The eyes of the world are on Beijing, where 10,308 athletes risk lung disease as they compete for one of the Olympic Games’ 302 gold medals. Three percent of the athletes could go home with gold. With the air pollution in China, they probably have a better chance of getting emphysema. When will the world “get it” about clean air? The stupidity of it all is amazing. While smoking is the largest single cause of lung disease in China (or anywhere else), air pollution contributes mightily to the mix. Olympic athletes don’t smoke, but the benzene, carbon monoxide and heaven-knows-what in Beijing’s air give new meaning to the term “second-hand smoke.”
(Phyllis Zagano is senior research associate-in-residence at Hofstra University and author of several books in Catholic Studies.)