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Great pall of Beijing
By MICHAEL DONALDSON - Sunday Star Times | Sunday, 20 July 2008
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The New Zealand Olympic team will wear carbon filter masks to help them cope with the pollution in Beijing.
New Zealand officials have revealed for the first time that the 182 Kiwi athletes will be issued with masks to wear around the village although they have been told not to try to compete while wearing them.
The pollution has been a sensitive issue, with the Chinese promising the air will be clean by the time the Games start in less than three weeks, thanks largely to some draconian measures that take effect today.
But New Zealand women's hockey coach Kevin Towns, who recently said the air in Beijing "was a shocker", believed 11th-hour plans to reduce emissions from factories and vehicles would be insufficient.
New Zealand chef de mission Dave Currie, who arrived in Beijing today, diplomatically played down the issue, saying he'd encountered worse smog in Los Angeles.
But the pollution fears are considered serious enough for all New Zealand athletes to be screened for possible side-effects.
Richard Young, Sparc's performance consultant of technical development, said all athletes were given a peak lung function test to determine who was more at risk from inhaling polluted air and who will benefit more from wearing the masks, which cost around $30.
"Each athlete will be given a mask and five carbon filters which will last about 10 days," Young told the Sunday Star-Times.
"It's going to depend on what the air quality is like. If you have anyone with asthma or allergies they'll be in the carbon masks, others will use them as a precaution as well."
The United States will also issue masks to their athletes and Young admitted the International Olympic Committee and the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) feared scenes of athletes wearing masks. "I know the IOC and BOCOG don't want it to look like it was a quarantine zone with lots of people running around looking like surgeons," he said.
Beijing is the most polluted city to ever host the Olympic Games. Its air has long held levels of particulate matter well above World Health Organisation standards; sometimes as much as 200% or more above guidelines.
The air masks available to the New Zealanders are similar to those designed by the US Olympic Committee.
Randy Wilber, a physiologist attached to the US team, said the masks were vital for health but it wouldn't be wise to wear them in competition.
"I think it would be a huge political issue and an embarrassment to the Chinese people and to the IOC if athletes wore masks in the event itself," Wilber said. "If that image was beamed around the world on TV, it would cause nothing but problems. It's much more important to guard against the pollution beforehand and go to the line with clean lungs."
US triathletes wore masks in China last September, but removed them before competing. They stepped off the bus looking like a group of incredibly fit surgeons or, as one triathlete put it, a gathering of Darth Vaders.
"You do look kind of silly wearing it," said triathlete Jarrod Shoemaker, who had competed in Beijing twice before. "But I wore it before the race this time, and I didn't feel burning in my throat afterward. I could still taste the grit on my teeth, but I could actually talk and breathe. That wasn't the case in other years."
Today is critical for the Olympic pollution levels. Dozens of industrial plants in the city and neighbouring provinces will shut down and other polluting factories will be required to cut emissions by 30%. In the neighbouring cities of Tianjin and Tangshan, more than 300 factories will be shut during the Olympics.
The biggest element of the short-term clean-up efforts will be a restriction on car traffic that also begins today. The Chinese government estimates that up to 50% of Beijing's 3.3 million vehicles will be cleared from the streets.
Young said that on the flight to Beijing the team would be issued with specialised quarantine masks to prevent illness while travelling.
The masks to be used on the flight are designed to filter 99.9% of all bacteria and viruses.
"Athletes close to their physical peak have a suppressed immune system and are susceptible to illness," Young said. "And a plane is one of the worst environments to be in if you want to avoid illness."
He said the masks, which effectively "glue" to the face, are similar to those used in highly contagious areas such as during a bird-flu outbreak.
6:56 PM
Great pall of Beijing
By MICHAEL DONALDSON - Sunday Star Times | Sunday, 20 July 2008
Email a Friend | Printable View Related Links
Subscribe to Archivestuff
Comment on this story
The New Zealand Olympic team will wear carbon filter masks to help them cope with the pollution in Beijing.
New Zealand officials have revealed for the first time that the 182 Kiwi athletes will be issued with masks to wear around the village although they have been told not to try to compete while wearing them.
The pollution has been a sensitive issue, with the Chinese promising the air will be clean by the time the Games start in less than three weeks, thanks largely to some draconian measures that take effect today.
But New Zealand women's hockey coach Kevin Towns, who recently said the air in Beijing "was a shocker", believed 11th-hour plans to reduce emissions from factories and vehicles would be insufficient.
New Zealand chef de mission Dave Currie, who arrived in Beijing today, diplomatically played down the issue, saying he'd encountered worse smog in Los Angeles.
But the pollution fears are considered serious enough for all New Zealand athletes to be screened for possible side-effects.
Richard Young, Sparc's performance consultant of technical development, said all athletes were given a peak lung function test to determine who was more at risk from inhaling polluted air and who will benefit more from wearing the masks, which cost around $30.
"Each athlete will be given a mask and five carbon filters which will last about 10 days," Young told the Sunday Star-Times.
"It's going to depend on what the air quality is like. If you have anyone with asthma or allergies they'll be in the carbon masks, others will use them as a precaution as well."
The United States will also issue masks to their athletes and Young admitted the International Olympic Committee and the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) feared scenes of athletes wearing masks. "I know the IOC and BOCOG don't want it to look like it was a quarantine zone with lots of people running around looking like surgeons," he said.
Beijing is the most polluted city to ever host the Olympic Games. Its air has long held levels of particulate matter well above World Health Organisation standards; sometimes as much as 200% or more above guidelines.
The air masks available to the New Zealanders are similar to those designed by the US Olympic Committee.
Randy Wilber, a physiologist attached to the US team, said the masks were vital for health but it wouldn't be wise to wear them in competition.
"I think it would be a huge political issue and an embarrassment to the Chinese people and to the IOC if athletes wore masks in the event itself," Wilber said. "If that image was beamed around the world on TV, it would cause nothing but problems. It's much more important to guard against the pollution beforehand and go to the line with clean lungs."
US triathletes wore masks in China last September, but removed them before competing. They stepped off the bus looking like a group of incredibly fit surgeons or, as one triathlete put it, a gathering of Darth Vaders.
"You do look kind of silly wearing it," said triathlete Jarrod Shoemaker, who had competed in Beijing twice before. "But I wore it before the race this time, and I didn't feel burning in my throat afterward. I could still taste the grit on my teeth, but I could actually talk and breathe. That wasn't the case in other years."
Today is critical for the Olympic pollution levels. Dozens of industrial plants in the city and neighbouring provinces will shut down and other polluting factories will be required to cut emissions by 30%. In the neighbouring cities of Tianjin and Tangshan, more than 300 factories will be shut during the Olympics.
The biggest element of the short-term clean-up efforts will be a restriction on car traffic that also begins today. The Chinese government estimates that up to 50% of Beijing's 3.3 million vehicles will be cleared from the streets.
Young said that on the flight to Beijing the team would be issued with specialised quarantine masks to prevent illness while travelling.
The masks to be used on the flight are designed to filter 99.9% of all bacteria and viruses.
"Athletes close to their physical peak have a suppressed immune system and are susceptible to illness," Young said. "And a plane is one of the worst environments to be in if you want to avoid illness."
He said the masks, which effectively "glue" to the face, are similar to those used in highly contagious areas such as during a bird-flu outbreak.
6:56 PM
