The Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center on Friday started to release the real-time data on PM 2.5 particulates, matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, collected by the first batch of 20 monitoring stations.
The 20 stations are located in densely populated areas in Beijing and the data will provide a reference for everyday life and outdoor activities during and after the national holidays, the official was quoted by the Beijing Evening News as saying on Friday.
"Publishing statistics is helpful for the public in supervising air quality and air pollution," Zhao Zhangyuan, a researcher with the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, told the Global Times on Friday.
The statistics will help residents have a "clear understanding" about PM2.5 levels in their local areas as pollution is still a serious problem in Beijing, according to Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public & Environment Affairs.
Currently, Beijing has 27 air quality stations which monitor and publish pollution data, but the authorities were widely criticized for previously just collecting PM10 data, which measures only large particulates.
Beijing will set up a total of 35 air quality monitoring stations by the end of this year, the newspaper reported.
The government decided to monitor PM2.5 in four municipalities, 27 provincial capitals, and three key regions - the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, and the northern Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, this year, said the Xinhua News Agency.
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