China’s smog similar to L.A.’s in 1950s  

专家谈大气灰霾溯源研究：与光化学烟雾成分一致

中国科学院最新公布的一项研究结果称，今年以来京津冀的强霾天污染物主要化学组成与上世纪美、英等国的烟雾事件污染物一致，引发民众对“公共健康”的隐忧。

Shijiazhuang (CNS) -- Chemical compounds found in China's smog are similar to those in the photochemical smog that affected Los Angeles in the 1940s and '50s, according to a study conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The academy detected a large amount of nitrogen-containing organic compounds in the recent air pollution that shrouded Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province. The chemicals are believed to be the major components of the smog that killed more than 800 people in L.A. over six decades ago.

Since the density of the nitrogen-containing organic compounds in China's smog has not been measured, we can't tell how harmful it is to human health, said Xie Jianfeng, an official from the environmental monitoring center in Hebei province, on Monday.

The cause for the prolonged pollution is a direct consequence of both man-made emissions and disruption of the natural ecological balance, he added.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences says the prolonged smog was caused by a combination of intensive coal burning, car emissions, cooking pollutants and a particular weather pattern that creates an inversion layer over low-lying cities.