailed than the data provided by Beijing. For Beijing, only 4 pollutants are provided: SO2, NO2, PM10 (particles) and CO. Notably, ozone is not included in Beijing data.

Anyway, let's compare data on the same basis, so only for those four pollutants.

Here are the data:
ParisBeijing
SO2650
NO23766
PM1020142
CO4002000
The data above are yearly averages for 2005. Units: µg/m3

Unfortunately, the result is clear: on a yearly basis, Beijing is much more polluted than Paris! Notably, PM10 are 7 times more present in Beijing, and CO 5 times!

These data are considered on yearly basis and do not show the variations that can occur on a daily basis. I hope I can compare the daily data sooner or later.

Sources:
Air Parif home page (French)
2005 Beijing Environment Situation Report (Chinese)

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