Air quality forecast ‘unhealthy’ for much of northern Utah

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

Utah

The Utah Department of Environmental Quality forecast for air quality indicates that air will be unhealthy in several northern Utah counties through at least Tuesday.

According to airquality.utah.gov, The Salt Lake and Davis county area will see unhealthy air days and mandatory restrictions on burning Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

Click here for details about the Department of Environmental Quality’s rating system for air quality.

According to the website, unhealthy air days mean that, “Elderly and people with heart or lung disease should stay indoors and avoid physical exertion. All others should avoid outdoor activity. Solid fuel burning devices must not be used. Open burning may not occur; including fire pits, fire rings, and campfires. Reduce vehicle use by consolidating trips. Industry should optimize operating conditions to minimize air pollution emissions.”

Mandatory action days mean that “Solid fuel burning devices must not be used, including wood and coal burning stove and fireplaces. Open burning may not occur; including fire pits, fire rings, and campfires.”

Utah County was also expected to see unhealthy air quality and mandatory burning restrictions on those three days.

Cache County is also expected to have unhealthy air quality and mandatory burning restrictions during that same period.

In Weber County similar conditions are expected Monday and Tuesday, with Sunday’s air quality for the area being described as “unhealthy for sensitive groups.” Mandatory burn restrictions are in place for all three days in Weber County.

In Tooele County air quality is described as moderate for the same three-day period, and Sunday and Monday are voluntary action days, while Tuesday carries a mandatory restriction on burning.

Click here to view air quality and burn restriction notices by county.

The burning restriction alerts utilize the department’s new alert system, click here for more details.

via Air quality forecast ‘unhealthy’ for much of northern Utah | FOX13Now.com.

Posted in Air Quality, USA & Canada | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Cold weather leads to ‘very high’ air pollution for London

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

Cold weather thought to have contributed to ‘very high’ levels of air pollution measured in capital today (December 12)

A sustained period of cold weather across the UK has seen air pollution reach ‘very high’ levels in London and South Wales – the fourth time it has reached this level in 2013.

Defra has reiterated its health advice to those affected by the pollution episode, advising adults and children with lung or heart problems and the elderly to avoid strenuous activity.

The capital has been shrouded in fog on both Wednesday and Thursday mornings

The capital has been shrouded in fog on both Wednesday and Thursday mornings

It has also advised people to reduce physical exertion, particularly outdoors, if experiencing symptoms such as a cough or sore throat.

Defra’s pollution forecast for South Wales has been downgraded to ‘high’ this evening, but remained ‘very high’ in London as of 5pm.

Meanwhile, ‘moderate’ levels of pollutants PM10 and PM2.5 were recorded at a number of monitoring sites located in roadside and industrial locations by the London Air Quality Network. One kerbside location in the City of London also measured a ‘high’ reading for PM2.5.

Fog

Evidence of the conditions have been visible across the capital with a thick layer of fog shrouding the city on both Wednesday and Thursday mornings. This has also lead to travel delays at some airports and train stations across the city.

In its air quality forecast summary, published at around lunchtime today (December 12), the Department stated: “Cold weather will cause moderate pollution in some areas and high and very high levels of particulates are likely in London, South East and South Wales this morning.”

Its outlook for the week added: “Cold weather may cause localised moderate or high levels of pollution near busy roads but levels are expected to be low in most areas. Saharan dust deposits may affect any part of the UK towards the end of the week but this is unlikely to affect pollution levels.”

It is thought that showers expected to happen on Friday and Saturday will ease some of the pollution around the capital.

Defra forecasts also highlighted Saharan dust deposits as being likely to affect the UK towards the end of the week, but states that this is ‘unlikely to affect pollution levels’.

According to campaign group Clean Air in London, there have been 14 smog episodes in 2013, compared to 12 last year. Director and founder of the campaign group, Simon Birkett, has previously called for a government warning to be issued every time high pollution levels are monitored.

via Cold weather leads to ‘very high’ air pollution for London | AirQualityNews.

Posted in Air Quality, London, UK | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Paris Put on Air-Pollution Alert as Cold Snap Traps Diesel Fumes

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

Paris was put on an air-pollution alert today as cold weather entrapped diesel fumes, leading to the most severe smog in the French capital since 2007.

The pollution index for the French capital reached the highest of five levels for fine particulates, according to Airparif, which monitors air quality. The government urged reduced auto speeds on main roads and asked people to refrain from driving diesel vehicles lacking proper filters and from lighting up wood fireplaces.

“Irresponsible policies” that encourage the use of diesel are causing the pollution, Deputy Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said today on France Info.

The pollution alert may reignite debate over taxes on diesel fuel, which in France are lower than for gasoline. Environmental groups have urged the government to align the levies while carmakers such as PSA Peugeot Citroen (UG) have resisted the move.

The pollution alert today was extended to a dozen French regions hit by a cold snap that has pushed temperatures below freezing in the past few days and is expected to last through tomorrow. The warnings included Alsace and Normandy as well as the southern Mediterranean area around Nice.

“Bad air quality from particulates” can provoke allergic and asthmatic symptoms, Environment Minister Philippe Martin said in a statement.

