PM2.5 and eye discomfort in hazy weather

Recently, both Beijing and Shenzhen have been experiencing persistent hazy weather, and PM2.5 exceedances have caused symptoms of shortness of breath, chest tightness, coughing, frequent sneezing, and eye irritation in people. Eye irritation can include itchy eyes, foreign body sensation, congestion, dry eyes, etc., and can be more pronounced for people with pre-existing conjunctivitis, dry eyes, or those who wear corneal contact lenses. In addition, rhinitis attacks induced by nasopharyngeal irritation, sneezing can aggravate the symptoms of appeals, and even acute conjunctivitis can be induced in children with a weak immune system. So what can we do in the face of such weather conditions? Referring to the recommendations on the US Consulate webpage, at least we can pay attention to the following points: 1. Minimize outdoor activities. Reducing exposure at this time is the best option, because PM2.5 is very tiny particles, and the dust masks currently available on the market simply cannot block the entry of PM2.5. If you really avoid long-term activities outdoors, you can consider choosing N-95 or P-100 masks, which can moderately reduce nasopharyngeal inhalation when worn correctly, but still cannot protect our eyes. 2, in the house to close the doors and windows tightly, do not think the sun rises to open the windows for ventilation, sensitive people in just open the windows for a short period of time will immediately have the appearance of irritation symptoms. In addition, to keep the room clean, the conditions allow you to consider adding air filters. 3, for their own conjunctivitis, dry eye patients can use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory eye solution and artificial tears to improve eye irritation symptoms, those with rhinitis should be treated together. Contact lens wearers can appropriately reduce the number of wears, acute inflammatory episodes in time to seek medical attention. Children are usually more active and it is more important to minimize outdoor activities. We can’t change the environment for a while, but we can change our attitude towards it. We hope that in the future, environmental management will enable everyone to see the world clearly and comfortably.