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Clear The Air
Deadly air pollution on the increase in Hong Kong
Want to do sports in HK? There are only 30 days in HK which the air is safe to do sports outside according to the WHO guidelines.
A report in Hong Kong media last week says the city and its surrounding areas experienced life-threatening levels of air pollution one in every eight days last year.
The South China Morning Post reports figures from the Environment Protection Department showing there were 44 days of ‘very high pollution’ reported in Central, on Hong Kong island. In some areas air quality has deteriorated five-fold in just five years, and there are criticisms that official records do not show the whole picture.
Click here to read the report from New York Times.
Presenter: Bo Hill
Speaker: Gerald Winnington-Ingram, Clear the Air Hong Kong
- Listen:
- Windows Media
WINNINGTON-INGRAM: We have now in Hong Kong a situation where we only have 41 days of healthy breathable air according to the WHO guidelines per year. Irrespective of the fact that you cannot see anything which is a shame, because it really is a beautiful city and a beautiful place to be living, the health implications are very, very serious and you certainly would not want to be doing any physical exercise on one of those days. We have only some 30 days in which it is safe to do sports outside and then according to the WHO guidelines.
HILL: Are there particular areas of Hong Kong, say Central or the New Territories, that suffer worse than elsewhere?
WINNINGTON-INGRAM: There are. For example, Nathan Road, which is an extremely popular tourist destination – well there we have nitrogen dioxide levels at some 380 milligrams per cubic metre and that’s well in excess of WHO guideline which is for 200 milligrams per cubic metre and in fact even Hong Kong’s own air quality objective is for 300, so it’s well in excess of that. So that’s Nathan Road. Plus also parts of the Central District – Des Voeux Road, which is a major thoroughfare running through the central business area, that has a reading of around 390 milligrams per cubic metre of nitrogen dioxide. Hennessy Road is another one which is in Wan Chai, again a very popular local area – 480. So these are areas you certainly don’t want to be going in at all on a bad day. But if you’re suffering from any form of respiratory disease or heart complaint, it is actually very dangerous. We had in 2008, over 1,000 avoidable deaths, some 81,000 avoidable hospital days as a consequence, something in the order of seven and a quarter million avoidable doctors visits and all of that amounts to the cost in the order of about 230 million Hong Kong dollars, which could have been avoided. Now that doesn’t even take into account all the other ailments such as coughs, sore throats and itchy eyes, that were not even reported.
HILL: So huge costs, not only monetary but also physically. What’s been done about it and can Hong Kong authorities be doing more?
WINNINGTON-INGRAM: Well, I think they could be doing a lot more and we certainly and other green groups are campaigning extremely hard. Fifty three per cent of air pollution is local and it’s actually Hong Kong is the dominant source. Yes, we do get air pollution coming from the Pearl River Delta of course, but roadside pollution which is a major problem in Hong Kong is caused by local conditions. Some 50 per cent of Hong Kong’s total emissions is also being caused by power plants. Forty per cent of roadside emissions have been caused by buses. The government’s figures go nowhere close to showing the real picture and the real affect of air pollution in Hong Kong.
source: Radio Australia
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/connectasia/stories/201001/s2791277.htm
Christian Masset – Clear The Air
Clear The Air
Improving urban air quality through advocacy, education and empowering the public.
Founded 12 years ago Clear The Air counts now over 1000 members through the reach of its website and Facebook profile. Actions have ranged from published articles, to speaking at Legco, education and advocacy campaigns to cut harmful and polluting emissions at the source.
Contact:
Tel : 2579 9398 (please leave a message and we’ll call you back)
Fax : +852 2565 9537
Email : askus@cleartheair.org.hk
HK Earth Champions Knowledge Pond Launched
The launch of the Hong Kong Earth Champions Knowledge Pond will be a celebrated unveiling of a rich and diverse collection of local wisdom and environmental solutions from the community of Hong Kong.
The Knowledge Pond is a resource that will serve to improve Hong Kong’s local environment by offering practical solutions and knowledge tha can help the community alleviate climate change.
To learn more please visit: http://www.earthchampions.com/
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A Post from Christian Masset, Clear the Air: http://pond.designmaxstudio.com.au/topic/air/christian-masset-clear-the-air/
Lower emission standards fail to stop most dangerous particles
SCMP
The government’s air-quality consultant, Ove Arup, says there are more regional rather than local sources for PM2.5 pollution [superfine particles].
Hong Kong is affected by northerly winds from the Pearl River Delta for only half the year. Indeed power companies in the delta started installing flue gas desulphurisation three years earlier than Hong Kong and Shanghai buses run off methanol.
PM2.5 pollution is the most lethal in our air. These particles are at least 30 times thinner than human hair in diameter and carry heavy metals from combustion processes that remain suspended in our air like cigarette smoke, restricting visibility and are unable to be filtered by lung or throat hairs so they enter unhindered into the lungs.
