Hong Kong pollution reaches dangerous levels

People with respiratory illnesses were warned to avoid long periods out of doors as roadside monitors in city centre areas registered unusually high levels of air pollution.

At 8 am (0000 GMT), readings reached 148 in Central, 128 in Mongkok and 124 in the Causeway Bay districts

The index works on a scale of zero to 500 and anything between 100 and 200 is considered very high. Over 200 is severe.

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 percent 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.

The index measures various pollutants including suspended particles, sulphur dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. Friday's high levels were largely due to a spike in nitrogen dioxide levels, a product of car exhausts and power stations.

Academic studies suggest Hong Kong is paying a high price for the worsening pollution as vulnerable people fall ill and place additional burdens on the health service.

A university survey last year claimed more than 1 million people were so worried about the levels of pollution they had considered leaving Hong Kong.

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