Shanghai is likely to become the first city nationwide to pilot PM2.5 forecasts in 2013, as national legislators submitted proposals to address thorny environmental issues.

"We will try to report PM2.5 data one day in advance by the end of this year. The date will eventually be lengthened to two days," said Zhang Quan, an NPC deputy and director of the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau.

Zhang Quan, an NPC deputy and director of the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau. [Photo/China Daily]

He suggested that "ecological civilization" be written into the Constitution so environmental issues will be legally defined as a national priority.

PM2.5, or hazardous particulate matter of 2.5 micrometers in diameter or less that can penetrate the lungs, are closely linked to a number of significant health effects.

Environmental agencies currently report the air pollution figure in the latter half of the day. But delayed reports fail to send an early warning to alert sensitive populations, including people with heart or lung disease, children and older adults, said Zhang.

As a result, Shanghai is committed to revamping the monitoring system so that pollutants can be announced before people leave their houses, he said.

Zhang revealed that part of the efforts include introducing measurement equipment for PM1.0, which is an even stricter gauge to track air quality. But such facilities would gather information only for scientific research at this stage, rather than for public release.

On March 1, the city's air quality index reporting system was upgraded to provide real-time information to the public.