Data collected from the Chinese government revealed that air pollution level in Beijing has decreased significantly over the first quarter of the year compared to that of the same period last year, according to a recent report.

Environmental protection advocate Greenpeace said that the particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations in the Chinese capital have fallen by as much as 13 percent in the first three months of 2015 compared to the first quarter of 2014.

PM2.5 is a unit used to measure the pollution in an area with diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less. This material is considered highly dangerous since it can penetrate the human body through the lungs and enter the bloodstream.

Zhang Kai, the climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace East Asia in Beijing stated that one of the possible causes for the decrease is the Chinese government's efforts to significantly curb air pollution levels in the country. He said that the pollution levels were drastically reduced in highly industrial areas such as Beijing and its neighboring province of Hebei.

Greenpeace's study also revealed that among the 74 cities in the country monitored by the group for air pollution last year, some of them showed an average of 48 percent decrease in pollution.

Hebei, which contributes to the air pollution in Beijing, registered a 32 percent decrease in PM2.5 levels.

The environmental group, however, pointed out that while the decrease in pollution in the city is noticeable, Beijing remains one of the most polluted cities in China. They said that the quality of the air still poses an imminent threat to people's health.

The results were gathered after researchers from Greenpeace East Asia studied the pollution levels in 367 Chinese cities and ranked them according to the amount of particulate matter in the air based on data from China's Ministry of Environmental Protection.

Of the total number of cities monitored, 360 of the cities registered a PM2.5 concentration of 66 micrograms per cubic meter, which is almost twice as much as the 35 micrograms per cubic meter standard for the entire country. The result is also more than double the amount set for rigorous exposure limit of 25 micrograms per cubic meter over 24 hours suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Data from the other seven cities were discarded since they were flawed, Greenpeace said.

Zhang added that Greenpeace expects that the PM2.5 levels in China's coastal cities will continue to decrease due to the government's efforts to control the air pollution problem.

Photo: PJ Morse | Flickr