How bad is the Beijing Smog?

In Beijing, smog is always a hot topic among foreigners. It is one of the major concerns. It can affect your everyday life. The pollution in China has made international news when the city was covered by heavy smog. 

Is the Beijing atmosphere really bad?

Generally, China has some serious problems with environmental quality, smog is one of them. Some people call it fog but no one can deny its presence. 

You don’t need to look out of the window to find how good or bad it is. The American embassy broadcasts hourly environment reading taken by an app. The data provided by this free app is quite reliable.   

Beijing is a huge city that covers over 6000 square miles, it is ten times larger than London and greater than the US state of Connecticut. Therefore the environmental quality may not be the same in different areas of the city. The West of the city generally gets more wind from the mountains and has a little better air quality than the most running city area. 

Moreover, air quality is not the same every day, while this year the winter has been worse than the last couple of years. 

Is there a Smog Forecast for Beijing?

In Beijing, I found the weather forecast said sunny, but the visibility is only 3 km or less. The wind is an important thing to check in the weather forecast. On breezy days the environment cleans up and the fine particles get blown in the air. Then the dust blew around through the air. The fine particles are in my lungs and sand is in my teeth. The regular face masks are good to protect you from sand but not effective against dangerous PM2.5 particles.

What is PM2.5 fine Particle? And is it Dangerous?

PM stands for Particulate Matter up in the air, 2.5 refers to the size of the particle. PM2.5 is a fine particle that is about 30 times smaller than a human hair width. These tiny particles travel through the air and can enter into the respirational zone and the lungs. They are harmful to human health and can cause different health problems. 

The European Commission originates PM2.5 particle criteria at 25 micrograms per cubic meter for a yearly average. The American Environmental Protection Agency has constricted its criteria to 12 micrograms per cubic meter. However, the WHO acclaims 24-hour revelation of no greater than 25 micrograms per cubic meter. Beijing beats these standards almost daily. 

How can you protect yourself against Air Pollution?

There is no way to prevent air pollution. You can’t stop fine particles from entering your home. Today I washed my windows and was shocked that the inside glass was as dirty as the outside, although I clean windows every week. All these are tiny particles that you don’t see in the air. Just think about how they look like inside your lungs. 

Having an air purifier is probably a good idea to prevent air pollution in your home or office. It is very effective, especially if you are sensitive to dust or have small children. However, if you spend a lot of time outdoors, you should get a good face mask that can protect you from harmful PM2.5 particles. It is a special kind of face mask. 

If you want to get more instruction from a medical viewpoint, visit the site MY Health Beijing. There you will find Dr. Richard Saint Cyr, who has addressed many questions on air pollution and other health matters. You will get great information from the site.