Blame yourselves, you naughty Beijingers. Just when you thought it was okay to pin the city’s pollution problems on neighboring Hebei province, a new report says, no, local air fouling is mostly done by Beijing sources.

Sixty-four to 72 percent of Beijing pollutants are produced locally, an investigation into Beijing pollution sources by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Engineering Academy found in its preliminary results. Final results should be available by soon from the survey, which is being conducted to measure air pollution in Beijing, Tianjin, and the Hebei provincial capital of Shijiazhuang.

PM 2.5 levels were measured at 89.5 micrograms per cubic meter, significantly above the standard level of 60, the report said.

Beijing pollution had recently blamed factories in Hebei province as the leading source, but this latest research points the finger back at Beijing, and specifically at pollutants generated by vehicular traffic. According to analysis by The Wall Street Journal of five years of US Embassy PM2.5 data, pollution in Beijing isn’t getting worse, if that makes you feel any better.

Photo: Greenpeace