China's air quality drops due to car emissions

The air quality of China's cities has dropped as a result of emissions produced by cars, it has been suggested.

According to a recent government report, a third of 113 cities in the Asian country failed national air quality targets last year.

The ministry of environmental protection has said that this coincides with an increase in the number of motor vehicles, rising by 9.3 per cent year-on-year to 170 million.

"All the problems are closely related to vehicle exhaust emissions," the report stated.

Figures revealed that while auto sales hit 13.64 million units in 2009, emissions from vehicles reached more than 51 million tonnes.

This includes more than 40 million tonnes of carbon monoxide, five million tonnes of hydrocarbons, as well as six million tonnes of nitrogen oxide.

The increase in pollution comes after Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau revealed that air quality in the city had improved earlier this summer, with the Shanghai Daily reporting that there was a reduction in sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, as well as other air pollutants.

Posted by Lauren Steadman