Hong Kong - Pollution in central
Hong Kong reached high levels Thursday, prompting the government to issue a
health warning. People with respiratory illnesses were warned to avoid long periods out of doors as roadside monitors at 8 am (0000 GMT) reached 119 in the Central and 118 in the Causeway Bay districts.
The index works on a scale of zero to 500 and anything from 100 to 200 is considered high. More than 200 is severe.
The main contributor to the smog was nitrogen dioxide, produced by car exhausts and power stations.
Pollution levels in Hong Kong have soared in the past 15 years, and government efforts to improve air quality by making buses and taxis use greener fuels have so far had little discernible effect on the smog.
Around 80 per cent of the air
pollution in Hong Kong is blown over from the
industrial zone in neighbouring southern mainland
China with the rest due to traffic on the island.
Health experts said the growing pollution is now responsible for about three deaths a day in the city of 7 million and is putting a strain on health resources.
