AirPollutionChinaKids

Air Pollution In China Richard Saint Cyr MD DABFP MyHealthBeijing.com

About Me…
I am a family medicine doctor, from America
I work at International Medical Center
My health website: MyHealthBeijing.com

Let’s Review Pollution…

The Common Air Pollutants
Particulates (PM10, PM2.5)
Nitric oxide/dioxide
– cars, coal.
Sulfur dioxide
Coal. Causes acid rain; Improving well
Ozone
usually from NO2; formed mostly on hot summer days
Carbon monoxide
cars

The worst one is: small particles

These Are Very Small…

Short Movie on Small Particles
http:// www.epa.gov/airnow/pm/pm.html

It Can Get Bad in Beijing…

… But it can be a lot worse, like London in 1952!

The Great London Smog of 1952
It was a bad combo of cold weather + more coal burning + inversion layer of air…
= disaster for 5 days…
pollution at 3,000-14,000! (Beijing is usually ~140)
12,000 premature deaths
100,000 illnesses

Many People Died From Pollution

Australia Dust Storm, 2009

Australia Dust Storm, 2009
Seven years of low rainfall
Particle levels reached 15,400 ug/m3 (a lot higher than in Beijing)
What happened? More asthma attacks and Emergency Room visits

How Does Pollution Affect Health?

Why Is Pollution Bad?
Worse pollution = more disease
Cancers
Heart attacks
Bronchitis
Worse asthma
Harder to get over a cold
Short term and long term problems!

Children Are At Worse Risk!
Lungs aren’t as strong as adults, so…
More bronchitis and colds
More doctor visits
New babies can weigh less
Childhood cancers are higher
Asthma can be worse

So What About China?

Only 1% of China’s cities have safe air
(Safe = Particle levels under 40ug/m3)

The Main Issues In China
Every year in China:
~300,000 premature deaths
20 million cases of lung illness
What Are The Main Causes?
Coal
Cars
Factories
Indoor cooking/heating with wood and coal

Where Is It Worst?

Most Polluted Cities in China

World Cities & PM10 Levels (2004-5) WHO China US Beijing

More About That Graph…
Beijing’s PM10, at 150ug/m3, was over 7 times the WHO cutoff of 20
Out of 108 China cities monitored by MEP, none met the WHO cutoff
Guilin was best in China (29 ug/m3)
Beijing 4th worst in China

How Is Pollution Monitored?

Beijing City Has Over 20 Monitors

Puts Info On Website

About That Website…
Data is not real time (is the average from the day before, from all stations)
So, you don’t know how your neighborhood is right now

What can you do?
There’s a better website!

Pollution Website: iphone.bjair.info
Data is from the US Embassy in Beijing

What Numbers Are Bad?

Schools Should Have Action Plans!

School Action Plan: OK Days

School Action Plans: Moderate Days

Worst Days…

In Other Words:
Anything over 200 = NO OUTDOOR SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

What Does Your School Do?

Let’s Play A Game…
AQI Game Show: http://www.epa.gov/airnow/aqikids/games/health/game.html

Don’t Forget Indoor Air!

Indoor Plants Help!

Indoor Plants
Areca Palm ( 风尾竹 , feng (4) wei (3) zhu (2), about RMB 180 each) -
Efficiently converts CO2 to oxygen.
Mother-in-Law Tongue ( 虎皮兰 , hu (3) pi (2) lan (2), about RMB 50 each)
Efficiently converts CO2 to oxygen at night and is
Good for bedrooms.
Money Plant （绿萝 , lv (4) luo (2), about RMB 150 each ）
Removes formaldehydes and other volatile chemicals.

What About Masks?

Kouzhao( 口罩 ) Don’t Do Much…

Surgical Masks Are Better…

N95 Masks Are Best!

The Best Masks (smaller bar is better!) N95 trap 96% (best!) Surgical masks trap 80% Kouzhao trap 28%

When Should You Wear a Mask?
Anytime the pollution level is over 200
Especially if you have asthma, or are sick!
Long bike rides
Playing outside for more than an hour

Let’s Review With Another Game…
Smog City: http://www.smogcity2.org/smogcity.cfm?preset=particle

Thank You!

AirPollutionChinaKids

by Richard Saint Cyr MD on Jan 31, 2010

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