Pollution

Freaked out about air pollution? We all are at some point. Whether you’ve lived here for a short time or longer than you thought you might, some days just beg the question – what exactly are we breathing?!

Countless blog posts, medical articles, presentations and the like discuss the issue. Official monitors, measurements and air purifiers are debated. No one is arguing the fact – and it is a fact – that the air quality in Beijing is less than desirable. Even Beijing admits that. But the reality is that we live here. Regardless of whether we’re here short/long term, had any/no choice about moving here in the first place, or whatever the individual situation, we are here right now, and we have to choose how to deal poor air quality.

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The controversy over China's air quality index isn't the only news floating around about Beijing's dismal pollution. Many cyclists have experienced swimming eyes and ragged coughs from being stuck behind a bus at a red light, but did you know that vehicle fumes may also damage brain cells, affect learning and memory, and result in a higher likelihood of autism?   

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This particularly nasty stretch of disgustingly polluted weather does not bode well for the long winter ahead. It's been so bad that readings were once again off the charts yesterday and many Weibo users have even been wondering if the US Embassy's Air Quality Index monitor had been discontinued due to political wrangling after it inexplicably went offline yesterday and earlier today.

Whether or not this was indeed the case is debatable (at the time of writing the feed was back up and read "338 - Dangerous"), and perhaps the only advice that can be heeded on a day like today is to stay indoors with your air purifier (you do have one, don't you?) set on full blast. Otherwise, it's facemasks, sore throats and sinus infections for the rest of us.

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A Chinese research group has produced research that appears to confirm what seems painfully obvious if you have ever lived in Beijing during the winter - environmental pollutants like coal smoke and pesticides can directly lead to birth defects. Reuters (via trust.org) reports:

The researchers studied 80 newborn babies and aborted fetuses with brain and spinal cord defects and found that their mothers' placentas had significantly higher amounts of chemicals compared to placentas of babies without such birth defects.

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