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Hong Kong Air Pollution ‘Very High’

Jan 23rd, 2009
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Angela Seet – Updated on Jan 23, 2009 – SCMP

Air pollution levels in Hong Kong were very high on Friday, with the air pollution index (API) reaching 140 in Central, a spokesman from the Environmental Protection department said.

At 6pm, roadside station readings at Central and Causeway Bay were recorded as “very high” with an API rating of 118 and 103 respectively. The station reading at Mongkok was slightly better at 92, but according to the standards set by the department, it is still considered to be “high”.

The department found that the contributing pollutant to all three station readings was nitrogen dioxide, which causes urban haze, or “photochemical smog”.

Environmental Protection officer Dave Ho said says the air pollutants were not dispersed because of recent calm weather conditions.

“The air is currently affected by the continental airstream, with relatively high background pollution. Over the last two days, the wind was very weak so the pollutants were trapped and thus, pushing up the air pollution index,” he explained.

Mr Ho also said that air pollution levels should reduce in the next few days, if the winds pick up strength as usual.

Between API readings of 101 to 200, air pollution levels are rated “very high” and those with existing heart or respiratory illnesses are advised to avoid prolonged stay in areas with heavy traffic.

“If you have to stay in streets or on roads with heavy traffic, do reduce physical exertion as far as possible,” a spokesman said.

Lawmakers are worried that the approaching 2010 targets for emissions reduction cannot be met as air pollution is not considered a serious threat.

Critics say that the city’s air quality objectives, set more than 20 years ago, are less stringent that the ones set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

For example, if Hong Kong strictly followed the WHO target for sulfur content, the government would have to reduce current concentration levels by some 95 per cent.

Hong Kong’s Economic Growth Spluttering On Filthy Air

Jan 20th, 2009
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20th Jan 2009 – AFP

HONG KONG (AFP) — In recent years, a thick haze originating from factories in southern China has enveloped Hong Kong for large chunks of the year, blocking views of its famous harbour and raising health fears.

Combined with the city’s home-grown pollution, scientists and business leaders say [air pollution] presents a serious economic risk to the financial hub, both for its ability to attract and retain talent and the associated health costs.

When Teena Goulet moved to Hong Kong in 1995 she thought she would never leave but five years after moving here, the keen outdoorswoman developed a chronic cough.

For someone who spent all her spare time outside — hiking, dragon boating, rowing — health was a major concern and after being diagnosed with adult onset asthma, Goulet, 45, decided last year to leave.

“It is just so vibrant and so safe,” the US banker said of Hong Kong.

“There is an amazing quality to it. Doing business is so easy, the low tax is great, the food and restaurants are great.

“I would have retired there,” said Goulet, speaking by phone from her new home in California. “But when you cannot breath, it kind of tells you what to do.”

Within a week of moving to California last March, her cough stopped.

US investment guru Jim Rogers, who moved to Asia in 2007 with his family because of his conviction that China would be the major driver of the world economy, chose to live in Singapore.

“I don’t want to breathe Hong Kong air,” he said.

A report for the City of London last October about the potential challenges from Asian financial centres, said the “only consistently negative issue” cited by professionals about Hong Kong related to environmental pollution.

The Hedley Environmental Index, a new website set up by a group of academics that combines air quality and public health data, puts the associated costs of the city’s poor air at 12.5 billion Hong Kong dollars (1.6 billion US) since the start of 2004.

[Air pollution in Hong Kong] caused 6,108 premature deaths.

Anthony Hedley, the public health professor at Hong Kong University after whom the index is named, said the website’s figures were conservative, as they excluded the long-term health effects of breathing toxic air.

“We are building up an enormous debt of trouble, which will manifest itself in one, two, three decades and could rear a huge toll on our children,” said Hedley.

‘Hong Kong is choking on its own greed’ —

A recent study commissioned by think tank Civic Exchange said one in five residents were considering leaving Hong Kong because of its dire air. Of the more than 1,000 people surveyed, 97 percent were local Chinese.

Michael DeGolyer, a political science professor at Hong Kong Baptist University who did the study, said the mood was such that one “tipping point” could provoke an exodus, particularly among managers and administrators.

