Canned air being sold in China amid heavy smog

Canned air reportedly obtained from Tibet and Taiwan is seeing brisk sales in smog-choked China. The gimmick shows how much the Chinese people are worried about bad air.

According to the China Times on Friday, billionaire philanthropist Chen Guangbiao, who is also chairman of Jiangsu Huangpu Renewable Resources Utilization, sold eight million cans of clean air just 10 days since their release. One 330-milliliter bottle is priced for 5 yuan (10 cents).

Chen says the air comes from pristine Tibet, post-industrial Taiwan and revolutionary Yan`an. Known for his eccentric behavior, he attracted criticism when the can was first released, with people saying he was promoting a temporary event to raise environment awareness. The can had no product name but just a photo of himself and a memo saying "Chen Guangbiao, good person" embedded.

In an interview with Hong Kong media, he said, " If we don`t start caring for the environment, our children and grandchildren might be wearing gas masks and carry oxygen tanks in 20 or 30 years."

With Beijing facing its most polluted state in recent memory, however, people are rushing to buy canned air despite the cans being filled with both oxygen and normal air. The price is also 60 percent higher than a can of cola (5 cents). Considering that it is unclear if the air really came from Tibet, the Chinese must have been gripped by fear of smog.

Zhong Nanshan, head of Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases, said on CCTV Thursday that smog is more dangerous than the SARS disease that swept China in 2002. "Since patients can be separated for SARS, additional infections can be somewhat prevented. But smog can`t be avoided as it worsens even indoor air," he said.

"Examining the records of air quality and frequency of disease, the recent smog in Beijing is likely to lead to a 60-percent increase in lung cancer patients with the next 10 years."

The dust particle diameter of below 2.5μm affects the cardiovascular and nervous systems, particularly respiratory systems. An analysis on the correlation between PM2.5 concentration rise and hospitalization shows that the pollution level will raise the incidence of lung cancer up to 60 percent.

Beijing`s PM2.5 concentration surged up to 993μg, or 40 times the standard of the World Health Organization (25μg per cubic meter) in January.

koh@donga.com