[Perspective Society · Ecological Supervision] Follow: The battle against ozone pollution in all parts of the country

How much do you know about ozone pollution?

Ozone (chemical formula is O 化) is a pale blue gas, slightly soluble in water, and has a pungent smell similar to chlorine. If the ozone concentration in the air is too high, it is easy to cause inflammatory lesions in the upper respiratory tract. Symptoms such as cough and headache occur, and it will also stimulate the skin, eyes, and nasal mucosa. Experts suggest that when outdoor oxygen concentrations have high concentration, it is recommended to reduce going out and outdoor activities. Reduce the number of indoor ventilation and ventilation. If there is conditions, the indoor air purification equipment can be turned on. When going out, sensitive people need to protect protection products such as hats, glasses and masks.

"Although the ozone exceeds the standards, it is not as obvious as the particle objects exceeding the standard and it is not easy to detect. However, high concentration of ozone can still cause harm to human health and crop growth. At the regular press conference, Jiang Huahua, deputy director of the Ecological Environment Monitoring Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said.

Let's take a look at the report:

According to the report issued by the China Environmental Monitoring Terminal and the Air Quality Forecast Center and relevant provincial air quality forecasting departments, during the five days of June 21st to 25th, North China, Northwest and East China It is expected that ozone will occur lightly to moderate pollution. Individual cities in central and southern North China will have severe pollution risks. In the later period, due to the scope of precipitation process, the pollution process is over.

Undoubtedly, ozone pollution has become a blockbuster block in cities in key areas to win the blue sky.

Why does the peak of ozone pollution occur in the summer of each year?

Since 2013, my country has incorporated ozone into normalized monitoring of air pollutants. Monitoring data shows that in the summer of the past five years (May -September), the average O₃ concentration of the country has remained at about 150 micrograms/cubic meter, and the average number of days of ozone exceeding the standard is 11.1%(summer). About 88%.

However, recently, the Ministry of Ecological Environment notified the media the average concentration of ozone (O₃) in 339 prefecture -level and above cities across the country by 138 micrograms/cubic meters, an increase of 8.7%year -on -year. Among them, the average concentration of "2+26" cities in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and surrounding areas is 162 micrograms/cubic meters, an increase of 12.5%year -on -year. The average concentration of 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta region was 156 micrograms/cubic meter, an increase of 13.9%year -on -year. The average concentration of 11 cities in the Fenwei Plain is 151 micrograms/cubic meter, an increase of 12.7%year -on -year.

In key areas, data rise is more obvious. Among them, the concentration of O₃ concentrations in Chengdu -Chongqing and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River rose by more than 20%year -on -year.

Picture source: China Environment Network Drawing: Zhang Li

"The situation of ozone pollution is not optimistic, and the task of pollution prevention is still heavy." At the press conference mentioned earlier, Jiang Huohua, deputy director of the Ecological Environment Monitoring Department, summarized the next ozone management.

Nowadays, summer ozone pollution and autumn and winter PM2.5 pollution have become two mountains for air pollution environmental pollution. Nitrogen oxides and volatile organic matter (VOCS, NOX) are common preparations that generate PM2.5 and ozone. Under the ultraviolet rays in the strong sunlight, they produce ozone through photochemical reactions. The generation of ozone increases the oxidation properties and will also accelerate the generation of secondary particulate matter. During the year, ozone concentrations generally increased from May, reached the highest point in July and August, and gradually decreased after entering autumn. Especially in the summer and autumn afternoon of the strong sunlight from June to September, it is usually 1 pm to 4 pm. When the temperature is high and the relative humidity is low, ozone is more likely to exceed the standard.

The ozone concentration is closely related to the emissions intensity of volatile organic matter (VOCS, NOX), but also is also affected by the temperature, radiation intensity, humidity, wind speed and other meteorological factors. The survey research found that the production of ozone in my country mainly comes from secondary pollutants produced by NOX and VOCs optical reactions in automotive exhaust gas and industrial exhaust gas.

For example, in the summer of 2020, regional ozone pollution was encountered in Chengdu -Chongqing area. At that time, the Director of the Atmospheric Environment Department of the Sichuan Provincial Department of Ecological Environment introduced that the ozone concentration exceeded the standard and was affected by two aspects: first, with the acceleration of the resumption of production and re -production, the atmospheric pollutants (VOCS, NOX, etc.) were concentrated; the other was meteorological conditions In severe abnormalities, in April and May of that year, Sichuan appeared abnormal high temperature weather, and high temperature and strong radiation weather accelerated the production of ozone.

Control ozone pollution, and the battle against control all over the country

A large number of studies have found that ozone pollution in most cities in my country is in a VOCS sensitive area. From the perspective of the practice of various places, at this stage, governing VOCs is one of the effective ways to control ozone pollution, especially summer pollution.

Under the premise of clear paths, many localities have accelerated shortcomings, and many "high moves" appear.

This year, Xi'an will also implement ozone pollution control in the city's VOCS automotive maintenance enterprises and transportation in the city during the key period of summer defense (June 1 -September 30). When ozone is predicting a single day for a severe and above pollution level, emergency control measures are initiated. At that time, all VOCS auto repair enterprises are prohibited from operating in the city, and VOCS urban source peak production operations are involved.

In Xinyang and Zhumadian in Henan, the VOCS special law enforcement inspection team consisting of ecological environment law enforcement officers and industry experts is established to carry out special law enforcement actions for industries such as VOCS Industry Enterprises in the area, and conduct "precise assistance" involving key VOCS enterprises involving VOCS enterprises. Essence Picture source: Jiangsu Province Ecological Environment Department

There are also many places to carry out VOCS "summer diseases and winter treatment". Jiangsu, Shanxi and other places "sprint" in advance, promote PM2.5 collaborative control with ozone pollution, pay close attention to volatile organic matter governance, organize all places to focus on key points Enterprises, corporate clusters, industrial parks, etc. have carried out investigation, source replacement, and improvement of governance to support the continuous improvement of the environmental quality of pollutants.

Relevant data revealed that last year, there were many high temperature days in many places in the south of my country in the summer, but the rise in ozone concentration was curbed. In the case where the temperature of the summer temperature broke in many places, from May to September 2021, the average concentration of ozone in 11 provinces in key areas decreased by 0.6%year -on -year, and the average number of days exceeded the standard day -on -year decreased by 7.7%. This effectively proves that the local measures are solid and effective, and ozone is not "incurable."

Early, quasi, and real, anchoring ozone pollution this "hard bone", it is not allowed to launch in various places. Never, this is a tough battle that does not see smoke.

(Reported by the Perspective Club Comprehensive China Environment Network, the official website of China Environmental Monitoring Station, CCTV News Client, and Jiangsu Provincial Department of Ecological Environment)

Edit: Cheng Yi

School pair: Wu Yueran

Review: Gong Zimo

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