“And Singapore wants them,” said DeGolyer.

The American Chamber of Commerce found in a recent member survey that 70 percent knew of professionals who had either left or were considering leaving because of the pollution.

“Hong Kong needs to lead the way (to improve air quality). That is what being a world city stands for,” said chamber chairman David Cunningham.

While the filth from thousands of toy, clothing and electronics factories in neighbouring Guangdong province dominates headlines, Alexis Lau, an atmospheric sciences professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said home-grown emissions from coal-fired power stations and dirty trucks were a more serious problem.

“We still believe the local pollution is more important for health,” Lau told a recent conference.

Hedley, who is leaving Hong Kong after 21 years here partly over worries about the air — he was diagnosed with adult onset asthma in his 60s — said the government must wake up to the time bomb.

“(The question for the government is) how many premature deaths are you prepared to accept?” said Hedley.

Chief Executive Donald Tsang said in 2007 improving air quality was “a matter of life and death,” and the government is currently reviewing its air quality guidelines, 20 years after they were last revised.

A spokeswoman for the Environmental Protection Department said tough measures had already helped reduce levels of several roadside pollutants and it was working with Guangdong authorities to reduce the haze.

New technology was being introduced to reduce emissions from power plants.

The department said the number of overseas companies with regional headquarters, offices or local operations in Hong Kong had increased to 6,612 in 2008 from 5,414 in 2003.

Any tougher regulations are likely to face opposition from sections of the local business community, which operates around 55,000 factories in Guangdong.

Goulet, who is now planning a move to Japan, said such intransigence was short-sighted: “Hong Kong is choking on its own greed.”

Don’t Hold Your Breath

Jan 20th, 2009
by AdminCTA.
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As you get older, your skin will get duller. But you don’t have to sit back and accept it as a forgone conclusion. The aging of the skin is accelerated by pollution, which also creates lots of other skin problems.

Ivy Ong-Wood -Tuesday, January 20, 2009 – The Standard

As you get older, your skin will get duller. But you don’t have to sit back and accept it as a forgone conclusion. The aging of the skin is accelerated by pollution, which also creates lots of other skin problems.

Said dermatologist John Yu Ho-tak: “Pollution causes infection, in the form of acne and folliculities, which affects hair follicles. It also sparks off inflammation, which presents itself in skin allergies like eczema.”

Other long-term effects of pollution are wrinkles and irregular pigmentation.

Hong Kong is one of the worst places to be in if you want to escape that. Official figures released early this month showed that air pollution in many parts of the city last year reached its highest level since records began.

According to the Environmental Protection Department, the number of hours for which street-level pollution exceeded the danger level in some districts rose by 14 percent last year.

Pollution levels in Central, Causeway Bay and Mong Kok reached dangerous levels for more than 2,000 hours last year – the highest figure since the department began taking roadside recordings in 2000.

A quick check in the department’s website shows that biggest culprits are respirable suspended particulates (dust to us laymen), nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide.

Dust is the most visible of the three but, believe it or not, the ones that pose the most danger to our skin are the two gases that we cannot see.

Said Yu: “Suspended particles like dirt and tar are irritants which can be removed by simple washing. But airborne gas pollution are oxidizers, which can cause long-term damage as they cause free radical activity to occur on your skin.”

He added: “Our skin has a natural antioxidant defence, which is a cell membrane containing vitamin E. When the vitamin E in the membrane meets a free radical, it will neutralize it by binding the free radical. However, if there are too many free radicals attacking it, the vitamin E will lose its binding power, like a bee losing its sting.

“One way to reactivate this vitamin is to give it a dose of antioxidants. This is important because if a cell has been attacked too many times, it will die. Cell death causes skin pigmentation. Free radicals can also damage the skin’s collagen fiber cells, resulting in wrinkles.”

As the most exposed areas on our bodies, the face and forearms are the first places to show the effects of pollution.

Simple ways to counteract this effect, said Yu, are to stay indoors when the pollution index is high, wash your face after being outdoors and keeping skin moisturized to create an additional barrier.

“Some people think eating more fruits and vegetables will help,” he added.

