China smog nearly 50 times World Health Organization recommendations

Chronic pollution problem has been linked to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths on the mainland, and has become a major source of popular discontent with the government.

Real-time data released by the Shenyang Environmental Protection Agency showed the density of the poisonous tiny airborne matters known as PM2.5 was more than 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter on Sunday.

Authorities issued the highest alert, warning residents to stay indoors and demanding that factories cut output to reduce pollution.

The readings may be the highest pollution levels recorded in China since the nation began monitoring air quality in 2013.

Levels of the particulates reached 1,157 micrograms per cubic metre in Shenyang, capital of the neighbouring province of Liaoning, yesterday, data from city’s own environmental protection bureau showed.

Shen Yangjia, director of the respiratory department at Jinqiu Hospital in Shenyang, told reporters the number of patients needing respiratory care ‘has significantly increased by at least 15 per cent in the last two days due to heavy pollution’.

PM2.5 particulates can play a role in heart disease, strokes and lung ailments such as emphysema and lung cancer.

People in northern China burn coal for heating, a practice believed to have fouled the air.

Xinhua blasted Shenyang’s emergency response as “useless” in the face of “such severe haze and pollution”, which it said was the heaviest of the year.

“The air stings and makes my eyes and throat feels sore when I’m outdoors”, said a female resident who had to risk a quick trip outdoors to buy a mask.

But Chai Fahe, deputy director of the China Research Academy of Environmental Science, said that air quality in Beijing may not deteriorate. “Administrative documents have their limitations”.

Officials claim the smog has been caused by a surge in coal-fired electricity use, as the region’s central heating systems kick into gear for winter.

“It’s different from Beijing”.

Luo, from the Ministry of Environmental Protection, said a lack of wind made it hard for air pollutants to disperse, and that large emissions from boilers burning coal would mean that smog persists in the northeast until Saturday.