|
Written by R Hearsch
|
|
Sunday, 03 August 2008 09:43 |
|
With the Bejing Olympics starting next week, athletes will be wearing face masks on bad smog days. Face masks? Why are the Olympics even being held there? I find this laughable. Even though Bejing has taken extreme steps to cut the smog condition, not enough can be accomplished to cut the health risks to the athletes. Bejing has planted 300 million trees, taken cars off the road and shut down large industrial plants yet there is still severe smog.
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Here is a description of the “dust”, also referred to as soot:
One of China’s lesser-known exports is a dangerous brew of soot, toxic chemicals and climate-changing gases from the smokestacks of coal-burning power plants.
Last year, a dense cloud of pollutants over Northern China sailed to nearby Seoul, sweeping along dust and desert sand before wafting across the Pacific. An American satellite spotted the cloud as it crossed the West Coast.
Researchers in California, Oregon and Washington noticed specks of sulfur compounds, carbon and other byproducts of coal combustion coating the silvery surfaces of their mountaintop detectors. These microscopic particles can work their way deep into the lungs, contributing to respiratory damage, heart disease and cancer.