Daily Dose of Air Pollution: Impact of Air Pollution Controls during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

China is currently the largest developing country in both area and population in the world. Since the “Economic Reform and Open-Door Policy” of 1978, China’s economy has been developing rapidly. Accompanying this, air pollution has become increasingly serious and is now one of the major environmental concerns in China, especially in large cities. In recent years, the concentration of airborne particulate matter, which is strictly controlled in developed countries, has been very high in many Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Wuhan.

This has been reported to be one of the causes of the increase in premature mortality and in respiratory and cardiovascular diseases observed in some Chinese cities. Besides health impacts, the concentrations of air pollutants associated with eutrophication and acidification, such as ammonia (NH3), nitrogen (NO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) and their corresponding secondary particulates, have also been found to be high in many areas in China.

Although some laws, regulations, and standards have been established to tackle air pollution problems in China, the priority of economic development over environmental protection weakens their enforcement. Therefore, air pollution in China remains very serious.

In August 2008, the Summer Olympic Games were held in Beijing. To fulfill the requirements for air quality during the Games, several measures were enforced to reduce ambient air pollutant concentrations. These measures included the so-called odd-even car ban, stopping production or reducing the output from the most polluting factories, and limiting pollutant emission from coal combustion facilities in Beijing and the surrounding areas.

For example, the odd-even car ban, based on license plate numbers, kept vehicles off the road on alternate days between 20 July and 20 September and suspended the use of 70% of government motor vehicles (nearly 2 million) during that period. As a result of this measure, vehicle emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particulate matter (PM) with an aerodynamic diameter of 10 mm or less (PM10) during the Games were estimated to be reduced by 55.5, 56.8, 45.7 and 51.6%, respectively, compared with the emissions before the Olympics. Similar temporary vehicle use controls were found to improve air quality in the 2004 Athens Olympics, the 2002 Busan Asian Games, and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Daily Dose of Air Pollution: Impact of Air Pollution Controls during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games