Surviving the Winter Pollution in Chengdu

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As winter kicks in, in China - it's quite common for cities to become more polluted.  Chengdu now frequently ranks amongst the most polluted major cities in China, if you measure the daily average over long periods of time. Luckily we don't have many of those very high "spogmageden" like days, they have in some cities in the northeast. The pollution can be especially dangerous for sensitive groups: children, the elderly and pregnant women. Here's how to keep safe this winter. 

Mao looks out at an almost unrecognisable Tianfu Square at AQI 300+

Tips on Surviving the Pollution: 

Luckily we more equipped than ever to monitor and protect ourselves from pollutants. As awareness increases of the dangers of PM2.5s (small particles believed to be the most damaging to our health), so does the range of products and services that can help – and some are more affordable than you’d think:

Carry on as normal - but make smart decisions

Know the Air Quality 

Your health during the pollution will depend on whether you make sensible decisions - so it's important to keep track of the air quality daily.

Air Matters: Global Air Quality & Pollen Data used to be called 'China Air Pollution Index'

The easiest way is to download one of the free apps available for both Apple and Android phones that track the pollution levels.

We like ‘Air Matters: Global Air Quality & Pollen Data’ as it gives us the local reading and the districts reading - which monitors PM 2.5 particulates in the area surrounding the Lingshiguan Road offices. There are websites that also give updates. 

You can follow @CGChengduAir which is a Twitter-bot that tweets pollution updates.

Some air purifiers tell you the air quality of the room, but they can't tell you the air quality where you're actually sitting or sleeping, only the air around the purifier. Luckily there are many great stand alone Smart monitors available, varying in price and range of things they can measure. 

The Laser Egg by Origins is reasonably priced and very intelligent 

For simplicity’s sake, we find the Laser Egg by Origins (499RMB at originstech.com) both user friendly and cost efficient. It displays the PM2.5 reading on an LED screen (so there’s no need to check an app like some of the others, although it can also be synced to your phone) and it can be unplugged to measure air quality on the move. Katerra (the Laser Egg's new name) also have a very useful mini-program. 

Wear A  Mask  

...and make it a good one. Luckily since Covid-19 we're more clued up about masks than ever. Terms like FFP2 and N95 are confusing but refer to the differing amount of airborne particles that the mask can remove. 

European mask standards (EN143 & EN149) will categorise masks into FFP1, FFP2 and FFP3 which remove 80%, 94% and 99% respectively. American standards use a slightly more intuitive system N95, N99 and N100 removing 95%, 99% and 100% of particles. 

We would normally recommend the 3M N95 masks, the general gold standard for disposable masks (around 110RMB for 10 masks on JD.com), though there are -not surprisingly- sold out, and most likely won't be available soon. Alternatively, Californian company Vogmask make less industrial, high quality fabric masks, which can be ordered on Taobao.com for 100- 290RMB offering around 200 hours of protection.

Vogmasks come in a range of styles and sizes - with special sizes for children

If you are doing activity outdoors, wearing a mask is important. For cycling or running along main roads or in areas with construction – Respro masks are great, though be careful with fakes on Taobao. Totobobo also make great masks with replaceable filters (currently sold out on JD.com) but we found them less comfortable. We are yet to find anything that really allows us to take in enough air during a run - ID Masks say they specialise in this, it might be worth a try. 

Photo from Natooke of Respro masks - WeChat ID: NatookeChengdu

Lastly make sure it fits. Whichever mask you choose, and there are hundreds on the market, it’s vital it fits well. Check there are not gaps for air leakage. There are plenty of videos online to show you how to fit masks properly. 

Buy an Air Purifier  

The first step is to get the right size purifier for your space:
Most purifiers come with a recommended room size (适用面积) in square meters or they mention airflow rate (风机空载风量), often written as CADR, and listed as cubic meters per hour. An effective air purifier should replace the air in your room around 5 times an hour (although this depends on the CADR speed) so to roughly calculate this multiply the floor space, by the room height, by five and check your air flow rate is enough for your room or apartment. 

The Xiao Mi Smart Air Purifier 2 has CADR of up to 310 cubic meters per hour. 

XiaoMi offer a Smart air purifier that can be turned on by your phone before you get home with different machines for different sized spaces from 800RMB. Smart Air offers a cost friendly option (although it’s no beauty) from 200RMB which is very effective in smaller spaces (available at smartairfilters.com).

Smart Air have brought affordable air purifyers to thousands of people since 2013

Air purifiers become effective about ten minutes after being turned on in your home and sealing your windows with polythene sheets and shutting your doors will prevent leakages while your purifier is on. Keep track if the filters in your purifier need changing – some get more efficient with age and some have a surprisingly short lifespan.

Other Ways to Clean Your Air  

Some studies have shown there are a number of plants especially good at removing certain toxins (mainly benzene, and formaldehyde) from the air - but   DO NOT HELP protect against PM2.5s

A more holistic approach to purifying your space

Research released by NASA names Spider Plants (Chlorophytum Comosum), Devil’s Ivy (Epipremnum Aureum), Peace Lily (Spathiphylly, ‘Mauna Loa) and the Variated Snake Plant (Sansevieria trifasciata) as especially good for your home – but be aware they are no substitute for proper air cleaning technology. Beeswax candles and Himalayan Salt lamps are also thought by some as having air cleaning capabilities. This is not scientifically proven. 

Make Good Decisions  

Whilst you can’t do anything to change the air quality outside, you can make good decisions to minimise your exposure to it:

Cheap Chinese cigarettes often have especially poor filters

Smoking: 

This might seem glaringly obvious – but in a city where smoking is so cheap and engrained in both dining and business culture, sitting in a bar without a cigarette might feel like an alien idea. However cutting out smoking is a sure fire way to improve your health.

Chengdu is now of China's most congested cities

Avoid Rush Hour:
If you travel by bike or on foot, try to avoid busy roads during rush hour. Places like the first and second ring road and Renmin South Road have particularly toxic rush hours between 4-7pm, with 5% more cars on the road than last year. Taking the subway to cut across the city can really minimize your exposure to the pollution.

 The gym industry expanded massively in 2016 making exercising indoors far easier in Chengdu.

Exercising: 

There are conflicting opinions about which AQI level you should stop cardio activity outside. There are those that believe all exercise is more beneficial than not doing it at all, no matter what the air quality. Whatever view you take, it makes sense to monitor the AQI, time your workouts effectively and use side roads and river paths to avoid direct traffic fumes. Whilst most gyms here still don’t have purifiers, indoor air generally has around 50% less pollutants than the air outside.

Air pollution’s long term health impacts often build up slowly over time, but even if you’re not in Chengdu for the long run, it’s still sensible to take precautions and make good decisions.

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