Comments for livefrombeijing

Comment on proof of linear extrapolation of embassy pm2.5-aqi relationship above 500 by Vance

Vance — Wed, 08 May 2013 15:33:58 +0000

FK:

Thanks. I linked to the Dec 2012 revision in my previous post. This post here is showing the relationship >500, which is not defined in the EPA’s regulatory documents. I assumed it would be linear, and these data here prove it.

Vance

Comment on proof of linear extrapolation of embassy pm2.5-aqi relationship above 500 by FK

FK — Wed, 08 May 2013 03:44:07 +0000

EPA (USA) provides this relation (PM2.5 and AQI) that you tried to plot as above. Latest revision dated 14 Dec 2012 can be found on http://www.epa.gov/pm/2012/decfsstandards.pdf.

This formulae can also be found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_quality_index

Comment on updated blogroll – china faqs and myhealthbeijing by Vance

Vance — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 19:59:27 +0000

Hi Miguel, that ppt comes from Dr. Saint Cyr. For detailed info on mask choice I would refer you to his blog here http://www.myhealthbeijing.com/category/illness/pollution/ or Pure Living’s blog here http://www.purelivingchina.com/2013/01/beijing-air-quality-is-officially-beyond-crazy-bad-why-and-what-can-you-do/.
Vance

Comment on updated blogroll – china faqs and myhealthbeijing by Miguel

Miguel — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 09:56:04 +0000

Hello, I just moved to Beijing a few months ago and I found this helpful but I wanted to know one thing? You said in the ppt that N95 masks are the best. I wanted to know where in Beijing I can buy one? I have been looking all over but nobody as given me a store just a lot of sites. I would like to see/feel the mask before I spend money on it.

Thank you,
Miguel

Comment on seeking solutions to china’s air pollution crisis by Calvin

Calvin — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 06:13:54 +0000

Great post Vance. Very interesting information regarding transportation and fuel standards, which is certainly an overlooked aspect. You say “the quality of diesel fuel produced by China’s state-owned refineries significantly lags behind what is required”. Why is that?

Comment on demystifying air quality numbers by Vance

Vance — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 21:40:44 +0000

Jian Yao: Sorry, I’m not aware of one.

Comment on demystifying air quality numbers by jian yao

jian yao — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 20:51:50 +0000

There is a web page where you can convert between the concentration and AQI in US:

http://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=resources.aqi_conc_calc

is there a similar website for China’ s API?

Comment on seeking solutions to china’s air pollution crisis by Vance

Vance — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 05:00:58 +0000

Steve: thanks for the comment. It took LA decades to clean up (in fact they are still struggling in some ways to do so), in part because of the lack of knowledge about the impacts of pollution and lack of advanced control technologies (as you note). There was also debate at the time about what strategies should be employed; I recall hearing a story from an old regulator (can’t remember who) who said a prevailing theory in the 70s was “the solution to pollution is dilution.” Some folks – mainly industry I think – thought if they could just get their smokestacks or vehicle exhaust pipes up higher it would alleviate the problem. Unfortunately, they were wrong; it turns out the only solution is dramatically reducing pollution emissions at the source.

In theory China should benefit from the experience of the developed world in all of these regards, which should enable much more rapid average ambient concentration reductions than were achieved in the US. (Should be less debate about how harmful pollution is, what strategies will work, what technologies needed…) I think there are some encouraging signs that this is true, though of course we all hope China moves much faster.

As for the LA-Beijing comparison, it was intended to be broader than actual direct data comparison; I did not compare PM2.5 readings between the two cities.

Comment on seeking solutions to china’s air pollution crisis by Steven Andrews

Steven Andrews — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 23:12:13 +0000

Why do you think that the air pollution crisis in the US in the 1970s is “not so different from that of China today”? I have seen scattered references that in the 1960s, 24 hour PM10 concentrations in Los Angeles exceeded 600ug/m3 at times, see e.g. http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12001&page=277 , but this past week the daily PM2.5 concentration exceeded 600ug/m3. My understanding is that after implementation of some of the air quality controls, especially following 1970 that air pollution improved significantly in Los Angeles. Have you seen any historical data from the US that illustrates PM2.5 concnetrattions as high as seen last week in Beijing? However, my main response to your point though is that in the 1970s, there was: 1) not an understanding of the severe health impacts of even low levels of air pollution, and 2) emissions pollution control equipment was much less developed.

Comment on demystifying air quality numbers by Vance

Vance — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 01:00:37 +0000

Ed: both the US AQI and Chinese new AQI systems operate on the same principle. Separate AQIs are calculated for each of 5 pollutants (ozone, PM, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide) based on different breakpoints. The reported AQI for the area is then the highest of the calculated individual AQIs. There are some differences in exactly how data is processed I think (and how data from multiple monitors is compared), but the basics are the same. If I have time I’ll prepare a separate post on this. All the technical info is in the US CFR http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&SID=c2a0da0622b7cebcd36f7beb65dfffa2&rgn=div9&view=text&node=40:6.0.1.1.6.7.1.3.40&idno=40 and this Chinese standard http://kjs.mep.gov.cn/hjbhbz/bzwb/dqhjbh/jcgfffbz/201203/t20120302_224166.htm. You know, light bedside reading.

FYI, the “limiting” AQI in the US is usually either PM2.5 or ozone. On http://www.airnow.gov/, a single AQI is given, but the individual AQIs for PM2.5 and ozone are also provided. I would expect PM2.5 and Ozone to be the limiting pollutants in China as well.