Environmental bureau refutes effect of cooking on pollution

The Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau has disputed a municipal government official's claim that residents' cooking contributes a large share of the city's PM2.5 pollution.

Beijing Youth Daily reported on Thursday that a bureau spokesperson said smoke from residents' kitchens accounts for only a small amount of the pollution.

The comments followed those of Zhao Huimin, director of the Beijing Foreign Affairs Office, who urged Beijing residents earlier this week to participate in the city's air pollution control plan because smoke from their kitchens adds to the problem.

However, the bureau said that the three major sources of PM2.5 pollution are vehicle emission, coal and industrial dust.

The bureau spokesperson did not elaborate on the degree to which cooking smoke contributes to the municipality's air pollution.

PM2.5 pollution contains particulate matter 2.5 micrometers in diameter, small enough to go deep into the lungs.

Zhao's remarks at a news conference in Indonesia have been widely discussed on the Internet.