The Sanitation Bureau of Beijing's Haidian District announced on
November 6 that, from the next day onward, the area's busiest
supermarkets and department stores would display real time
information on their indoor air quality during holidays and at
weekends, the first initiative of its kind.
Zheng Yang, from the bureau's Sanitation Supervision Institute,
said levels of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, formaldehyde and
bacteria, as well as temperature and humidity measurements, will be
visible at Haidian store entrances.
The scheme, conducted jointly by the bureau and Haidian District
Disease Prevention and Control Center, will enable supervisors
to identify when standards are not met and advise stores on changes
that need to be made.
Modifications could include increased ventilation or controls on
numbers of customers entering stores.
The initiative aims both to inform the general
public and encourage retailers to ensure they provide healthy
environments for their customers.
Supermarkets and department stores have been
targeted because they attract large numbers of people during
holidays and at weekends, resulting in crowded indoor environments
where diseases could spread easily, particularly during winter when
respiratory illnesses peak.
The bureau said that at least five stores would be supervised each
month.
(China.org.cn by Li Xiaohua, November 9, 2005)