SZ’s average PM2.5 density reaches WHO target III for 1st time

Writer: Huang Huiyu, Wang Jingli  |  Editor: Zhang Chanwen  |  From: Shenzhen Daily  |  Updated: 2022-07-05

Shenzhen's average PM2.5 density for the first half of the year was 15.3 micrograms per cubic meter, down 3.8 micrograms per cubic meter year on year, reaching interim target III of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Air Quality Guidelines 2021, according to the Shenzhen Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau last week.

Shenzhen is also the first city in China with a population of over 5 million to reach such a level.

“It was not easy for Shenzhen to lower its average PM2.5 concentration to 15.3 micrograms per cubic meter for the first half of the year,” said Zhang Dawei, deputy director of the Department of Atmospheric Environment of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

“This was the result of government measures implemented in industries, energy and transportation,” he said.

Shenzhen also took the country’s lead in terms of restricting high-polluting vehicles, promoting environmentally friendly water-borne coatings, controlling ship pollution, and turning all of its public buses and taxis electric.

Since 2021, Shenzhen has promoted the coordinated emission reduction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) and strengthened dust control, which has further improved the atmospheric environmental quality.

The city’s NOx mainly come from motor vehicles, ships and power plant boilers. Therefore, the city promoted clean energy vehicles, fully implemented China VI vehicle emission standards, and created vehicle pollution remote sensing monitoring systems.

To ensure the quality of oil products to reduce the emission of pollutants, many departments in Shenzhen carried out campaigns to fight against illegal oil refining of petroleum products and promoted local legislations on the supervision and management of refined oil products.

Data showed that dust accounted for 31% of Shenzhen’s PM2.5 density sources. Therefore, the city implemented dust control measures at construction sites and inspected over 50,000 construction sites in 2021. Since the beginning of this year, Shenzhen has published the ranking of PM10 concentration of each subdistrict weekly.

A staffer from the municipal ecology and environment bureau said the city will continue to take measures to further reduce air pollution.