Key Question For Parents Choosing Their Kid's School In Beijing: Does It Have Air Filters?

[hatrack]

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Families in Beijing are not alone in their fight for better air. Shanghai parents are still waiting for the green light from the city’s education bureau to install air purifiers in classrooms, one year since they were promised that a feasibility study would be conducted by local officials. For parents, air-filtration systems are fast becoming a major factor in choosing where their children will go to school.

Many parents no longer see installing stand-alone air purifiers in classrooms as an effective solution to combatting air pollution, as the machines are often left turned off, may not be powerful enough to adequately filter the space, and can easily be undermined by teachers who open classroom windows. Meanwhile, ventilation systems, which purify the outdoor air and filter it into sealed rooms, remove the opportunity for human error. But they also require the fundamental restructuring of school buildings. As yet, Beijing’s education commission has not clarified which type of air-purification equipment they will introduce into schools.

“It’s the only solution to guarantee safer air in classrooms,” said Wang Wen, a 34-year-old Beijing mother of a 6-year-old. “It’s impossible for schools to completely seal out the air from outside. Windows and doors will get opened. It’s not like at home, where you can control everything. Air purifiers can’t really help in this environment.”

Lin Lin, another Beijing mother, told Sixth Tone that her son attends a private school that has already been equipped with a fresh-air system. Despite that, her family is still determined to move to Canada this coming summer. “When my older son finishes his grade-two studies, we’ll move,” Lin said. “My 2-year-old son has been kept indoors for weeks. It’s not just about classroom air safety; it’s about the air safety of this entire city. Even when I need to walk downstairs to throw away the garbage, I must wear a mask.”

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http://www.sixthtone.com/news/beijing-schools-install-air-purifiers-after-parents%E2%80%99-outcry

[TBA]

1. I was in Quanzhou in the late 90s

And the air was awful. Every night I would return to my hotel and I would have to clean the black soot out of my nose. And that was in August. I cannot imagine how bad it must be in the winter when everyone is heating with coal.

The water was undrinkable as well. We even brushed our teeth with bottled water. My sister still got debilitating diarrhea.

Most Americans have no idea how important environmental regulations are.