Cyclists travel on the road on a hazy day in Huaibei, in central China’s Anhui province Monday Jan. 14, 2013. (AP Photo)
an excerpt thanks to Christine Feng [the prof]
Air Pollution Crisis In China Could Trigger The Public Backlash Needed For Officials To Take Action By Lisa Barron On January 15, 2013 @ 11:15 am on Mint Press http://www.mintpress.net
(NEW YORK) MintPress – “All of Beijing looked like an airport smokers’ lounge,” wrote a New York Times reporter … with the level of dangerous PM2.5 particles at one stage hitting a whopping 993 on the Air Quality Index run by the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. … the level of 25 considered safe by the World Health Organization (WHO).
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PM2.5 is of pollution less than 2.5 micrometers in size, or about 1/30 the average width of a human hair….“Because these dust particles are relatively fine, they can be directly absorbed by the lung’s tiny air sacs,” explained Dr. Huang Aiben of the Beijing Shijitan Hospital’s respiratory department….