Some Chinese turn to U.S. Embassy for clarity in smog data

The Beijing smog often keeps Zhushen Zhenyu trapped at home, on his mother's orders, when he'd rather be playing basketball outside, but the 8-year-old still hopes for a silver lining in the clouds of pollution choking China's capital.

"When will the air quality be so bad we don't have to go to school?" he asked a city official one recent smoggy day.

"That depends on government policy," was the cryptic reply of Li Yunting, an engineer at the Beijing Environmental Monitoring Center, which opened to public visits last month.

The doubts about official pollution data keep piling up for China's government, as green activists, celebrity bloggers and ordinary citizens increasingly demand action and information to halt the environmental fall-out from decades of breakneck economic growth.

Burning coal is largely responsible for the oppressive smog, which the United Nations has rated the worst in the world. China has more than doubled its coal consumption in the past 10 years but has not kept pace with the clean-air technology found in the West. It also relies on cheaper forms of coal that emit more pollutants, and Beijing's nearly 5 million cars do not generally meet the standards of the USA.

The past two months have been dire. The high incidence of heavy air pollution has sent many residents rushing to buy face masks, air purifiers and household plants believed to clean dirty air.

The haze has highlighted discrepancies between the government's robustly sunny statistics and the far scarier numbers recorded and issued by the U.S. Embassy here. Beijing described the air pollution as "light" on December 4, a smog-filled day that forced the city airport, the world's second busiest, to cancel hundreds of flights because of poor visibility. The embassy reading was "beyond index," literally off the measurement charts that stop at "hazardous."

The embassy measurements, begun in 2008 and issued hourly via Twitter, use a standard employed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to measure tiny airborne particles, such as soot from burning gas in cars, that are under 2.5 micrometers in diameter.

Experts consider these particles most damaging to human health, as they are small enough to penetrate the lungs and blood, potentially causing lung cancer and other diseases.

China publishes figures using a standard that measures coarser particular matter such as dust and keeps secret, for internal research, the measurements of smaller particles its scientists collect.

Despite the Chinese government's blocking of Twitter, the U.S. Embassy figures are widely circulated in Beijing on Chinese websites or microblogs. In recent weeks, celebrity bloggers such as real estate mogul Pan Shiyi and children's author Zheng Yuanjie have pressured Chinese officials to give a more accurate picture of air quality.

Yu Ping, a Beijing journalist and father of a 6-year-old boy who, like him, has suffered a sore throat in recent weeks, threatens to sue the municipal environmental protection agency if they don't respond to his request for the recent data.

"This is very important for me, my son and all citizens of Beijing and China," he says.

Yu's quest has inspired several other Chinese to demand data from their city governments, Yu says. He is grateful to the U.S. government for its transparency, but "it should be the Chinese government that does this," he says.

Some Beijingers, such as Wang Jinlan, say the U.S. government should mind its own business. Her daughter Du Lanxin, 8, says they filled their house with special plants last month to purify the air.

"Our home is better now, but when I go out, it's sometimes very hard to breathe," she says. Her mother drives her to school every day rather than breathe the smog on a bicycle or bus, but in doing so, she adds to the city's clogged, polluted streets.

Hua Lei, vice director of the center, insists that, over the past two years, Beijing's air quality has improved. She says the center measures small particulates in the air but does not release the data because the public "won't understand the figures."

Environmentalist Feng Yongfeng, founder of the environmental group Green Beagle, has been lending air-quality monitoring equipment to companies and communities since May.

"As a government, you must let the people know the worst level of air quality," he says.

Under growing pressure, Beijing is now revising national air-quality monitoring standards and promises to require the release of data on smaller particulates — by 2016.

Environmental consultant Steven Andrews, an American based in Beijing, says the problem is that China's "target culture" means officials, fearful for their jobs, distort pollution levels to ensure they meet government benchmarks.

Even under the new standards, "levels will still be called good in Beijing that would be in the unhealthy range in the U.S," he says.

"The air is dangerous; it will cause cancer," says Sam Zhang, 41, a vegetable wholesaler who signed up for the monitoring center visit. He says he trusts the U.S. Embassy figures over his own government's data.

"Taxpayers pay the government officials' salaries, so they should tell the truth about air quality," he says, "but they are not elected by the people, so we have no hope they will tell the truth."

Laporan wartawan Tribun Medan/Wiwi

Dalam memenuhi kebutuhan masyarakat dan memudahkan masyarakat dalam memperoleh produk Hannochs, maka stand Hannochs kini hadir di Plaza Medan Fair, Medan.

