Smoggy rush hour near Tiananmen Square in Beijing. (Michael Reynolds / European Pressphoto Agency)
Posted on 07/22/2008 7:27:57 PM PDT by JACKRUSSELL
......And they're not just worried about the athletes. They're concerned that the bad air might trigger cardiovascular problems for people in the stands. Even if the spectators survive the games, they might be at higher risk of developing a blood clot while sitting through the plane ride home.
In 2007, researchers at Northwestern University solved the mystery of why greater numbers of people were dying from heart attacks and strokes within 24 hours of a spike in the level of tiny particles that spewed from diesel trucks, buses and coal-burning factories......
What researchers, including lead author Dr. Gokhan Mutlu, pulmonary and critical care specialist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, found was that the small particles -- less that one-tenth of the diameter of a human hair -- inflame the lungs, which then secrete a substance, interleukin-6, which causes blood to coagulate. It raises the risk of a fatal heart attack or stroke for people with coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure or a history of stroke......
"If you spend a few weeks in Beijing, your blood might become thicker and sticky and then when you fly 12 hours back to the U.S., that further increases your risk," Mutlu says in a news release. "If clots migrate into the lungs and cause pulmonary embolism, that can kill you."
The BBC has been tracking levels of small-particle pollution for two weeks......So far, it's gone from a good day on July 12 of 8 micrograms per cubic meter to a very bad day two days later of 255 micrograms per cubic meter......The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends a daily limit of no more than 30 to 35 micrograms per cubic meter -- a level many American cities, and at least nine counties in California, fail to meet......
(Excerpt) Read more at latimesblogs.latimes.com ...
Smoggy rush hour near Tiananmen Square in Beijing. (Michael Reynolds / European Pressphoto Agency)
What a mess ahead
Eat more garlic?
and definitely pack a mask or respirator.
Oh oh, China gonna get mad over this claim.
Innerestin’
Paper masks, sold everywhere, seem to work well. Of course, when you get home, there will be a period of adjustment (several days) before the coughing goes away (personal experience). ;-)
I don’t understand why we can’t have our own Olympics, where states can compete among each other. The money stays here and we don’t have to worry about prissy foreigners grumbling over “ugly Americans.”
“Adding more additional cars and trucks OTR than USA has TOTAL in 10 years”...Glenn Beck
I’m so glad I won’t be in Beijing.
Why people would want to contribute to the economy of a communist country is beyond me.
I guess the next Olympics will be in Zimbabwe.
That’s a LOT of pollution in that pic...
I’m just waiting for a tentacle to come out of that like in the movie “The Mist.’
I’ve never been to a place with worse air. I’m sure it will be bad for the Olympics, horrific by western standards, but it won’t be at all like a normal day there because they will be shutting down the factories and taking most of the cars off the streets.
“I don’t understand why we can’t have our own Olympics, where states can compete among each other. The money stays here and we don’t have to worry about prissy foreigners grumbling over “ugly Americans.””
NBA? NFL? MLB?
My parents were in Beijing about 20 years ago, before much of the recent growth in manufacturing and automotive traffic. Even then, they said it horribly dirty and the air very polluted with high concentrations of particulate matter. My mother developed a respiratory infection and her lungs didn’t fully recover from her trip for over a month. They never returned to China.
Gee, thanks … I go to China at least four times a year (business) … can’t wait for the respiratory infection to kick in.
In truth, I have always protected myself while in China with masks, that has helped … no problems to date. Much of my time there is spent in outlying areas away from Beijing.
Isn’t China supposed to be the model for the rest of the world according to the Left?
No, no, no silly, THE society to be emulated at all times is either Sweden or the Netherlands! Free sex, free pot, free health care, free everything!
China is actually more of a capitalistic setup, but they just like it because the Communist govt. is atheistic.
"...your blood might become thicker and sticky...."
Fish oil and vitamin E. Both blood thinners.
“Why people would want to contribute to the economy of a communist country is beyond me.”
Unfortunately, you and I are forced to do so, i.e. our computers.
There is that, foreigners grumbling about Americans. But keep in mind, it's a two way street. Americans do their fair share of grumbling about other countries. Hence all the negative postings like this one about China.
London. Same difference.
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