On February 3, Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading daily newspaper, reported that, according to a survey conducted by a company in the environmental industry, breathing air in Beijing on a day with heavy smog is the same as smoking 21 cigarettes. The survey results were published by Xinmin Weekly, a magazine based out of Shanghai. The survey used air quality data collected from monitoring equipment owned by the Yuanda Group, a company that operates windmills and other facilities in China. According to the survey, which was conducted in several cities, breathing in the high levels of air pollution for one day was similar to smoking 21 cigarettes in Beijing, 25 in Guangzhou, 9 in Shanghai, 9 in Nanjing, 13 in Changsha, 12 in Chengdu and 13 in Wuhan. According to a Tsinghua University professor, whenever the Air Quality Index for PM 2.5 concentration hits 300, it’s like smoking 20 cigarettes that day. In Beijing, there were 15 such days in January alone.
Source: ajw.asahi.com
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Keywords: Beijing smog same as smoking 21 cigarettes
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So even if I'm a non-smoker, I'm still breathing the equivalent of 20 cigarrettes a day, plus the second hand smoke from the thousands of other morons puffing away on their cancer sticks in closed public spaces. Great.
Feb 21, 2013 08:52 Report Abuse
Seriously though, if you are a 10 - 20 a day cigarette smoker in these cities that means you are virtually puffing away on 30 - 40 coffin nails a day, certainly a short journey to poor health and early demise. You need to give at least one of them up. So, stop smoking or relocate. Or both!
Feb 08, 2013 08:12 Report Abuse
Can that sort of air intake be addictive? Will we see China's version of nicotine patches for those that love to venture out into the city smog for their fix but need to give that up to stay healthy? The Beijing patch? The Guangzhou patch? I can see a business opportunity here!!
Feb 08, 2013 08:05 Report Abuse
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