Smog levels in the Chinese capital were “beyond index” on Tuesday according to the US Embassy’s tracking of Beijing’s air pollution levels.
Visibility was down to 200 metres and some people wore masks on the streets.
Beijing is frequently cloaked in a yellow haze, often almost obscuring buildings that are only a couple of blocks away.
A Twitter feed set up by the US Embassy in Beijing reports air quality as measured by a monitor on the embassy roof and publishes it online every hour.
The reading of 501.0 on Tuesday was classified as “beyond index”.
Those readings include levels of fine particulate matter, or PM2.5 – a type of pollution that Beijing authorities also measure but do not release to the public.
Sometimes seen as soot or smoke, PM2.5 is tiny particulate matter – less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter, or approximately 1/30th the average width of a human hair – that can result from the burning of fuels in vehicles, power plants and agriculture.
Breathing such fine particles causes respiratory problems and can lead to death.
China’s environmental ministry has said it will factor PM2.5 into national air quality standards, but not until 2016.
Last week, however, state media announced that the bureau in charge of monitoring China’s frequently smog-choked capital will release more detailed reports, following a public outcry over the hazards of fine particle pollution.
Beijing’s decision to publish the data appeared aimed at appeasing residents’ anger over the pollution and a lack of government transparency.
Beijing’s official air quality index regularly records the pollution as “light” – a reading at odds with what many people experience.
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