For 7th Straight Day, Shanghai Warns Kids To Stay Inside - PM 2.5 14X WHO Recommendations

Shanghai warned children and the elderly to stay indoors for at least a seventh day out of the first nine this month, intensifying pressure on local authorities to control the worst smog since government monitoring began last year.

The city’s air quality index was at 238, or “heavily polluted” at 5 p.m., according to the local monitoring center. A warning to stay indoors is triggered any time the index exceeds 200. The index surged to a record 482 on Dec. 6 into the “severe” level, the highest of a six-tier rating system, according to the China Daily. That prompted the government to order cars off the road and factories to cut production.

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Heavy pollution may undermine plans for Shanghai, the nation’s commercial hub, to attract foreign investment and multinational firms, as the city implements a free-trade zone as part of a broader goal to become a global financial and logistics center by 2020.

Shanghai’s PM2.5 air pollution surpassed 360 micrograms per cubic meter this morning, 14 times higher than the recommended daily exposure level by the World Health Organization. The particles, which are smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter, are more dangerous than other particulate matter, according to the WHO. PM2.5 levels were at 120 at 5 p.m.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-09/shanghai-reports-pm2-5-pollutants-13-times-who-recommended-level.html