Face Masks Provide Chinese With False Hope Against Pollution 156
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Emily Sohn reports at Discovery Magazine that high levels of air pollution in Beijing, where levels of pollution have spiked above 750 micrograms per cubic meter, have caused a run on face masks as people look for ways to protect themselves from the smog. The capital is on its sixth day of an 'orange' smog alert — the second-highest on the scale — with the air tasting gritty and visibility down to a few hundred meters. But experts say that under the hazards they're facing, the masks are unlikely to help much. In fact, images of masked citizens navigating the streets of Beijing highlight the false confidence that people put in face masks in all sorts of situations, including flu outbreaks and operating rooms. For a step up in protection, consumers can buy a category of mask known technically as N95 respirators, which are generally available at hardware stores. N95 facemasks are often used in industrial workplace situations to protect against things like lead dust and welding fumes, and they are certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to trap 95 percent of particles sent through them in testing situations. But in order to work N95 respirators need to be professionally fitted to each person's individual face (PDF) to make sure there is a tight seal with no leaks. If they truly fit right, they are uncomfortable to wear."
The work / factories will just move to the next pl (Score:4, Insightful)
The work / factories will just move to the next place that take the jobs at any cost.
Re:Not possible (Score:2, Insightful)
That's essentially why we have such a crap economy. If the US would stop importing stuff that was produced using methods that are illegal domestically, local production would be a lot more competitive.
Re:Cab driver in Shanghai (Score:4, Insightful)
"That's not much different than the summary's author, who seems to think that the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health sets standards in China."
... or that N95 masks are to be found in neighborhood hardware stores in China.
Re:It'll be fine (Score:4, Insightful)
It's more complicated than that. China has hundreds of millions of people all desperately struggling to pull themselves up into the middle class. They know how Americans, Europeans and their successful Chinese peers live because it's in their faces every day through ubiquitous advertising and ostentatious public displays of wealth. They want the trappings of that consumer lifestyle so badly that they don't care what they have to do to get them. Who wants to be the one to tell them, "no you can't have that because it will ruin the environment"? Against these base desires of human nature, no amount of logic or reasoning about consequences can prevail.
Re:It'll be fine (Score:5, Insightful)
Except that their choice is not poison everyone until they drop like flies or remain a poor agrarian society. They have the benefit of a century of research into how to industrialize without poisoning people. They have the option to find a happy medium.
Re:Popular misconception re: face masks in influen (Score:5, Insightful)