Basheer Alshammari | Diana Chan | Justin Kegg | Ben Koontz | Omaghomi Toritseju
What is it?
Particulate Matter: tiny pieces of solid or liquid, whether manmade or natural, in Earth’s atmosphere that contribute to air pollution, and can negatively affect human health and precipitation.
2.5 means a particulate matter of 2.5 micrometers or less. (PM10 is a bigger particle and can penetrate lungs.) PM2.5 is even smaller and can settle deeper in the lungs and can get absorbed into the heart, blood, and blood vessels leading to heart, brain, and lung diseases such as cancer.
PM2.5 in China is mostly created by combustion of coal, the major source of China’s energy. (Can China cap coal consumption and retrofit coal power plants with nitrogen oxide scrubbers?)
US EPA sets standards for PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations in the air; PM air pollution has cost 22,000-52,000 deaths per year in the US since 2000. The US Embassy in Beijing reports hourly PM2.5 levels on Twitter that are generally higher than those reported by the BJ Environmental Protection Bureau. China used to criticize the US embassy for contradicting the BJEPB reports, but now Chinese authorities accept the publication of the report.
Consequence of PM2.5 to Beijing’s Air Quality:
Cities in Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region suffer over 100 hazy days a year with PM2.5 levels 2-4 times above World Health Organization guidelines. The consequence has been 8572 reported deaths in 4 major Chinese cities in 2012 due to high PM levels, and an economic loss of 1.08 billion dollars (Peking University and Greenpeace report published 12.18.12).
Public health is at high risk every day and it will take 20 years to get back to the national standard, but when they do, deaths will be reduced by 81% and economic losses by 868 million dollars.
PM2.5 IN THE NEWS: Chinese cities now monitoring and posting PM2.5 levels
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-10/07/content_15798433.htm
http://www.worldcrunch.com/tech-science/china-starts-to-come-clean-on-pollution-that-039-s-killing-its-city-dwellers/pollution-environment-greenpeace-health-pm2.5/c4s10491/#.UO8wAWhSRdg
http://ntdtv.org/en/news/china/2013-01-08/air-pollution-in-china-causes-thousands-of-deaths-in-major-cities.html
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/753420.shtml
10.07.12 – A network composed of 35 stations monitoring PM2.5 in Beijing is completed and will publish the data online. The network is on a trial period as a new way to evaluate a city’s air quality. Prior, PM2.5 monitoring was not included in China’s air quality monitoring.
1.8.13 – Real-time air quality monitoring data of PM2.5 in 74 Chinese cities is now available online. Prior, only data on PM10 was recorded. 496 monitoring sites are now set up.
From BBC news and blogs: Based on the recent smog events in Beijing, the Govt cannot deny the pollution from sources such as car pollution and coal burning plants for energy and industries. China’s growth at all cost is resulting in widespread environmental degradation.
This January, air pollution soared past levels considered hazardous by the World Health Organisations (WHO). Beijing hospitals were over run by young and old people suffering with respiratory problems. People were warned to stay indoors. The smog hit so hard that for the first time the Chinese media commented “What is wrong with our air?” The government has always insisted it was fog and declared the US embassy air quality readings as ‘foreign Interference’.
There have been several reactions by demonstrations against industries, but change is unlikely for now as economic growth remains the government’s top priority. Beijing’s air pollution has soared to hazardous levels, but cleaning up the problem is not straightforward and is dependent on prioritizing quality of life over economic growth.
Health implications of PM2.5 and how to avoid increased risk:
What are the harmful effects of PM 2.5?
Short-term PM 2.5 can affect the functioning of a persons entire internal repertory system from the throat down to the lungs. This can also lead to irritation of the eye, runny nose, coughing and sneezing. Increased research has also show that over a period of time PM 2.5 is the source of increased visits to the hospital for car vascular admissions. The long term effects have shown increased death rates from lung and heart disease. Young children and older adults with breathing problem are at a much higher risk of related issue over time.
How does the public become informed on PM 2.5 levels?
The Department of Environmental Conservation will look over the data collected for the particular morning and if it shows HIGH levels of PM 2.5 then information will be passed down through the media to inform the public of the air quality for that particular day.
What can be done to reduce contact?
Individuals with respiratory problems should avoid being outside and everyone should avoid intense outdoor training in these areas.
http://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/indoors/air/pmq_a.htm http://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/indoors/air/pmq_a.htm
How the US is dealing with PM issues:
The government has created a Clean Air Act to maintain air quality and is made up of: • a monitoring program, which is a collection of monitoring devices throughout the country which provide actual measurements of the concentrations in the air, to identify whether an area is meeting the air quality standards, and if not, how much reductions are needed to meet those standards;
• air quality calculations and computer modeling, which are used to predict future trends and the effects of emissions reduction strategies;
• emissions inventories, which describe the sources and categories of emissions to the air for a given pollutant, and how much is emitted by each source or source category;
• control strategy studies whose goal is finding the best way to reduce emissions in order to meet air quality standards;
• formal adoption of measures (enforceable by EPA, States and citizens) which ensure that we will achieve the reductions deemed necessary in the planning process;
• periodic review to evaluate whether those needed reductions were achieved in reality, and whether they had the predicted result.
Source: http://www.epa.gov/airquality/particlepollution/implement.html