Linfen govt has duty of care to warn residents about SO2 levels

Staff members from Shanxi Provincial Academy of Environmental Science check an unmanned aerial vehicle monitoring polluters on Dec 16 in Shanxi. [Photo/sxrb.com]

THERE WAS SEVERE SMOG throughout northern China last week. While the air pollution in Beijing received a lot of media attention, the city of Linfen in North China's Shanxi province, where the smog was even worse, received little attention until a micro blog on the dangerous levels of sulfur dioxide in the air pollution caught people's attention. Beijing News comments:

According to World Health Organization standards, people should avoid places where the density of sulfur dioxide is higher than 500 micrograms per cubic meter.

A survey by the Beijing municipal environmental protection bureau shows that the respiratory function of those staying even a short time in a place where the density of sulfur dioxide is about 280 mg per cubic meter is severely compromised.

Yet, at its peak on Wednesday, the density of sulfur dioxide in Linfen reached 1,303 mg per cubic meter. If the smog in Beijing is detrimental to human health, the smog in Linfen, with so much sulfur dioxide, can be described as "lethal".

In 1952, the hospitals of London were full of patients with respiratory problems during a heavy fog and many died because of it. Later, the fog was found to have contained high levels of sulfur dioxide.

However, the Linfen officials did not issue any warning to residents about its air pollution. Had a scientist from the Chinese Academy of Sciences not written about it in her micro blog, the high levels of sulfur dioxide would not have been made public.

Even after media outlets widely covered it, the Linfen municipal government offered no warning to residents. On Friday and Saturday, they discussed the smog behind closed doors, without releasing any information to local residents.

As early as last November, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said that Linfen lagged behind in issuing air pollution alerts. Last December, the Shanxi provincial government ordered Linfen to lower its density of sulfur dioxide in the air. But the authorities have hardly taken any measure.

It is time to answer these questions: Which official in Linfen is in charge of environmental protection? Which official failed to issue an alert? Which official prevented the truth from reaching the people?