Environment Assured was recently mentioned in an article posted by U.S. board certified family doctor, Richard Saint Cyr on MyhealthBeijing.com. Saint Cyr is the Group Director of Clinical Marketing and Communications for the United Family Hospital. He writes health columns for the New York Times China Edition as well as columns in Beijing Kids Magazine and the popular Chinese parenting Magazine.
In his article, he promotes the idea that the current PM 2.5 standard of 35 is not low enough to be considered “safe”. After hearing from Environment Assured that a PM 2.5 of 10 µg/m3 is ideal for healthy living conditions, he advocates that the standard that should be followed is closer to 10-12 µg/m3, which is equivalent to an AQI between 42 and 50. Saint Cyr mentions that this standard of 35 that has been socially accepted as the “safe” standards, is high enough to lead to long term health problems. The article also cites that the PM 2.5 standard of 10 µg/m3 is the official indoor air quality (IAQ) of World Health Organization.
Saint Cyr then goes to state the facts and evidence behind the reasoning for this official standard for PM 2.5 level of 10 µg/m3. Much of the information presented is retrieved via the World Health Organization (WHO) and provides a good basis for more information on the subject.
The purpose of Saint Cyr’s article was to inform his readers and followers that the standard of 35 µg/m3 that is commonly thrown around among Chinese markets, is wrong, and should be changed.
The air quality levels in China that are considered to be safe should be reevaluated completely.
Many companies in the air quality industry do not test, no provided air filters that can satisfy the PM 2.5 standards of 10-12 µg/m3. The misconception that current PM 2.5 standards are safe to the human body, needs to change immediately. People should be told the facts that PM 2.5 levels should not exceed above 10 µg/m3 in order to remain in a safe and healthy environment.
Track China’s Air Quality Index here: http://aqicn.org/city/beijing/