“Eating more of that stuff is good for the body in general but it is unrelated to pollution. Once in the gut, the antioxidants are digested and broken down. The body takes in only as much as it needs and doesn’t store up a reserve.”

The best way is to apply antioxidant directly on the skin. But Yu cautioned: “You can’t just put tomato slices on your face or buy just any product to slap on your skin. To be effective, the antioxidants need to be absorbed by the skin.”

The strongest antioxidants are evident in L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C), alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) and plant essence – ferulic acid from most plants and phlorectin from apples.

“But you have to pay attention to the delivery system,” said Yu. “Does it get into the cellular level? It’s no use if it just sits on the skin.”

He advises buying a product that has a low pH or is more acidic. “L-ascorbic acid, for example, is stable at a pH of about two to three. Any higher or lower and it won’t work. But you have to balance that against the fact that the higher the acidity, the higher the likelihood of skin irritations.”

Hong Kong To Revise Air Pollution Index

Jan 19th, 2009
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ChinaCSR – January 16, 2009

Edward Yau, the secretary of the Environmental Protection Department of Hong Kong, has stated that Hong Kong will work out a range of measures this year and hold public consultations with the aim of updating the air pollution index.

Yau also stressed that he hoped that the revised rule on parking would be enacted soon.

Yau says he was inspired by the National Development and Reform Commission’s guideline planning for the Pearl River Delta Development in which cooperation between Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta region on the environment was mentioned and a regional green living area was scheduled. Yau said that Hong Kong’s air pollution index which was initiated in the 80’s is already outdated and the consultants’ report is almost complete. A series of measures is expected to be launched within 12 months and the government will consult with the public on the steps to adopt the new measures.

Currently, Hong Kong refers to the World Health Organization for its air pollution index. If it wants to reach the highest standard, it needs to reduce sulfur dioxide emission from its power stations by 95% and change the use of coal fuel power.

Hong Kong’s Air Pollution Causes Some to Think Twice About Living There

Jan 15th, 2009
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By Kari Jensen, VOA News.com – 15 January 2009

Air pollution in Hong Kong has gotten so bad that some businesses are losing staff and customers. A city watchdog group says the government is not doing enough to reduce pollution, much of which comes from mainland China.

Hong Kong’s skies were clear and blue when Alan Knight first arrived there in 1993. But, within 12 years, the city had become so polluted there were days when he could not see through the gray haze across Victoria Harbor.

Knight’s work requires travel. He is a journalist and professor. He also has a lung condition, which usually is dormant. But it flared, a few years back, when he returned to Hong Kong. He was hospitalized and received high dosages of antibiotics. Once he was back in Brisbane, Australia the condition resolved itself.

Knight says he is looking to move back to Asia, but not Hong Kong.

“I think the atmosphere in Hong Kong is really toxic,” he said. “I’d love to come back to Hong Kong. I love the city. I love the people. I love the place. But, quite frankly, I’m likely to live in Singapore.”

The city’s poor air quality is affecting both its residents’ health and its economy. A recent survey shows one in five Hong Kongers may leave the city, because of air pollution. Air pollution costs more than $283 million annually in health care costs and lost job prospects.

Michael DeGolyer is a professor in international studies at Hong Kong Baptist University. He conducted the air pollution survey for Civic Exchange, a public policy think tank.

He says about 30 percent of those who are seriously considering leaving because of bad air are mid- to high-level professionals.

DeGolyer says more than 97 percent of those surveyed were ethnic Chinese. He says air pollution is not just an expat concern.

“Everybody breathes air,” he said. “And, it’s become a concern to everybody now.”

In southern China, factories are closing down, in part because of tougher environmental standards. Still, Chinese factories in the Pearl River Delta north of Hong Kong are the city’s major source of pollution.

But half the time, Hong Kong’s pollution comes directly from its power plants, vehicular emissions and marine traffic.

In the city’s urban areas, tall buildings trap particulates, instead of allowing them to be dispersed by the wind. Residents live close to the roadways and are constantly exposed.

Local activists are looking to other major cities to see what they did to curtail pollution. DeGolyer says research in California shows money spent on air pollution abatement was more than recovered by reduced health care costs and improved worker productivity.