Our major polluters are our power stations that burn cheap coal, pre-Euro I diesel vehicles and ships in our port that burn the dregs of high-sulphur bunker fuel.
The Indigo (Agglomerator) technology that catches these particulates from power companies is available at the cost of just 17 days’ worth of Hong Kong’s coal supply.
By proposing interim World Health Organisation standards, the government allows the power companies to fit lower levels of best available current technology and still meet the emission standards, to the demise of public health.
Licence fees for pre-Euro I diesel engines could be tripled to encourage owners to trade up to Euro V models, which are four to six times less polluting. Shipping zones that are emission control areas in our waters need to be mandated like the US, forcing ships to use low-sulphur fuel.
Many ocean-going vessels are already equipped with separate tanks to use low-sulphur fuel in harbour areas or they cannot enter first-world ports. Scaremongering the public by erroneous statements of how much clean air will cost them without offsetting the HK$3 billion in current medical costs is a blatant omission.
London will very soon have more than 330 hybrid electric double-decker buses running in its busy streets, which Hong Kong needs to emulate.
James Middleton, chairman, energy committee, Clear the Air
Observatory Says Weather Conditions Likely to Improve
Simpson Cheung, SCMP – Jun 01, 2009
The city’s recent poor air quality was expected to improve soon, the Hong Kong Observatory said on Monday.
A spokesman for the observatory said the air quality was likely to get better because windy weather was helping to disperse pollutants.
The Roadside Air Pollution Index showed air pollution was very high in some major urban areas on Monday morning.
Causeway Bay recorded the highest level – at 135, while Mongkok was 110 and Central reached 114, the index showed.
The Environmental Protection Department said on Monday that Hong Kong’s calm weather conditions had affected the air quality.
And the Hedley Environmental Index – which measures the social and health impact that pollution – said on Monday levels were high enough to cause four premature deaths – and were the second highest levels recorded this year.
There has been considerable concern in Hong Kong in recent years about the impact pollution is having on people’s health and quality of life.
The Hedley Environmental Index website noted that “air pollution causes about 7 million additional doctor visits across the population in Hong Kong each year”.
The Environmental Protection Department said Hong Kong was facing two main air pollution problems. “One is local street-level pollution. The other is the regional smog problem,” it says.
The street level pollution is mainly caused by diesel vehicles in the city. However, smog is also generated by pollutants from factories, power plants and motor vehicles both in Hong Kong and southern China.
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James Middleton, Clear the Air says: hey EPD wake up, what about the coal burning power plants and the ships burning high sulphur oil ??
Australia Defends Inclusion Of Air Pollution In New Travel Warning
Rosanne Barrett, SCMP – Mar 26, 2009
The Australian government has defended its decision to cite air pollution in Hong Kong in a new travel warning. It said a change to its travel advice for the city, highlighting the potential health impacts of air pollution, was timely as part of a “comprehensive, consistent and factual” warning.
The South China Morning Post (SEHK: 0583, announcements, news) reported yesterday that Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs had included a notice about air pollution in Hong Kong as a health issue as part of an updated alert on Monday.
It warned that air pollution levels could “aggravate bronchial, sinus or asthma conditions”, and that people with heart or respiratory illnesses should reduce physical exertion and outdoor activities on days when very high pollution levels were recorded.
Yesterday, a spokesman for the department said the change to the travel advice brought it in line with “similarly affected” places and used the Hong Kong government’s own health advice to its citizens.
“The Australian government has an obligation to notify its citizens to circumstances that may affect their welfare when travelling,” he said.
But a spokesman for lobby group Clear The Air said the advice was not up to date as it used government data that relied on old standards and did not reflect current World Health Organisation air quality standards.
The WHO’s standards for measuring air pollution are stricter than those used by the Hong Kong government.
City’s Air Is Bad For You, Australians Told Visitors From Down Under Get Pollution Alert
Rosanne Barrett, SCMP – Mar 25, 2009
The Australian government has cited Hong Kong’s air pollution as a potential health issue, in a new travel warning to its citizens.
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs issued the updated travel advice on Monday, which is sent to all subscribers and posted on its Smartraveller website.
It comes amid the ongoing debate over how air pollution in the city should be monitored and whether World Health Organisation-approved targets for pollutants should be adopted.
The travel advice highlighted air pollution levels when Australians travelled to the city. “The levels of air pollution in Hong Kong may aggravate bronchial, sinus or asthma conditions,” it said.
“People with existing heart or respiratory illnesses should reduce physical exertion and outdoor activities on days when very high pollution levels are recorded.”
It advised visitors to check pollution levels on Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department website.
The Smartraveller website also highlighted pollution levels on the mainland, particularly those in the industrialised areas of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Although the site suggests the bad air may “aggravate bronchial, sinus or asthma conditions”, it does not offer advice to travellers to avoid activity.
Air-quality concerns regarding seasonal haze in Singapore and Thailand are also included.
A spokesman for the Australian department said the travel advice was changed during quarterly updating. Last night he could not say why air pollution was now included, when it had previously not been.
