One of the issues of concern to many people is the impact of the air quality in Beijing on the athletes competing in outdoor activities, especially those involving 5K, 10K and all of the long distance running events, as well as many swimming events.

Beijing’ air quality is could impact the health of the athletes, and spectators, and there have been many reports recently in the press. Here is one from an Australian news service:

Beijing government officials, and the Olympic Organizing Committee have outlined a plan to restrict traffic flow leading up to and during the Olympics. Their prediction is that this should help reduce the smog (ozone) that impacts the 2008 Olympic City.

In 1996, the city of Atlanta hosted the Olympics. Although the concern that exists in advance of the Beijing Olympics was not as heightened for the Atlanta Olympic Games, the organizers put into place some of the same policies that the Chinese organizers are using. For one, traffic was restricted, and most people who attended the Olympic games took mass transit (MARTA), or used the shuttle bus system that had been put in place. Health educators and scientists wondered what impact reduced traffic might have on the health of Atlantans. An interesting report (Impact of Changes in Transportation and Commuting Behaviors During the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta on Air Quality and Childhood Asthma) was issued after the games. Local hospitals reported the number of people coming to emergency rooms for help with respiratory ailments actually decreases during the three-weeks of the Olympics. Data that was collected also showed that there was a reduction in ozone pollution.

Could this happen in Beijing? There is a strong likelihood that it could happen.

For years educators and secondary students worked together to study air quality, not only in Atlanta, but in other cities around the world through the Global Thinking Project (GTP) headquartered at Georgia State University. One of the environmental projects that the GTP designed was on ozone, and it was called Project Ozone. In the project, students used chemically treated paper strips (Ecobadges) to monitor and measure the concentration of ground level ozone.

In an earlier post, I suggested that the ecobadges could be used by teachers and students to study air quality in China. One thing that participants in the Games could do is to be a walking monitor of air quality. As you can see, the ecobadge can be clipped on to one’s clothing, and in a matter of one-hour, obtain a reading of ground-level ozone.

The ecobadge shown here is very cool. You can clip it to your shirt or blouse, and walk around monitoring the air. It works like this. You slide a test card into the Ecobadge. The top part of card (the purple part) is used for a 1-hour test; the bottom (brown) for an 8-hour test. By matching the color change on the test card with the color wheels shown, the level of ground level ozone can be determined in parts per million. Its very simple to use, and fairly accurate. You can also purchase a digital reader, the Zikua, which will provide more accurate readings.

Some resources that you might check out to learn more about ground-level ozone: