Beijing to monitor PM2.5 of main roads

Beijing plans to monitor fine particle pollution or PM 2.5 on 30 main roads and disclose the results on a regular basis in 2012, local authorities said Wednesday.

Every month, 30 main roads running through the six central Beijing districts will be selected for the monitoring of PM 2.5, namely fine particulate matter 2.5 microns or less in diameter, by air monitoring vehicles, according to officials with the municipal environment committee.

The sampling probe of the monitoring vehicle will be about 1.5 meters above ground, which is close to the height of a person's nose, they said.

Beijing has one air monitoring vehicle and plans to add eight more by 2015, so as to cover all the counties and districts of Beijing, they said.

Since January, the environmental agency of Beijing has been releasing the hourly PM 2.5 levels as a whole. The PM 2.5 gauge is considered stricter than Beijing's previous standard of PM 10.

According to Beijing's work plan on air pollution control released earlier this year, the city will cut PM 2.5 levels by 15 percent by 2015 compared with 2010 levels, and cut overall air pollution levels by 30 percent over the same period.