Air pollution beijing

Knowledge is Power! My Favorite Research Papers on Air Pollution and Kids

I’ve been in America for 2 weeks at conventions, and I must admit that I find Boston’s autumn blue skies absolutely thrilling. I’ve literally been oohing and aahing at the deep blue skies, which are radiating the bright orange leaves, crisp green lawn grasses and white picket fences. Life truly is easier to love when the skies are blue, and after living in Beijing for 5 years I deeply appreciate these rare moments of pure air. I’ve almost felt guilty  (well, ever so slightly…) after seeing the internet postings of last week’s Beijingair AQI days over 400.

In my never-ending quest of researching air pollution, I’ve collected a good library of my favorite articles which I’d now like to share with you below. As I have said multiple times, I think air pollution is a serious public health issue all over China which is obvious to all — and yet precious little actual intervention, treatments or warnings are provided to our community, at least officially. I personally think that we doctors, especially family medicine and pediatrics, have a moral and professional responsibility to do more to help our Beijing population with this issue. Indeed, the American Academy of Pediatrics, in their official position paper on air pollution, specifically mention:

in communities with poor air quality, pediatricians can play a role in educating children with asthma or other chronic respiratory tract disease and their families about the harmful effects of air pollution. Patients and families can be counseled on following the AQI to determine when local air-pollution levels pose a health concern… Pediatricians who serve as physicians for schools or for team sports should be aware of the health implications of pollution alerts to provide appropriate guidance to school and sports officials, particularly in communities with high levels of ozone.

So here are my top articles on air pollution, especially in regards to kids’ health:

OK, that’s enough to keep everyone busy for a few days. I don’t expect us to work miracles here; I just hope to share the evidence and continue the discussion, and at the very least have us Beijingers take proper precautions for our own families — and lead by example.


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4 thoughts on “Knowledge is Power! My Favorite Research Papers on Air Pollution and Kids”

  1. My 2 year 9 month old toddler and I actually went out today in 330+ API.

    This almost never happens, but we did. Me in my black Respro mask and her in her cute N-95 mask from SOS pharmacy. After pulling it off only twice or so, she wore it just fine to My Gym and back!

    Liora

    1. Which N95 mask did SOS have, just a small 3M-style mask? As for Respro, I would really love to share with everyone some data about how good they are, but I never saw any data from them as to what rating they are — I searched but didn’t see any specifics about N95 or any claims of efficiency. Did you, or does anyone out there, have Respro data? I even emailed Respro but never heard back.

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