Stand Hannochs yang terdapat diatrium utara Plaza medan Fair ini menyediakan pelayanan bagi anda yang ingin memperoleh produk Hannochs yaitu water purifier. Pada stand ini, Hannochs hanya memajangkan beberapa jenis produknya. Namun, bila anda menginginkan produk lainnya, anda juga bisa memesannya di satand ini.

Salah satu produk yang ditawarkan adalah HPD 818 Everest. Dengan bentuknya yang kokoh dan elegan, HPD 818 ini  adalah salah satu jenis dispenser air yang sangat sesuai untuk ditempatkan di ruangan anda.

Bentuknya yang elegan akan menyatu dengan interior rumah anda. Desain compact built up RO system ini akan membantu anda untuk mendapatkan jaminan air minum yang sehat dan berkualitas  setiap saat tanpa harus menambah biaya untuk membeli air minum galonan.

“Anda tinggal mengubungkannya dengan saluran air PAM anda dan air ini akan disaring di dalam dispenser ini. Dispenser ini dilengkapi dengan saluran air panas dan dingin” ujar Ridwan, Marketing Hannochs.

Terdapat empat tahapan penyaringan dari HPD 818 yang berteknologi Reserve Osmosis  yang mampu menyaring kotoran kasar, kotoran kecil, virus dan bakteri dan juga polutan-polutan dalam air.

Air yang dihasilkan pun benar-benar terjaga kualitasnya. HPD 818 ini saat ini mendapatkan diskon 50 persen dimana anda hanya perlu membayar Rp 11.380.000 dimana harga sebelumnya adalah Rp 22. 760.000.

Produk Hannochs lainnya yang mendapatkan harga special yaitu R0C 228 yang dirancang dengan model compact Build dan sangat dinamis dengan sistem instalasi sangat mudah dan dimensinya yang tidak membutuhkan tempat khusus dalam peletakannya.

Produk ini memang dibuat khusus untuk keluarga anda yang konsumsi air minumnya sedikit dan juga untuk anda yang tinggal di apartemen.

The Dog Odor Answer

After you've figured out the cause of your dogs odor and address the problem, the next step is to get your home

smelling good, too.

No one knows how to tackle tough indoor doggie odor better than business owners and purebred hobbyists.

George Bernard, owner of Silver Trails: The Animal Inn, washes the floors and walls of his Westbrook, Conn. kennel

with a food-handling product that kills bacteria and odors on contact.

It's the same thing that's used on butcher blocks in butcher shops, so its edible, says Bernard, whose boarding

facility houses up to 150 animals. You can actually have a dog lick the floor and he won't get sick.

Booth, a groomer for 26 years, doesn't use any special cleaning liquids. Instead, she plugs in an ionic air purifier

to help freshen her 300 square-foot shop.

Dalmatian breeder Elaine Gewirtz tries to prevent odors before they start by cleaning her Southern California home on

a regular basis. Every week she vacuums carpets and washes floors. Each of her three dogs beds has removable covers,

making them easy to launder. She also opens windows frequently to air out the home.

Gewirtz has noticed that dogs left outside during the day while their owners are at work pick up unpleasant odors,

which they then bring indoors. She recommends brushing or wiping down dogs with a damp cloth before letting them in

the house.

By tackling odors in your home and on your pet, it won't be long before you not only love just your dog, but how he

smells too. 

How Ozone Air Purifiers Work

There’s a debate raging about the safety of ozone air purifiers. Some love the fresh smell and swear by them. Others are voicing issues concerning the ozone that is a by product of the air cleansing process. Ozone is a pollutant and at excessive levels could cause respiratory problems. This is significantly true for folks dwelling with a condition that causes decreased lung function.

These purifiers work by giving the air a positive cost as it moves by means of the machine. This causes the particles in the air to develop into charged as well. The charged contaminants are dealt with in one among two ways. In some programs, the air simply strikes by means of the machine and is charged. The particles then settle in your partitions, furnishings and carpeting. These have to be vacuumed or dusted away.

Extra common is a system that accommodates a group grid to entice the contaminants within the air. The Ionic Breeze is probably one of the best recognized of these systems. You’ve got probably seen this advertised on late night television. The particles connect to a group grid. You take away the grid and wipe away the contaminants and then substitute the grid in the machine. The grid is easy to scrub with a damp rag. This eliminates the necessity for alternative filters, as with hepa air purifiers.

The controversy over the security of ozone gained publicity a few years ago when Shopper Studies gave the Ionic Breeze a low rating because of the ozone released. The position of Client Stories was that the ozone launched was unhealthy. Sharper Picture disputed this claim and tried to sue Consumer Reviews and the parent company, unsuccessfully.