Civic Exchange is pushing Hong Kong to impose stricter air quality standards. It wants the environmental standards to also protect public health. It hosted a clean air conference recently, where international researchers, scientists, economists and academics discussed green measures.

Hong Kong’s present guidelines have not been updated for more than two decades. The city’s air quality, in terms of sulfur content, is much less stringent than World Health Organization guidelines set in 2006.

A Hong Kong legislature’s environmental affairs committee plans to review air quality guidelines and possibly adopt more stringent standards this year.

Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department has made efforts to curtail pollution. It has tightened vehicle and power plant emissions and introduced cleaner fuels.

Although sulfur dioxide emissions in the city have dropped back to almost 1997 levels, they are still well above the government’s emission-reduction targets. Air pollution worsened this past year.

Government detractors say, in terms of addressing air pollution, the legislature favors business, especially the transport lobby.

Businesses are quick to defend themselves. Al Hendricks works for a company that manufactures energy-saving equipment. He says industry is less resistant to change than government.

“There’s people here who just don’t want to make changes and are either afraid to or just don’t want to rock the boat for whatever reason,” he said.

Hendricks says the government needs to offer incentives if it wants businesses to enforce environmental standards.

As upper-level professionals leave Hong Kong for jobs in less-polluted cities, businesses may be forced to change without government prodding. The demand for top talent across Asia is high.

It is a delicate balance. By imposing stricter standards, Hong Kong may lose business to nearby Chinese ports and cities, which have looser standards. But, by not cleaning up its air, Hong Kong is already losing professionals and businesses.

The Hong Kong government is working with the government of southern Guangdong province to reduce regional emissions.

Guangdong has agreed to ban the construction of new coal-fired or oil-fired power plants.

Still, even if Hong Kong addresses its air pollution, it can not force Guangdong to take the same measures.

Will Guangdong Meet 2010 Emission Reduction Targets?

Jan 14th, 2009
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Lawmakers sceptical that HK, Guangdong will meet 2010 emission reduction targets

Cheung Chi-fai – SCMP – Updated on Jan 14, 2009

Lawmakers remain worried that Hong Kong and Guangdong will not meet their 2010 targets for emission reductions, despite figures showing they are making progress.

Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department says emissions of three of the four pollutants are on track to meet the targets – reductions from 1997 levels of between 20 and 55 per cent. The odd one out is sulfur dioxide. Emissions in 2007 were 3 per cent above their 1997 level.

“I am very pessimistic about whether we will be able to meet the targets as we have just two to three years left,” said Democrat legislator Lee Wing-tat at a meeting of the Legislative Council’s subcommittee on improving air quality yesterday. Other legislators said officials had not taken air pollution seriously.

Liberal Miriam Lau Kin-yee, who represents the transport sector, said the lawmakers should take the lead in fighting air pollution by minimising car use when commuting to the Legislative Council in Central.

Undersecretary for the Environment Kitty Poon Kit said the government was confident the city could meet the targets once power plants, the largest emitters of sulfur dioxide, finished desulfurisation in the next few months. Dr Poon said the government would consult the public about a review of air quality standards by the middle of the year.

Critics say the city’s 22-year-old air quality objectives do not safeguard public health. The government intends to adopt interim targets set by the World Health Organisation.

Meanwhile, a coalition of road transport operators has called on the government to withdraw its proposal to ban idling vehicle engines, saying it would hurt their business and would not improve air quality.

However, the number of hours in which street-level pollution exceeded danger levels in three of the city’s most crowded areas rose by an average of 14 per cent last year. In Causeway Bay, the increase was more than 40 per cent.

The coalition, comprising at least six taxi groups and transport unions, is circulating a petition and does not rule out stronger protests.

Coalition spokesman Chung Kin-wah said: “There is no room for negotiation.”

Mr Chung said the ban would lead to operating difficulties for commercial vehicles and enforcement problems and endanger drivers and passengers.

1 In 5 Considering Leaving Hong Kong Due To Pollution: Survey

Jan 5th, 2009
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AFP – 5 Jan 2009

HONG KONG (AFP) — One in five Hong Kong residents is considering leaving the city because of its dire air quality, a survey released Monday has found, raising fears over the financial hub’s competitiveness.

