What are the hazards of haze weather? What are the impacts of haze on health and how to prevent it

Smoggy weather has caused low visibility in large areas of the city. When the relative humidity is high in the morning or at night, fog is formed; when the temperature rises during the day and the humidity drops, it gradually turns into haze. This phenomenon has both meteorological reasons and pollution discharge reasons. Since January 9, 2013, the central and eastern regions of the country have fallen into severe haze and pollution. The Central Meteorological Observatory upgraded the heavy fog blue warning to yellow warning. At 10 o'clock on the 13th, Beijing even issued the first orange haze in the history of Beijing’s meteorology. Early warning. From the northeast to the northwest, from north to central China, the Huanghuai and Jiangnan regions have experienced large-scale heavy and serious pollution.

Introduction to haze weather

Haze, also known as haze (haze), refers to dust, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, organic hydrocarbons and other particles in the air that make the atmosphere turbid, blur the field of vision and cause visibility to deteriorate. If the horizontal visibility is less than 10,000 meters, the non-water The visual range obstacle caused by the aerosol system composed of adult objects is called Haze or Dust-haze, and the Hong Kong Observatory calls Haze. The difference between haze and fog is that when the haze occurs, the relative humidity is not high, and the relative humidity in the fog is saturated (if there are a large number of condensation nuclei, the relative humidity may not reach 100%, the saturation may occur). Generally, when the relative humidity is less than 80%, the visibility deterioration caused by the blurred vision of the atmospheric turbidity is caused by haze, and the visibility deterioration caused by the blurred vision of the atmospheric turbidity when the relative humidity is greater than 90% is caused by fog, and the relative humidity is between 80-90% The visibility deterioration caused by the turbidity of the atmosphere from time to time is caused by the mixture of haze and fog, but the main component is haze. The thickness of the haze is relatively thick, up to about 1-3 kilometers. Haze is different from fog and cloud. There is no obvious boundary between haze and clear sky. The distribution of haze particles is relatively uniform, and the scale of haze particles is relatively small, ranging from 0.001 microns to 10 microns, with an average diameter of about 1-2 microns. , The naked eye cannot see the particles floating in the air. Due to the haze composed of particles such as dust, sulfuric acid, and nitric acid, it scatters more light with longer wavelengths, so the haze looks yellow or orange-gray.

What are the hazards of haze weather ?

Haze weather can easily cause upper respiratory tract infections, with coughing, sneezing, and runny nose as the main symptoms; inhalable particles, sulfur dioxide and other pollutants in foggy weather are the main factors that induce asthma and chronic bronchitis. At the same time, the winter is cold and foggy, and the air pressure is low. Hypoxia and ischemia are prone to cause coronary vasospasm, thereby inducing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

The many harmful substances in the smog have a lot of damage to human skin and should be paid enough attention. Especially when the harmful substances in the haze adhere to the skin of the face suffering from acne, it often causes various symptoms, such as facial itching, redness, and inflammation.

Does the haze weather worsen the flu? Experts are not sure

According to experts from the Beijing Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no scientific conclusion to prove that there is a correlation between haze and influenza. Experts say that influenza is spread through viruses, and it is mainly carried out indoors. Confined places with crowded people and poor ventilation will be more likely to spread infectious diseases than outdoor environments. The impact of haze on the human body is mainly reflected in people with respiratory problems, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other respiratory diseases.

However, Kuang Tuguang, an expert at the Beijing Institute of Respiratory Diseases, believes that in haze weather, there are more particles in the atmosphere, and the surface of these particles is easy to adsorb bacteria and viruses, which may aggravate the spread of influenza virus, especially in crowds such as subways and markets. The place. He said that judging from the cases received in the hospital, not only the incidence of respiratory diseases is on the rise in recent days, but there are also more influenza cases.

Haze days are more likely to cause cancer than smoking

"Haze weather is more likely to cause cancer than cigarettes." Zhong Nanshan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases, once pointed out in a relevant forum that in the past 30 years, the smoking rate of the public in China has been declining, but the prevalence of lung cancer has increased by 4 times. many. This may be related to the increase in haze days.

Zhong Nanshan emphasized that dense fog and weather with very low visibility will have an impact on human health. The composition of smog is very complex, including hundreds of atmospheric particles. Among them, the main hazard to human health is the aerosol particles with a diameter of less than 10 microns, which can directly enter and adhere to the upper and lower respiratory tracts and lung lobes of the human body, causing rhinitis, bronchitis and other diseases. Long-term exposure to this environment can also induce lung cancer.

Preventive measures for haze weather

What are the hazards of haze weather? How to prevent the impact of haze on health

Wear a mask when going out in haze weather

If you go out, you can wear a mask, which can effectively prevent dust particles from entering the body. The best masks are cotton masks, because some people are allergic to non-woven fabrics, while cotton masks are generally not allergic and easy to clean. After returning from a trip, clean the face and bare skin immediately.

Open windows less in haze weather

Many people are used to opening windows for ventilation. But if the smog persists all day, should I open the windows for ventilation or close the doors and windows? Li Zhi pointed out that in the haze weather, it is not advisable to open windows for ventilation sooner or later, and it is best to wait for the sun to open the windows for ventilation.

Eat a light diet and drink plenty of water

It is advisable to choose light, digestible and vitamin-rich foods for foggy days. Drink plenty of water and eat more fresh vegetables and fruits. This can not only supplement various vitamins and inorganic salts, but also moisturize the lungs, eliminate dryness, expectorant and relieve cough, The role of spleen and kidney. Eat less irritating food, eat more pears, loquats, oranges, tangerines and other foods for clearing the lungs and reducing phlegm.

Vitamin D supplementation

In this season, there is a lot of fog and less sunshine. Due to insufficient ultraviolet radiation, the body's vitamin D production is insufficient. Some people will also suffer from mental laziness and depression. If necessary, supplement some vitamin D.

Eliminate a large number of free radicals produced in the body caused by haze weather

We know that smoking is harmful to health, because smoking will increase the number of free radicals in the body. Free radicals can attack the cells of body organs and cause various diseases. The free radicals produced by smog entering the human body are far more numerous than smoking. The most direct manifestation is diseases of the respiratory system, which may even cause heart disease, carcinogenesis, and death.

Therefore, when we encounter haze weather, in addition to physical isolation, we must also clean up the free radicals generated in the body in the haze weather, so as to fully protect our health from the inside out.

The only effective way to combat free radicals is to supplement antioxidants, because antioxidants can effectively scavenge free radicals. The fruits and vegetables we usually eat contain some antioxidants, but the content is very small, and they cannot meet the daily antioxidant needs of our body, especially in heavily polluted cities. These conditions have attracted the attention of the preventive medicine community in the world. In some developed countries in Europe and the United States, some products with very high antioxidant values ​​have been developed and produced, which can effectively combat the harm to the human body caused by the deteriorating environmental pollution.

Personal hygiene should be done in haze weather

The mist seems mild, but it contains various acids, alkalis, salts, amines, phenols, dust, pathogenic microorganisms and other harmful substances. Therefore, you should wash your face and bare skin immediately after returning from a foggy day.

Plant more green plants

There are a variety of green plants on your own balcony, terrace, and indoors. The indoor green walls in Singapore range from balconies, window sills to underground warehouses, and plants are planted from the first floor to the ninth floor. But in Beijing, many high-end office buildings are not green. If each person planted one square meter, Beijing could add 20 million square meters of green plants. During the interview, the reporter saw many plants, whether it was at the door of Wang Xianmin's office or indoors. From his experience, green crown-leaf plants such as Diospyros, Dieffenbachia and Hupilan have relatively strong adsorption capacity due to their large leaves.