The brand new Ionic Breeze has a feature referred to as Ozone Guard that is meant to wash the ozone out of the air. While not all the ozone will be eliminated, the extent within the room is lower than with out the Ozone Guard feature. Despite this variation, Client Reviews still gave the system low marks. In response to their testing, the air purifier scored just throughout the acceptable restrict of ozone in the air.

Ozone is especially dangerous for folks with decreased lung function. This contains individuals with bronchial asthma or COPD. For these people, ozone can cause coughing and shortness of breath. Many find the symptoms of respiratory disease turn out to be worse when uncovered to ozone within the air.

Operate the purifier on a decrease setting to scale back the quantity of ozone in your air. If odors are an issue, run the machine on the upper setting if you find yourself not within the room after which turn it to the decrease setting.

Buy a machine made for the size of your room. Utilizing a machine supposed for larger areas in a small room could cause an unhealthy level of ozone within the room. Be sure your unit is acceptable for the scale of your room.

Ensure that the room is nicely ventilated. The extra air circulation, the much less ozone will accumulate within the room. Keep the doorways open to extend air flow.

Home furnishings assist absorb a number of the ozone in your air. A sparsely furnished room will comprise extra ozone within the air than a room with upholstered furniture, curtains, rugs, pillows and different decoration.

Run the equipment when you are not in the room. Flip it off and air out the room earlier than entering. If you are having company, you can run the machine within the empty room and switch it off earlier than your friends arrive. This may take away odors and depart the room smelling fresh.

If you would like supplementary knowledge with regard to ionic breeze quadra, stop by Frankie Zuisamony’s website soon.

Quatre voleur pour une potion magique

The month of June 1720 marks the start of the last plague epidemic in France. In Marseille, it will gain Provence, Languedoc and the Venaissin County. In the medical paraphernalia, for the preservation of contagion, was said to be a sponge of the "4 thieves vinegar". According to legend, a century earlier, during the epidemic that ravaged the city of Toulouse, that this remedy was used for the first time ... by four robbers. Strip caught the plague, the looters have confessed to the judges surprised by their good health, they had a secret remedy the preserving of contagion: they drank and smeared hands, face and other body parts of a macerate of vinegar. Other stories are the same scenario in the episode of plague in Marseilles.

One thing is certain, in 1748, "the Acetum copositum antisepticum", nicknamed "4 thieves vinegar" is recorded in the Codex of the pharmacopoeia in the French section of vinegars medicinal compounds. The formula mentioned gathers a dozen plants, dry buds large and petite wormwood, rosemary, sage, mint, rue gardens, lavender flowers, aromaticus Calamus root, cinnamon bark, clove, nutmeg and garlic. After removing and pressed plants, camphor dissolved in acetic acid is added a few hours before filtration. The author recommends using the vinegar of good quality and to keep this remedy in a cool place. This official recognition of its medicinal value brought to the "4 thieves vinegar" to be long marketed as an antiseptic.
Little fleche2 Cooking Up

Today, the formula of this natural remedy, again up to date, may differ depending on the brand that market, but there is a herbal and spice. This "magic potion" can make home by following a simple recipe. It is enough to obtain 20 g of each of the following plants - rosemary, lavender, sage, thyme, mint, wormwood, marjoram - and add spices with 3 g of cinnamon, clove 3 g, 3 g of nutmeg and 2 cloves of garlic. Marjoram is sometimes replaced with savory or sweet wormwood. All are steamed for 15 days in 2 liters of cider vinegar. Eventually, 5 g of camphor (optional), filtered and poured into bottles, which sealed, can be stored away from light.
Little fleche2 Beautiful and healthy ...
Beautiful and healthy ...

Wine vinegar now combines the virtues cosmetic recognized its medicinal properties for many years. In hair care, it is advisable to clean the scalp (oily hair, dandruff), to restore the hair to swell and to prevent or eliminate lice and nits. Skin side down, it is recommended dilution for cleaning sensitive skin. In body lotion, tonic effect would provide a pleasant feeling of well being and freshness. In after-shave, pure or diluted, it is deemed to soothe irritations. Its antiseptic qualities make it an ally for disinfecting wounds and to relieve mouth ulcers and inflammation of the throat and to calm insect bites. It is also used to purify the air (by evaporation) and water (a tablespoon in a quart of water). It is used in friction on the temples, forehead and wrists, in case of headaches and fainting. Finally its anti-inflammatory drugs are used in compresses to relieve and relax in case of cramps, rheumatism and joint pain.