The findings equate to 1.4 million residents thinking about moving away, including 500,000 who are “seriously considering or already planning to move,” according to the survey by the think tank Civic Exchange.

Those most seriously thinking about fleeing the city include top earners and highly educated workers, raising questions over the southern Chinese city’s ability to attract and retain top talent, the report’s authors found.

“People from all sectors of society know that air pollution is making them sick,” said Michael DeGolyer, a political science professor at Hong Kong Baptist University.

“Many are concerned to the point they are considering leaving Hong Kong, including local professionals.”

DeGolyer added that the survey of more than 1,000 residents debunked the myth that concerns about air pollution were confined to the city’s foreign residents, as only three percent of the respondents were expats.

The research also found that concern about pollution had risen rapidly since 2001, and that managers and administrators were some of the most worried.

“And Singapore wants them,” DeGolyer told reporters, referring to the long-standing rivalry between the two Asian cities to attract top talent.

Air pollution across some parts of Hong Kong last year reached its highest level since records began, official figures released last week showed.

A spokesman for the Environmental Protection Department said tough measures had helped reduce the levels of several pollutants in recent years and it was working closely with neighbouring Guangdong province, whose factories are the source of much of the city’s pollution.

“The government shares the aspiration of the public for clean air and has been implementing strong measures to control our emissions at source, particularly from road transport and power generation,” the spokesman said, in a statement.

A Civic Exchange report last year said that at least 10,000 deaths were caused every year in Hong Kong, Macau and southern China by the region’s worsening air pollution.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang has called improving air quality a “matter of life and death” for the city, but has still to introduce new air quality standards, 20 years after the current set was brought in.

Tour Bus Operators Seek 3-Year Idling Exemption

Jan 4th, 2009
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Tour bus operators seek 3-year exemption from idling-engine ban

Vivienne Chow and Paggie Leung – SCMP – Updated on Jan 04, 2009

Tour bus operators have called for a three-year exemption from a proposed ban on parked vehicles with idling engines, a day after the government watered down its proposed measures against other commercial drivers.

After meeting officials from the Environment Bureau yesterday, Public Omnibus Operators Association vice-chairman Leo Yip Wing-ching said tour bus drivers had different operational needs than other commercial drivers. He said more time would be needed for them to get used to the new regulation.

“The passengers of tour buses are mainly tourists and they always jump on and off the vehicle,” he said. “We can’t switch on the engines and air conditioning when a passenger gets on the bus, and on sunny days it takes at least 20 minutes for the [inside of the] vehicle to cool down.”

On Friday, following strong opposition from commercial-vehicle drivers, a government source said more exemptions would be made for taxis, minibuses and heavy vehicles.

Stationary turbocharged diesel vehicles would be exempted for three minutes. Traffic wardens and Environmental Protection Department staff would penalise a driver who allowed a vehicle to idle any longer.

Violators would be fined HK$320 without warning, but Mr Yip said drivers should be warned first.

“At least a driver should be warned when the traffic wardens or staff start counting the three minutes,” Mr Yip said.

However, the environmental concern group Green Sense said more exemptions were unnecessary.

“We think that this is unreasonable because a lot of the shopping areas and sight-seeing spots are located on busy streets,” said group president Roy Tam Hoi-pong. “If tour buses do not switch off the engines, they just make the air quality worse. Also, tour bus operators have to take responsibility… many of them choose buses with fixed windows that cannot be opened, meaning that they have to rely on air conditioning.”

Other exemptions under the revised proposal include allowing the first five taxis in a queue at a stop to run their engines, instead of two.

The new proposal will also exempt the first two green minibuses at a stop, and any two red minibuses at a stop would be exempted if there were passengers in the first vehicle.

A spokesman for the Hong Kong Container Tractor Owners Association said the association supported the government’s revised proposal. He said three minutes was enough to allow engines to cool.

A five-month consultation on the ban was launched in November 2007. While the proposal had the general support of the public, it faced strong opposition from drivers of commercial vehicles.

