List to tighten control on air pollutants

THE MINISTRY OF ECOLOGY and Environment has finished the soliciting of public opinions on a directory of toxic and harmful atmospheric pollutants, which is expected to be published soon. Beijing Youth Daily comments:

This will be the first directory of its kind since the revised Law on Atmospheric Pollution Prevention and Control took effect last year. The directory lists and ranks a batch of major atmospheric pollutants, including methylene chloride and formaldehyde, six kinds of volatile organic compounds such as chloroform, along with cadmium, chromium, mercury, lead and their compounds. It will be updated in the future.

According to the ministry, the proportion of blue-sky days of 338 major cities nationwide last year was 79.3 percent on average, up 1.3 percentage points year-on-year, and the density of PM2.5, or airborne pollutant particles with a diameter below 2.5 micrometers, was down by 9.3 percent on average. Despite this, there is still a long way to go in eliminating smoggy days.