Air monitoring to get stricter in city
By Dong Zhen |
December 23, 2011, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
MAJOR cities including Shanghai and Beijing will begin monitoring air quality using a stricter standard starting next year.
The PM2.5 standard will be gradually introduced throughout the country over the next five years, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said yesterday.
PM2.5 refers to dangerously small particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter. They are small enough to be inhaled deeply into the lungs, causing long-term health damage.
They are the product of combustion from motor vehicles, power plants, residential wood burning, forest fires, agricultural burning and some industrial processes.
The announcement came as Shanghai's environmental watchdog warned that the city was facing growing air and water pollution threats.
Zhang Quan, director of the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau, told China Environment Daily: "A recent national environmental pollutant survey indicates pollution threats in Shanghai have continued to grow and there are also plenty of potential pollution sources lying with the many local industrial business operations."
He said that despite Shanghai having already introduced world-leading technologies, the city still faced heavy challenges in controlling pollution, given the city's size and geographic location. Shanghai's locale at the lower end of the Yangtze River makes it difficult to control the number of pollutants pouring down the river from its vast range of upper streams, he said.
He said Shanghai would focus on introducing and supporting more low-emission and upscale service industries in an effort to reduce the number of local pollutants.
A nationwide survey by the ministry earlier this month found the majority of the Chinese public in favor of adopting the PM2.5 standard to replace the current PM10 system.
Yesterday's announcement by the ministry came in response to growing public concern over pollution, with many regions often covered in heavy haze that affects the capital as well as Shanghai and other cities at the mouth of the Yangtze River.
The Shanghai environmental watchdog already has PM2.5 monitoring equipment at 24 sites in the city.
The PM2.5 standard will be gradually introduced throughout the country over the next five years, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said yesterday.
PM2.5 refers to dangerously small particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter. They are small enough to be inhaled deeply into the lungs, causing long-term health damage.
They are the product of combustion from motor vehicles, power plants, residential wood burning, forest fires, agricultural burning and some industrial processes.
The announcement came as Shanghai's environmental watchdog warned that the city was facing growing air and water pollution threats.
Zhang Quan, director of the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau, told China Environment Daily: "A recent national environmental pollutant survey indicates pollution threats in Shanghai have continued to grow and there are also plenty of potential pollution sources lying with the many local industrial business operations."
He said that despite Shanghai having already introduced world-leading technologies, the city still faced heavy challenges in controlling pollution, given the city's size and geographic location. Shanghai's locale at the lower end of the Yangtze River makes it difficult to control the number of pollutants pouring down the river from its vast range of upper streams, he said.
He said Shanghai would focus on introducing and supporting more low-emission and upscale service industries in an effort to reduce the number of local pollutants.
A nationwide survey by the ministry earlier this month found the majority of the Chinese public in favor of adopting the PM2.5 standard to replace the current PM10 system.
Yesterday's announcement by the ministry came in response to growing public concern over pollution, with many regions often covered in heavy haze that affects the capital as well as Shanghai and other cities at the mouth of the Yangtze River.
The Shanghai environmental watchdog already has PM2.5 monitoring equipment at 24 sites in the city.
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