Hong Kong Air Pollution Worst Since Records Began

Jan 3rd, 2009
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Hong Kong – January 3, 2009 – 8:06PM – The Age

Air pollution across large swathes of Hong Kong last year reached its highest level since records began, despite government efforts to improve the environment, official figures showed yesterday.

Hong Kong suffers high air pollution, caused partly by huge numbers of factories over the border in southern China, and there have been fears the problem could compromise its position as an international finance centre.

The number of hours for which street-level pollution exceeded the danger level in some of the city’s busiest districts rose by 14 per cent in 2008, according to Environmental Protection Department figures.

The department said air pollution levels in the three main shopping and business districts were dangerous for more than 2,000 hours last year — the highest figure since it began taking roadside recordings in 2000.

An Air Pollution Index (API) of more than 100 is considered dangerous, indicating immediate health risks, especially to people with respiratory or heart problems.

The latest figures are for Central, Hong Kong’s main business district, and the Causeway Bay and Mongkok shopping areas.

They were released as Hong Kong’s acting environment secretary proposed a ban on running engines of parked vehicles, the latest in a series of measures to improve the city’s air quality.

The city’s Chief Executive Donald Tsang has called improving air quality a “matter of life and death” for Hong Kong, and said he expects the full backing of Chinese authorities.

A report released last year by the Hong Kong-based think tank Civic Exchange said that at least 10,000 deaths every year in Hong Kong, Macau and southern China are caused by the area’s worsening air pollution.

A spokeswoman for the Environmental Protection Department cautioned that the figures did not give a full picture of air quality because they reflected only the level of the pollutant that posed the greatest health risk.

However, Edwin Lau, director of pressure group Friends of the Earth Hong Kong, said this meant the true picture could be even worse than the figures indicated.

“You can look at the data from another perspective and say the problem could be even more worrying if the levels of the other pollutants were also taken into account,” he told AFP.

Lau said the government needed more effective policies to improve roadside air quality, such as banning heavy diesel vehicles from driving in busy districts during peak hours.

Air Is Cleaner, Government Claims

Jan 3rd, 2009
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Despite high pollution readings, air is cleaner, government claims

Daniel Sin – SCMP – Jan 03, 2009

Concentration of Pollutants

The Environmental Protection Department has insisted Hong Kong’s air quality has improved over the past decade, despite its air pollution index showing big rises in the number of hours pollution hit dangerous levels.

A departmental spokeswoman said concentrations of individual pollutants were a better means than the API to assess the long-term air quality trend and had been decreasing over the past 10 years. These air pollutants include respirable suspended particles (RSP), nitrogen oxides (NOX), sulfur dioxide and ozone.

The department was responding to a South China Morning Post (SEHK: 0583, announcements, news) report that showed the number of hours in which street-level pollution exceeded dangerous levels at three crowded areas had increased over the past year, in some cases to record levels.

The department’s data shows the average level of roadside RSP last year was 72 micrograms per cubic metre, down 13.3 per cent from 2004. In the same period, the concentration of nitrogen oxides fell 2 per cent, while that of sulfur dioxide was constant.

Statistics from general stations suggested that the concentrations of individual pollutants they recorded had dropped by an average of 1.7 per cent to 5.3 per cent each year between 2004 and last year.

The department attributed the improvement to the success of control measures taken by Guangdong province in recent years.

To improve regional air quality, the Hong Kong and Guangdong governments agreed in 2002 to reduce the emissions of four major air pollutants by 20 to 55 per cent from their 1997 levels by 2010. To achieve this, they drew up a regional air quality management plan focusing on key sources of emissions, the spokeswoman said.

But Simon Ng Ka-wing of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology questions this.

“The levels of RSPs and NOX concentration recorded last year still exceeded the respective one-year air quality objectives, and have in fact breached our lenient air quality objective every year over the last 10 years,” he said. “They are much higher than the safety margins recommended by the World Health Organisation, which is 20 micrograms per cubic metre for RSP and 40 for NOX.”

Last year, the average concentration of NOX at roadside stations was 99 micrograms per cubic metre.

“Roadside air quality is still posing a serious health threat to Hongkongers,” said Dr Ng.

Mike Kilburn, of think-tank Civic Exchange, said the government should adopt the WHO’s air quality guidelines.

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