Flora Bagenal
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Pollution around the Olympic stadium in Beijing could be five times worse than levels deemed safe by the World Health Organisation.
Chinese officials admit they can no longer guarantee that the air quality will match international standards as pollution tests by The Sunday Times revealed the full extent of the challenge facing British athletes.
With just five weeks to go before the start of the Beijing Games, tests conducted outside the national stadium — known as the Bird’s Nest — and at Tiananmen Square, the starting point of the marathon, showed the air is thick with particulate pollution.
Even the Chinese government’s official air pollution index — which monitors a range of pollutants, including carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide — is running at double the level recommended by the WHO.
Du Shaozhong, deputy director of Beijing’s Environmental Protection Bureau, said: “We made a commitment to ensure air quality for the Olympic Games . . . as for whether we have reached the goal, that will be examined after the event.”
The British team is taking no chances and will train in Macau on the southern coast until the last minute to minimise athletes’ exposure to Beijing’s smog.
Haile Gebrselassie, the world’s leading long-distance runner, who suffers from asthma, has already pulled out of the marathon.
Last week The Sunday Times used an industrial hand-held air monitor to measure the number of particles in the atmosphere, which include car emissions and coal dust from factories. The particles are considered the biggest polluting factor.
The average reading at the stadium was 780,000 particles per litre of air. Even factoring in a 25% margin of error for humidity levels exaggerating the readings, this is more than five times the amount deemed safe by the WHO. The organisation considers 105,000 particles per litre of air a health risk.
Average readings at Tiananmen Square were lower — but still four times worse than the WHO standards when factoring in the humidity.
“Anything over 300,000 would be very worrying if you were using the same equipment in London,” said Professor Frank Kelly, a pollution expert at Kings College London.
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Iately on London's newspaper discribed beijing's pollution become much more serious people cannot even see things clearly because the pollution, the fogs are everywhere. I am a chinese and i am from beijing for past my 18 years, i never see that kind of sky before, but now?? that must be a joke.
Pauline, London,
Having lived in Beijing for two months, I would say their is no exageration regarding the pollution as I have plenty of pictures to show otherwise, now I'm trying to get rid of my cough that I seemed to have devloped and sore thorat, which has lasted pretty much the motnh of July and limits the gym
Nathan, Seattle, USA
Did anyone test the smog levels or make a fuss when the games were held in Los Angeles....NO. LA is one of the worlds most poluuted cities. We all must remember also that as consumers of cheap Chinese goods we are all collectively responsible for China's pollution levels by purchasing those goods
Bryn, Queenstown, New Zealand
Beijing (2 tonnes CO2 per capita) is the 12th most densely populated city on Earth - over 4x the density of the USA's (19 tonnes) most dense city, LA - of course it's going to have pollution issues. The Chinese are certainly not the worst when it comes to pollution. See www.worldmapper.org for data.
Madoo, Kerikeri, NZ
I'm certainly no athlete, but i've lived in beijing for about a month now and I am actually positively surprised over the air levels. I'm not saying that it is good air, it's pretty obvious it isn't. But as health problems are concerned under the olympics, i think the issue is highly exagerated.
Adam Hjorth`, Beijing, China
Westerners who critisize China are hypocrites, your rich fat lifestyle possible because life is so cheap in China. You export dirty industry to China so you can live a beautiful unpolluted life. The poor Chinese are the victims, with no good air to breathe. Let them enjoy their Olympics!
HB, Munich,
Amazing to think that many travel writers in the early decades of the 20th century habitually described Beijing as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Not even the most rabidly nationalistic Chinese would claim that now ...
Mike, Nottm, UK
Don't Care - The Olympics bore me to tears and the only thing depresses me more than hearing about this years is the prospect of billions of our money being wasted on London 2012. If the air in Beijing is that poor why aren't you complaining for the citizens of Beijing rather than pampered athletes.
Phil, Liverpool,
Absolutely dreadful. Typical IOC to look the other way on this matter. I was against them having the games to begin with but to pick Beijing was just daft if they expected it to be clean and well run.
James, California, USA
could you identify the brand and model # of the air quality analyzer you used? thank
bill, beijing,
lived in china for 8 years, pollution amazing -- these olympics for chinese only, for face, for prestige, for patriotism; they don't give a damn what foreigners think, thats why they restrict visas and kick foreigners out ... CCP gives lip service about WHO etc, but only want to cement power ...
sascha, chengdu, china
To Ran. You must be mad or joking if you think London air is worse than Beijing. Beijing air quality is absolutely terrible. That said, the Games are coming to China, it's a great country in many ways, they're a nice people and we should just let the event happen and enjoy it.
John, Beijing, China
"if you ask some Chinese oversea students ..."
Probably right but that wouldn't make it true. The only thing I ever hear people being humble about in China with relation to their country is the football team!
DW, Beijing, China
I agree with 99% of what have said above. This is another example of how China has managed to make things so cheaply. What worries me the most is that countries that can make consumer things are also good at making military hardware. Britian ruled the waves because they were first.
Ken, Adelaide, Australia
Have these China-hating Americans been to China? It has vibrant free enterprise and low taxes. Like the USA! But its still a developing country with much less pollution per capita than the USA!
I was in Beijing last week - pollution situation was better than in previous years.
Martin, Sydney,
So many China haters. Jealousy breeds hate.
John, Bangkok,
Obviously this shows the folly of the environmentalist and the Kyoto treaty movement. But still, the IOC should not start blasting China at this point. They made their decision and now the are obligated to support it, if there is any chance of the Olympics ending up decently.
