Jen in China: Pollute-y, with a Side of Asthma

Living in Beijing means dealing with Beijing’s pollution. Unfortunately, Beijing has a terrible pollution problem. The air is extremely polluted. The water is too but, one can avoid drinking tap water. There is no way to avoid the air.

Before I came to Beijing, I thought the pollution just looked ugly and took a long time to affect a person. Unfortunately, this is not true. Recently, my students participated in a field day type event that lasted close to three hours. The event was on a day with an elevated level of pollution. I had forgotten to bring a mask with me so, I had to stand outside, for the entire event, without a mask. I started the day feeling fine; no problems or symptoms of any kind. After two hours outside, I felt like I had a cold. My nose was stuffy and runny. Plus, I had a sore throat. At the end of the three hours, my eyes hurt too. I went from fine to the peak of a cold after only three hours of exposure.

My symptoms from short term exposure were annoying but, curable. After a few hours of breathing inside with an air purifier running, I was back to normal. People, especially children, who have long term exposure to the pollution, run the risk of very severe health problems. These problems include heart and lung problems, chronic bronchitis, and death. Of course, the pollution can aggravate preexisting conditions, such as asthma and heart disease.

Thankfully, there a few things that can be done to lessen the affect the pollution has on you.

When coming to Beijing, it is important to remember to bring a face mask with you. From what I have read, the N95 filtration masks from 3M are the best masks around. It’s the kind I use (based on my research) and they seem to work fine. I don’t like wearing a mask but, it’s a necessary evil. They are hot and cause my breath to fog up my glasses but, they keep me from feeling sick.

If you are a contact lens wearer, you should check the air levels in the morning to see if you can wear your lenses. It’s best to wear glasses when the levels of PM 2.5 (the main particulate in the air) are high. Your eyes feel dry and gritty if you wear contacts on these days. I’ve heard that wearing contacts on high pollution days contributes to ulcers and sores on the eyes but, I don’t know if this is true or not. At the very least, it causes a lot of discomfort.

Keep your windows closed. You can use an air conditioner or a fan to keep cool. If you open your windows for even a short amount of time, you will see how dirty the window sill gets. Now, imagine breathing that in. It’s just best to keep your windows closed.

Shower in the evening. You don’t want to lay in the pollution all night long and let it seep into your skin. So, shower before bed to wash it all off.

No matter how diligent you are, Beijing is not the healthiest place around. But, with a few precautions, you can help to minimize the effects of the pollution.