Toll collectors are equipped with gas masks during work. [Photo/The Beijing News]

Toll staff have been equipped with gas masks for months while working at the expressway toll gates in Yanling county, Hunan province due to severe air pollution from chemical factories nearby, reported The Beijing News on Tuesday.

The two factories are located besides the expressway, about 200 meters away. One is producing silicon 24 hours a day and another one produces manganese for 12 hours a day. The toll staff endure the heavily polluted smog, which smells like rotten eggs, released by these two factories, with the gas masks barely providing relief.

The two factories have been suspended for failing to deal with their waste gases properly.

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