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Sanmenxia steps up air quality monitoring

Sanmenxia, a city in western Henan province, has sped up environmental protection efforts and will be able to publish real-time air quality readings starting at the end of October.

The city has installed an additional 34 air quality monitoring devices with an investment of more than 4.3 million yuan ($704,810). Tests show that the devices are in good condition and can be put into service at the end of this month.

The devices adhere to requirements set by the Ambient Air Quality Standards and can be used to monitor such pollutants as particulate matter measuring less than 2.5 microns, particulate matter measuring less than 10 microns, carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide.

The devices will automatically monitor the city's air quality around the clock, and readings will be transmitted real-time to the environmental monitor stations of the Henan Province Department of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

Sanmenxia is one of the 113 cities listed for environmental monitoring. Monitoring results, particularly particulate matter measuring less than 2.5 microns, should be made public so that the public can know the air quality and can supervise work by environmental protection departments.

Beginning last year, the municipal department of environmental protection stepped up its efforts to improve environmental monitoring capacity. The city's finance department arranged more than 4 million yuan in special funds for purchase and installation of the equipment.

In order to improve the accuracy of the monitoring results, the city's environmental department also installed devices and auxiliary equipment for visibility measurements, manual comparison of PM2.5 data and other air quality control devices.

Edited by Michael Thai