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The Beijing News has refuted a report published on Monday about an experiment which alleged that smog substances blackened rats' lungs in an incurable process.
According to the report, an experiment conducted by a group of researchers in Fudan University demonstrated that PM2.5 could turn the healthy lungs of rats black within six days. The coordinator of the experiment, Song Weimin, also asserted that these results were incurable.
The report then triggered debates and panic among the public regarding the worsening smog situation in China.
Professor Song Weimin, however, told a reporter from Beijing News later yesterday that he had never received an interview about the case, nor had he said that the results were incurable.
The experiment, according to Song, took the suspension of PM2.5, the main substance of smog, and dripped it onto the lungs of the rats three times within 6 days.
The concentration of the suspension used in the experiment is equivalent to thousands of times of that found in air, Song said. There is also no evidence at this point to prove the results are not curable.
Song said his lab will release a full report later based on the experiment.
An environmental expert from Peking University, Pan Xiaochuan, also said that the PM2.5 suspension from the study is not comparable to that exposed in the polluted air.
With concentrated suspensions of different degrees, Pan said "it is also possible to blacken lungs within 2 hours".
He also said, though rats are commonly used in medical experiments, the results are not always adaptable to humans.
Therefore there is no need for the general public to worry about this experiment, according to Pan.
The Beijing News suspects that the report aims to promote a medical product using loquat leaves extract to treat coughs, as it mentions that the branded product has "obvious effects in preventing and treating respiratory diseases caused by PM2.5".
