Awareness of PM2.5 threat low, poll finds

Beijingers' concern about the city's environment remains high despite more than three-quarters of residents having never heard of PM2.5, or hazardous particulate air pollutants, a survey released Thursday found.

Findings in the annual survey, the ninth of its kind, were listed in a press release issued by the Beijing Municipal Publicity and Education Center for Environmental Protection.

This year was the first time the poll included feedback from respondents about PM2.5, said Zhang Baosen, director of the education center.

More than 2,000 respondents aged between 16 and 60 across the city participated in the survey.

Liu Jingqi, media officer for the education center, said that despite prominent media coverage of soaring PM2.5 levels earlier this year, public awareness was far lower than expected.

"Most hype about PM2.5 is concentrated online and in the media," Liu said. "Only 24.2 percent of respondents were aware of PM2.5. Within this group, just one-fifth knew it refers to fine air particles measuring 2.5 micrometers or less."

This year's median environmental awareness index was 71.6, down 0.6 year-on-year. The index is calculated based on respondents' feedback to questions about environmental protection policies and their level of concern about pollution.

Liu described the index figure as "rather high," noting any score above 60 is "normal."

The survey has been conducted since 2007 by the Beijing Horizon Research Consultancy Group, an NGO that specializes in environmental research.