Clear The Air chairman Christian Masset said the warning made it clear that Hong Kong’s air quality was no longer just a local issue.
He said the warning could shame the city into acting faster to reduce fine particles known as PM2.5 and to phase out diesel engines, which he said would be “a good thing”.
He said tourists should be warned about pollution as it was “a fact”.
“They should be warned they might not see the harbour from The Peak. The tourists who have been fortunate enough to come when the wind was blowing the right way have nothing to complain about, but for others it might make them think twice about coming to Hong Kong.
“It is a major deterrent to developing a sound tourism industry.”
A spokesman for the Environmental Protection Department said pollution levels varied and normally did not affect residents’ and visitors’ daily activities.
Asked if visitors should be concerned, he said the government had taken measures to improve air quality, but added: “Hong Kong, like most metropolises in the world, has a heavy concentration of people and activities that could strain its air.”
He said roadside levels of respirable particulates, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide had fallen by 21 per cent, 23 per cent and 19 per cent respectively since 1999.
The 2008 Lonely Planet travel guide said air pollution was “perhaps Hong Kong’s most pressing environmental problem”, causing up to 15,600 premature deaths each year.
Yesterday’s air pollution index was medium to high, with the Mong Kok roadside station recording the highest reading of 73.
Air Quality Standards Review
The following letter was sent to the Director of Environmental Protection by Clear The Air:
Director of Environmental Protection – ENB
24th January 2009
Air Quality Standards Review
Dear Sir,
We are writing to express our NGO’s concern that Hong Kong’s air pollution is damaging local residents’ and visitors’ health and that the Administration’s belated current measures to address the problems remain ineffective whilst simply reporting platitudes.
Hong Kong is an extremely wealthy and developed first world city with ample resources to reduce air pollution , given the will to do so, and yet we know from the Hedley Environmental Index that last year alone 1,155 people died prematurely, there were over 83,000 avoidable hospital bed days, and 7.25 million doctors’ visits which were directly attributable to the toxic effects of local air pollution; this was at a minimum conservative cost of over HK$2.3 billion to society. We also know that for the major part of the year, the major pollution sources were locally generated. Our local power stations in 2007 burned 3 times more coal than they did in 1997 and 40% less gas than in 1999. Their greed is killing people. Perhaps you should suggest Exxon executives come and live here with their children ?
Given this evidence, we call on the Administration to demonstrate its commitment to imminent improvement of public health and reduction of resultant health costs by setting the World Health Organization’s Air Quality Guidelines as the new Air Quality Standards for Hong Kong, and to set out a strategy on how it intends to achieve these Standards. Without gazetted Standards the ‘Polluter Pays’ principle cannot be effective.
In this strategy please address all the major sources of pollution, but please apply particular urgency to reducing emissions from marine vessels and non Euro V diesel on road / off road vehicles. We encourage you to enact large increases in road tax for non Euro V diesel trucks, vans and buses (thereby making these vehicle owners trade up to Euro V) and to insist forthwith on low sulphur bunker fuel use within Hong Kong waters. We appreciate that the emissions from local power stations might soon be reduced following your Department’s belated requirement that flue gas desulphurization equipment is installed as well as Nox burners. In addition the level of the Standards you set MUST therefore require the power companies apply Best Available Current Technology and fuel mix and that includes agglomerators which can catch the lethal PM0.1 ultrafine and PM2.5 heavy metal emissions which the Electrostatic Precipitators cannot currently catch.
We would stress that Air Quality Standards and a clean air strategy that do not lead to rapid improvements in public health cannot be considered an acceptable outcome of the Review and action is required, not further consultation of a public that has already grown tired of this Government’s lack of decisive action.
Yours faithfully,James Middleton
Chairman Energy Committee
Exemption From Idling Ban For Red Minibuses Too Broad
Exemption from idling ban for red minibuses too broad, greens say
Peter So – Updated on Jan 15, 2009 – SCMP
Green activists say proposed exemptions for red minibuses parked with idling engines are too broad.
A government source said earlier that any two red minibuses plying the same route would be exempted from a proposed ban on idling engines if there were passengers in the first vehicle waiting at a stop.
Clean Air Action Group convenor Yolanda Ng Yuen-ting said that that would not help improve air quality in busy districts.
She said a stop for red minibuses usually had buses plying many routes and the vehicles parked separately.
“The exemption virtually allows all the vehicles to park without shutting off their engines,” Ms Ng said.
She feared the exemption would make a ban difficult to enforce.
Phil Heung Fu-lap, vice-chairman of Clean The Air, called for a ban without any exemptions.
Meanwhile, Annelise Connell, honorary secretary of Mini Spotters, said many red minibuses had been waiting for passengers on the street, outside minibus stops, but police seldom took action against them.
She said she had doubts that the police had enough manpower to enforce the ban on idling engines if the law was passed.
Ms Ng said a hotline allowing people to report cases of illegal parking and idling engines should be established.