If it can be proven that China's efforts made a major impact, then other countries may consider taking similar environmental actions, she said.
"It's not just about China. It's about megacities across the world. What's learned here can perhaps be applied to other cities," Simonich said.
Other scientists chose to focus on the health impact of the dirty air, a huge concern that was raised earlier by Olympic athletes. Several countries, including the U.S., has already said they will provide their athletes with an air mask that they have the option of using.
Qinghua Sun, an assistant professor at Ohio State University's College of Public Health, is working with two Chinese universities to collect data on the mechanics of how air pollution affects human health, especially cardiovascular diseases.
Sun, who will be conducting experiments on both mice and humans, said he is looking specifically at the impact of ultrafine particles, known as PM 2.5., on diabetic patients since preliminary data has shown that there is a clear link between cardiovascular disease and PM 2.5
"Hopefully, with our data, China can see the need to take a dramatic policy strategy to continue the good policies they conducted during the Games," he said.
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