Guangdong air quality worsening: survey

A recent survey has found that nearly 50 percent of the urban residents in Guangdong province think the air quality in the urban areas is worsening.

More than 38 percent of the urban residents said they feel sick or uncomfortable due to the poor air quality, according to the survey, which was released on Thursday.

The survey, which was conducted by the Guangzhou Public Opinion Research Center in March interviewed 2,000 urban residents in the southern province, which borders Hong Kong and the Macao special administrative regions.

More than 50 percent of the interviewees in major cities in the Pearl River delta think air quality is getting worse, while over 45 percent of the residents in mountainous cities also said air quality has worsened.

More than 48 percent of the urban residents in Guangdong also believe the air quality in the province’s urban areas is getting worse.

Only 16 percent of the interviewees think the air quality in urban areas is getting better, the survey said.

Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, and the Shenzhen special economic zone are the areas with the worst air pollution.

The rapid growing number of vehicles is thought to be the major reason behind the poor air quality. It is followed by industrial waste discharges, dust caused by major industrial and real estate construction sites, and smells from polluted rivers, garbage dumps, landfill sites and incinerators.

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