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Comment by ekianjo | Hacker News Reader

Come on, the article referred "you could get sick just by standing in the street" - if that's not hyperbole, I don't know what that is.

> with a 36% increase in lung cancer per 10 μg/m3 as it can penetrate deeper into the lungs

Observational study. That says everything, it does not account for all variables that have to be taken in account and therefore the effect cannot be isolated.

> An increase in estimated annual exposure to PM 2.5 of just 5 µg/m3 was linked with a 13% increased risk of heart attacks.

Annual exposure. Not standing in the streets for 5 minutes like the article suggests.

Yes, we should temper our language and use Good Science and not Sensationalism.

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Have you ever been there? If you want to talk about science, then define "sick" fisrt. For most people, frequently coughing would be considered as "sick". Note that we are not discussing disease, we are talking about sickness, which I think is a less rigorous word sometimes referring to "not feeling good".

I was born in Beijing and have been living there for more than two decades. And yes, I feel bad when I was exposed under that environment: I can hardly breathe, I coughed a lot and felt itchy in every inch of my skin. If you think that is not "getting sick", then well, welcome to Beijing.

> Have you ever been there?

As a matter of fact, I have, and several times. Don't assume I know nothing of what I am talking about please.

Please show me the stats of lung cancer in Beijing vs other parts of the world. I'd like to see how much the reality stands out vs the assumptions people make.

> If you think that is not "getting sick", then well, welcome to Beijing.

I was not talking about discomfort (that, I have noticed on every trip I did there) but this particular article makes blatant claims with absolutely no data to back them up, which was exactly the point of my post: allegations do not create facts.

https://www.google.com/search?q=stats+of+lung+cancer+in+Beij...

"Come on, the article referred "you could get sick just by standing in the street" - if that's not hyperbole, I don't know what that is."

Actually, that's understatement. You don't even need to be standing in the street.

Air circulates everywhere, both indoor and out. Sure, you can try and seal your windows, and run air purifiers in your home. But what about when you're at work, or at a restaurant, or any other non-home place?

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