New system to help clear the air

A national surveillance system will be launched to monitor the effect on human health of PM 2.5, a senior disease control official said. PM 2.5 is the term for particulate matter in haze and fog measuring 2.5 micrometers in diameter or less.

The system, the first of its type, will look at medical and mortality records and compare them to instances of fog and haze to enable targeted intervention, said Xu Dongqun, deputy director of the institute of environmental health and related product safety at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

"By studying the links we will be able to assess the exact health risks posed by the fine particulates, and, if needed, issue timely alerts," she told China Daily in an exclusive interview.

The system reflects growing government recognition of the challenge, she said.

The system will be first implemented on a trial basis in Beijing and then expanded to five other regions before being introduced nationally, Xu said.

It will also establish the possible sources of any fog and haze as well as the exact nature of the pollutants and give residents warning of possible areas to avoid, she said.

However, due to current capacity limitations, the surveillance can only currently cover cities with existing air quality monitoring stations, she said.

"But that doesn't mean the countryside is better than cities in this regard," she added.

Rural areas are also hit by fog and haze, Xu said, namely indoor air pollution and smoke from coal fires.

The cities, on the other hand, face problems from vehicle emissions and industrial production.

"Knowing clearly the types and sources of pollutants can also help the government to come up with more efficient measures to control air pollution in general," she said.

The World Health Organization said in a 2005 report that it was possible to derive a quantitative relationship between pollution levels and specific health complaints.

But previously, China had no nationwide surveillance network for that, Xu said.

The rising government recognition of the challenge and openness about air quality monitoring now made the work possible, she said.

Last month, Beijing started to issue its PM 2.5 readings.

Compared with the PM 2.5 standards set by the World Health Organization and by the US environmental authorities, "the air pollution in our city is serious", Xu said.

No one group or sector of society reacts in the same way to air pollution for various reasons, including age and health, Xu said.

Pollutants can cause a range of health problems but primarily they are responsible for decreased lung capacity, shortness of breath, coughing and eye and nose irritation.

Monitoring and legislation can be of immense benefit in the fight to ensure air quality.

In the 1940s the US city of Los Angeles was hit by severe smog that led to hundreds of deaths from respiratory illness, Xu said. But legislation to ensure cleaner air was introduced and this led to a measurable improvement in air quality in the following decades.

Wang Qiuxia, a researcher with the Green Beagle, a non-governmental organization based in Beijing, said even with intervention it takes a long time to tackle air pollution.

Zhao Yue, a senior engineer at the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center, urged the government to give more financial and technical support to monitoring PM 2.5.