The heavy smog and haze that enveloped Beijing this weekend pushed the pollution index to a record high.

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But by U.S. standards, Utah's pollution index is off the charts with readings routinely exceeding a scale that tops out at 70 micrograms a cubic meter.

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He and his colleagues have launched a new air-pollution index that he says captures health risks better than the official index, which has not kept pace with the latest science.

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These are SPINdexes, not indexes, and they are spreading a type of index pollution that one should avoid.

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Since 2003, index pollution has spread.

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The government's Air Quality Index shows "unhealthy" pollution levels in much of Southern California.

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Last year Monterrey, the country's industrial capital, clocked a higher reading than Mexico City on its index of particles smaller than 10 microns, a form of pollution that is no less dangerous than ozone.

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Its report grades cities using, in part, the EPA's color-coded Air Quality Index, as well as its own weighting system that ranks the severity of pollution on a daily basis.

FORBES: Life