Air Quality in Huainan, Anhui

In collaboration with CEHP, the Project's Air Quality Group (Environmental, Chemical and Materials Departments at AUST and Huainan Environmental Protection Agency) collected emission data from the Huainan Environmental Automatic Monitoring Center (HEAMC) during the past year (October 2006 and August 2008). The average concentration of SO₂ gradually decreased from 0.06mg/m³ to 0.015mg/m³. This may be due to the installation of the WFGD system. The other new installation of the WFD system in Huainan should be finished within two years. There is no new regulation from the government to control NO_x at this time. Thus, the level of NO_x may be increased by next year because three new power plants have been constructed in the Huainan area. The major issue for the city of Huainan is PM₁₀ and PM_2.5. The source of PM is not only from power plants, but also from industrial plants, automobiles and others. We also shared this information with the City Government.

In terms China's emission standards (a scale of one to five with one being the cleanest), coal pollution in Huainan is below class one for nitrogen dioxide, above class one for sulfur dioxide, but particulate matter measuring 10 micrometers (PM10) is at a the dangerous class three due to unusually high levels of fly ash in Anhui's coal. Particulate matter not only affects air quality - visible in the black snow that fells in Huainan several years ago - but also causes asthma, lung cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. Even in rain, the levels of particulate matter in the air never fall below the U.S. standard. The effects of this heavy pollution were monitored in approximately 3,000 elementary and middle school children of an average age of 11 and 15 years old in different residential districts. The standardized occurrence rates of respiratory diseases (such as respiratory symptoms, cough, expectoration and pharyngodynia) in urban districts have a higher rate than that in rural districts and suburbs.