Officials Warn Of Serious Air Pollution

The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) warned on Thursday that air pollution may reach "serious" levels in some areas.

At 3pm, eight of the city’s 18 general and roadside air quality monitoring stations recorded "high" or “very high” air pollution, involving areas like Yuen Long, Tuen Mun and Tung Chung.

The department said the city’s pollution levels have been higher than normal since Wednesday afternoon, and the situation is expected to continue for a couple more days.

"The weather in Hong Kong is mainly fine, very hot and hazy during the day, with light to moderate west to northwesterly winds, which is bringing an airstream with high regional ozone and particulate background pollutant concentrations and is unfavourable for pollutant dispersion," the EPD said in a statement.

"The intense sunshine enhances photochemical smog activity and the rapid formation of ozone and fine particulates in the Pearl River Delta region".

Speaking to RTHK afterwards, the department's Senior Environmental Protection Officer, Roy Tsang, said children, senior citizens as well as those with underlying health conditions should avoid going outdoors when the air is filthy.

“When the air quality index reaching “very high” or “serious” [levels], we would suggest children, elderly and persons with heart and respiratory diseases to avoid outdoor activities, so as to minimise their exposure to air pollutants,” Tsang said.

Patrick Fung, the Chief Executive Officer of Clean Air Network, said while the hot weather and low wind speed over the past couple of days have made it difficult for pollutants to disperse, that's not the only reason that's led to the serious air pollution.

“Those pollutants are actually produced by our activities in Hong Kong and some of them are regional. I think the weather is just one of the factors, and the deep underlying cause is our own activities,” he said.

“In Hong Kong, we are affected by emissions from traffic on the road. So they are the buses, the trucks, the lorries, the taxis etc. And then we are affected by the ship emissions as well. They are the bigger ocean-going vessels, as well as regional and local vessels. So these are generally the main pollutants that surround Hong Kong’s population.”

Meanwhile, the government said it expects air quality levels to improve early next week, when a broad area of low pressure is forecast to bring unsettled weather to the territory.

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