| The Beijing 2008 Olympic games have now begun and lots of concern over the air quality in the region has been expressed.
The first important thing to note is that air quality across the world varies greatly and that weather does play a significant role in the level of pollutants that accumulate in the atmosphere.
Still, calm weather is likely to mean that pollution is ‘trapped’ where it is formed. However on windy days the pollution is blown across greater distances and is dispersed (spread out) to produce lower concentrations.
PM10 Targets
The World Health Organisation (WHO) produced guidelines for pollutant levels based on the way that they affect people’s health.
For countries like China who suffer high pollution levels WHO sets out guidelines that are less strict than the targets that we in the UK must reach.
The interim targets for China are for PM10, measured over 24hr averaging periods are:
- 150 micrograms per cubic metre on no more than 3 days per year
- 70 micrograms per cubic metre the rest of the time
In England, the Air Quality Regulations state that for PM10 the following should be met, again as a 24hr average:
- 50 micrograms per cubic metre (only allowed 35 times per year maximum)
- 40 micrograms per cubic metre for the rest of the year
Already we can see that the differences between the two countries are great. It is important to appreciate that China has had an economic boom and is undergoing major industrialisation and therefore have become major emitters of pollution. England on the other hand went through this process many years ago and caused pollution on a huge scale itself until laws came in to curb the effects of the industrial revolution. It is also important to note that China’s population is around 1.3 billion in comparison to Great Britain, which is currently about 60.5 million.
PM10 levels in August.
The graph below shows the reported PM10 levels in China during the lead up to and the first days of the Olympic games. These levels are shown in red. Levels in Doncaster town centre for this period are shown in blue. The readings shown are the results at midday in both places and not the 24hr average due to monitoring availability.
(Source: BBC News)
The graph displays the vast differences in the air quality in the two areas, and shows that the population in Doncaster are exposed to much cleaner air than the population and the athletes in Beijing.
What this means for health.
China has a much higher rate of deaths caused by respiratory diseases than Great Britain, which is in part likely to be due to the level of pollution.
The athletes attending the games could especially be at risk because during exercise as breathing rate increase the athletes will be breathing in more air and therefore more pollution from the air. A marathon runner from Ethiopia who suffers from asthma and so is particularly at risk from high pollution has decided not to compete in some events because of fears for his health.
Air pollution and the Olympics.
The 2008 Olympics will not be the first to have major concerns on air quality, Athens, Los Angeles and Atlanta all had similar concerns up to the games and measures were taken to get vehicles off the roads including free public transport tickets, traffic bans and planting trees. In most cases however it was the prevailing weather that was the main factor in the pollution levels.
What have China done.
Due to the high pollution Beijing officials have taken many drastic measures to curb the levels. Factories have been closed and restrictions placed on cars travelling to the city. Certain events will also be monitored along with the athletes health and some events may be postponed or held at times when the levels of pollution are lower.
What about London 2012?
Generally the levels seen in London are much lower than those in Beijing and usually meet the targets. Again though much depends on the weather, and if conditions experienced in the summer of 2003 repeat themselves in 2012 London may also have its own air quality issues.
Sources – BBC news & WHO websites. Eddie news room@ www.eddie.net
|
