Air pollution

Air pollution is considered serious problem in Hong Kong.

Not only the flora and fauna are affected but also humans. Cases of asthma and bronchial infections have soared in recent years, and doctors place the blame squarely on poor air quality.

Sources of pollution

The dense population, smoke-belching factories and power stations, ceaseless construction and large numbers of diesel vehicles have made for dangerous levels of particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide.

Most of Hong Kong’s power is generated by burning coal. Electricity generation produces half of Hong Kong’s total emissions of nitrogen oxide and particulates, and 92 per cent of its total sulphur dioxide emissions. Most local power stations do not yet have flue gas desulphurisation, although equipment is being installed and the government has required that all new generation capacity should come from natural gas. Whilst the Government has in the past maintained that the Mainland was an important source of airborne pollutants, experts have estimated that most of Hong Kong"s acid rain came from Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s roads are also the most crowded in the world, with almost 280 vehicles for every kilometre of road. The city’s vehicle fleet is dominated by heavily polluting, ageing goods vehicles, most of which run between the city and the Pearl River Delta. Diesel commercial vehicles are responsible 90% of RSPs and 80% of nitrogen dioxide emissions from the entire road transport sector, despite making up only 23% of the vehicle fleet. Double-decker diesel buses and a steadily growing fleet of private cars have also added to congestion and pollution.

Declining regional air quality means visibility has also decreased dramatically. In 2004, low visibility occurred 18% of the time – the highest on record, according to the Hong Kong observatory. The number of days in which visibility was less than eight kilometers rose to 102 in 2005 from 40 in 1997.

According to Hong Kong University research, the air in Hong Kong contains almost three times more soot and other pollutants than New York"s and more than twice of that in London. Environmentalists blame principally the electricitry companies, which the government has ordered to cut emissions. Hong Kong wants to reduce four major pollutants by as much as 55 percent by 2010.

Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has said Hong Kong"s air quality is unacceptable, and has pledged to "fix it."

Monitoring

The Environmental Protection Department in Hong Kong was established to solve problems and provide for a long lasting acceptable level of air quality.

In June 1995, instead of adopting internationally accepted benchmark index for pollution, it set up the Air Pollution Index as in indicator to pollution levels, both "General" and "Roadside".

Air Quality Objectives (AQOs) for seven widespread air pollutants were established in 1987 under the Air Pollution Control Ordinance (APCO), and have not been reviewed since it was set up. It is not clear how the levels are determined.

In October 2005, Task Force on Air Pollution criticised the Government for deluding itself with a pollution index that is a "meaningless" indicator of health risks[4]. Professor Wong Tze-wai, at the Chinese University commented that the current air pollution index "gives a false sense of security". Gary Wong, a professor at the Chinese University"s Department of Paediatrics and School of Public Health, said that under the current index, "some harmful pollution components aren"t even recorded." In addition, he pointed out that there is no strategic plan or a timetable to tackle the problem, unlike in other countries

Street-level air quality regularly falls short of the government’s Air Quality Objectives (AQOs), and even further short of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Air Quality Guidelines, revised in in October.

Academics called for Hong Kong Government to immediately update its air quality objectives set almost twenty years ago. For example, on 19 and 20 November 2006, roadside levels of respirable suspended particulates (RSPs – equivalent to PM10) exceeded the WHO guidelines by at least 300%.

Secretary for Environment, Transport and Works Sarah Liao Sau-tung said the WHO targets were too stringent.

Health implication

The mortality rate from vehicular pollution can be twice as high near heavily traveled roads, based on a study conducted in Holland at residences 50 meters from a main road and 100 meters from a freeway. Since millions of people in Hong Kong live and work in close proximity to busy roads, this presents a major health risk to city residents. The Hong Kong Medical Association estimates that air pollution can exacerbate asthma, impair lung function and raise the risk of cardio-respiratory death by 2 to 3 percent for every increase of 10 micrograms per cubic metre of pollutants. Studies by local public health experts have found that these roadside pollution levels are responsible for 90,000 hospital admissions and 2,800 premature deaths every year.

Donald Tsang"s comments

Chief Executive Donald Tsang declared that the high life-expecancy of Hong Kong demonstrates that concerns over air quality were not justified.
“ The life expectancy in Hong Kong is among the highest in the world ... you can come to only one conclusion: we have the most environmentally friendly place for people, for executives, for Hong Kong people to live. ”

Professor Anthony Hedley, chair of community medicine at the University of Hong Kong, said "[Tsang] is badly advised on current public health issues." Hedley added that air pollution levels in the SAR were extremely high, and could affect the lungs, blood vessels and heart.

James Tien, whose party represents big business interests, retorted: "Can [Tsang] really be confident that, if pollution continues to worsen, he will be able to promise the same life expectancy for our children and for our grandchildren?"

Economic impact

Made aware of fresh statistical and anecdotal evidence that pollution is driving away business and hurting Hong Kong"s global competitiveness, James Tien called air pollution "a health issue, a lifestyle issue, a tourism issue, a business issue, and increasingly a political issue."

Merrill Lynch downgraded several Hong Kong property companies because of air quality concerns, and there have been warnings from the head of the Stock Exchange that pollution was scaring investors away. It said that the air quality in Hong Kong is now regularly so poor that its "long-term competitiveness is in some doubt", and advised clients to switch into developers in Singapore instead. Research by three universities and a think-tank estimates that the pollution is costing Hong Kong about HK$21.2 billion a year in hospital admissions and lost productivity. In addition, about 1,600 deaths a year might be avoided if air quality improves.

Indoor pollution

The Smoking (Public Health) (Amendment) Ordinance 2006 bans smoking indoors in restaurants, workplaces, schools, karaoke lounges, as well as beaches, swimming pools, sports grounds and public parks with effect from 1 January 2007."Air pollution | AboutHK.Com - more information about HK"