Jas , phoenix,
Why don't the anti-capitalist environmentalists protest against the Chinese for their horrible pollution? Answer: because communist pollution is OK. Capitalist pollution is bad, even when it is a fraction of what the communists create. If the USA adopts communism, can we pollute as much as China?
Eric, Lakeland, USA
For all of the Chinese sympathizers, They DO have bad pollution. Its much worse than anywhere in London or USA. I've never figured out why these people hate their own countries so much. They say this is false because it makes us not look so bad as they would like.
Brian Cummings, columbia, MD, 21045
I've always watched the Olympics, but not this year. I cannot be in Beijing to protest, so I will be here in the U.S. by not watching the games. I cannot believe the IOC allowed the Olympics to be in China. Why would anyone want to support such a country!?
J, Seattle, USA
China's got commies & overwhelming pollution; Stateside we've mouthy liberals & underwhelming MainStreamMedia/DemoParty messianic idiocy. Pollution I know, but can excuse (home, '20s-'40s, Illinois coal/steel-mill towns). Idiocy I also know, but can't excuse. Applies for IOC, too. JOD, CSM, USA Ret
J.O. Dirden, Kawaguchi, Japan
I have never been to China but have heard that from travelers, part of the culture shock is the coughing and spitting in the streets. The immigrants who come here, have the same habit as i hear it in the shower room of my gym and cannot fathom how they can cough up all that stuff. So,it appears true
Grace, las vegas, NV, USA
How much of this air polution is being made during the manufactoring of "compact flouresent light blubs"?
Les Smith, Los Angeles, United States of America
China and Russia are not our friends, they never were and never will be. Boycott the Olympics.
Ron, Bal;timore, usa
China: Destroying the *entire* world day by day.
Ray, Oviedo, FL, USA
Obviously Ran has never visited Beijung. To place London's smog levels on par with Beijing is nonsense. I've lived in both cities and I suffer from Asthma. The air in Beijng is some of the filthiest, fettid air in the world. I suffered dozens of attacks because of their governments apathy.
Todd Frantz, Munich, Germany
Don't worry the damn "Global Warming" activists will find a way to blame America for it, they blame us for everything anyway. (While they fly around on their private jets demandintg we pay "carbon credits" to them to cover their hotel costs in Fiji.)
David Powell, Ocean City, NJ
disgusting and vile conditions for the olympics. What idiots at the IOC actually believed China could clean up its act? Attention Walmart shoppers! This is the filthy culture you support when you buy their products! SHAME ON US!
jean, cleveland, USA
I was in Beijing lat week. The Olympic sites are beautiful. Unfortunately the air quality is horrendous. I don't see how they will conduct an athletic event in that air. It's a real shame, because the Chinese people deserve better.
Ted, San Franciso, USA
"China is just a developing country, do not be so mean."
This has nothing to being mean. It has to do with FACT.
When the games were up for bidding, I'll bet China would have NEVER received the games if China would has said "We can not meet WHO air quality levels."
CJ, Baltimore, USA
Come on, if you ask some Chinese oversea students on the streets of London: whether London is more polluted than Beijing, you will know London is even worse...
So should we give London the opportunity to hold 2012 Olympics in the first place?
Ran, york, UK
Your "Smog in Beijing " Article would have been better if you had simply shown a photo! Too many numbers ,too little time
Gadol noll, Danville, usa
Once again the "world community" has allowed China to do whatever it wishes to do. China is a cesspool of pollution that is constantly overlooked by the same people that would not tolerated a whiff of a cigarette at a hundred yards. China's iron fist is total, down to the air the people breath.
Richard Adams, Rio Oso, US/California
Ha!
If air in China that bad everybody in China be dead! Air in China fine.
Bad air is western slander.
China developing country not workers paradise.
Li Peng, Peking, China
Environmentalist wackos have been silent about the damage to the environment that the Chinese inflict. The Olympics are just another in a long stream of examples that prove that the environmental movement is nothing more than a political front for those who want to damage western society.
Josh, Vermont, USA
Take a deep breath , relax and watch if the air are going to be as bad as some people predict to be. Ask you sport people after the game if the air was that bad. i pity very much those of you so uncomfortable about china's development. China is just a developing country, do not be so mean.
aoyunchenggong, beijing, china
prise the lord, maybe they will cancel the infernal games and there will be something decent to watch on the television and not people running round in circles and playing silly games and why should we reward the vile Chinese anyway, after they support the evil Mugabe?
peter c, devizes, wessex
It is simple. Boycot the games. In my household we will not watch one single minute of any televised coverage.
jostat, fort wayne, USA
IOC is a business and where they decide to stage an event is a business decision. The ROI for operating in China will be higher than any other event they have staged.
The idea that athletics is somehow pure and uncommercial went out door around the time of Emperor Trajan.
Bucky, Denver, USA
China is a third-world nation headed irreversibly, warp speed, towards self-destruction. Sino-suicide harkens.
They drown in pollution, raw sewage, heavy metals; money's their god, greed drives their death-march.
The Oriental intellectual mystique lies; "Silent Spring" awaits.
-30-
Kenneth E. Lamb, Pensacola, FL, USA
Well where are the Kyoto people?
Now do you have some idea why Bush didn't want to commit the US to a treaty that left China and India continue to polute to their hearts content. You know the prevailing winds bring this straight to North America.
Everyone wants clean air and water!
Bill, Jacksonville, USA
When will the IOC admit to its mistake about awarding this years Olympic games to such a detestable and deplorable place as China? The Chinese have NOT lived up to their promises they made to get the games. In fact they have openly and blatantly got worse. Way to go IOC!
Gramps, London,