Airparif put its air-pollution index at the highest level because the concentration of so-called PM10s is poised to be greater than 100 micrograms per cubic meter.

“The current period of pollution is equivalent to one last experienced in 2007,” Arthur de Pas, a spokesman for Paris-based Airparif, said by telephone.

Paris Air

France has been put on notice by the European Commission for not respecting rules on emissions of PM10, which refers to particulates less than 10 micrometers in diameter.

Airparif has warned in the past that residents of the French capital suffer from “chronically high levels” of pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and particulates.

For today, the Paris mayor made residential parking free in a bid to get people to leave their cars at home and use mass transit. Speed limits were lowered along the Parisian ringroad and major arteries leading to the French capital that are typically clogged with commuters during weekdays, the Paris mayor’s office said on its website.

Earlier this month, Shanghai warned children and the elderly to stay indoors as the level of the most harmful pollutants exceeded more than 10 times the level deemed safe by the World Health Organization.

via Paris Put on Air-Pollution Alert as Cold Snap Traps Diesel Fumes – Bloomberg.

Posted in Air Quality, Europe, France | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Air pollution alert raised in Barcelona

Posted on December 12, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

Authorities have raised an air pollution alert for the Spanish city of Barcelona, a major tourist draw which has lain for days under a toxic grey mist, an official said Tuesday.

“High atmospheric pressure and a lack of wind are preventing the dispersal of polluting emissions, which are accumulating over the city,” said a spokeswoman for the Catalonia regional government.

As the mist obscured the city skyline, the government issued an alert in a bid to reduce gas emissions, said the spokeswoman, who asked not to be named.

It lowered the speed limit for traffic, urged citizens to use public transport and asked factories to reduce their activity in the city of 1.6 million residents.

The level of toxic nitrogen oxide gas in the air had risen above the European Union legal limit seven times since December 4, the spokeswoman said, adding however that these exceptional rises did not threaten people’s health.

Barcelona draws millions of tourists a year for its nearby beaches and city sights such as the decorative architecture of Antoni Gaudi, including the Sagrada Familia cathedral.

But it also has one of the densest concentrations of motor vehicles in Europe and pollution gets trapped by the surrounding mountains, the spokeswoman said.

The alert was due to stay in force at least until Thursday.

Posted in Air Quality, Europe, Spain | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

China’s Air Pollution Is So Awful You Can See It From Space

Posted on December 12, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

Just in case you’d gotten used to those now-ubiquitous photos of smog-choked Chinese cities, NASA has managed to up the ante with the image up above: yes, that’s China’s air pollution, as seen from orbit.

The image was snapped by the space agency’s Terra satellite on January 7th during the country’s most recent spate of severe pollution. The bright white spots are clouds and fog. The whispy gray haze reaching from Beijing to Shanghai is polluted air. That’s about 750 miles of smog which, as NASA notes, is about the distance from Boston to Raleigh, North Carolina.

“On the day this natural-color image was acquired by Terra, ground-based sensors at U.S. embassies in Beijing and Shanghai reported PM2.5 measurements as high as 480 and 355 micrograms per cubic meter of air respectively,” NASA writes. “The World Health Organization considers PM2.5 levels to be safe when they are below 25.

Posted in Air Quality, Asia, China | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Breathing dirty air is Hong Kong’s lot, sadly

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

There’s something in the air, but it’s not the smell of the approaching holiday season. Rather, it’s the unwelcome return of smog which for the past week has hung over Hong Kong like a viscous cloak of invisibility. Recently, the concentration of one out of the four most threatening air pollutants, nitrogen dioxide, rose to 231.8 micrograms per cubic metre in Central, a level of concentration the World Health Organisation deems toxic and a cause of severe respiratory illness.

Hong Kong is now widely regarded as “smog city”, ironic when you consider Hong Kong literally means “fragrant harbour”. That’s an unfortunate result of the government’s inability to tackle the city’s escalating environmental issues.

Across the border, things have been even worse, with the mainland reportedly suffering the worst air pollution in 52 years. Major highways, schools and construction sites were closed in over 100 cities. Flights were grounded in Shanghai. The internet was rife with exaggerated shock and horror tales of the smog’s impact. Bloggers likened the coal-induced chaos to London’s eponymous Great Smog of 1952.

This rude awakening came after Beijing’s pledge to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions from power plants, and to set up a “monitoring network” in 16 worst-affected cities and provinces. Environmental officials blamed the “lack of strong wind”.

Despite the dystopian furore coming out of the mainland, Hong Kong’s workforce marched on. The city has become so accustomed to seeing its cinematic skyline shrouded in pollution, and treating blue skies as a beautiful happenstance, that we’ve pretty much stopped making a fuss.

At least the mainland’s initial response to public criticism was to ban open-air barbecues in Beijing. This was followed by a restriction on car use based on licence plates; odd numbers can drive one day, even numbers the next. Hong Kong’s solution? Phone apps to monitor air quality. With such information at their fingertips, Hong Kong people no doubt feel safer in the knowledge that they can easily discover when they are in toxic areas.

Hong Kong’s Clear the Air, a non-governmental organisation established after the handover to help reduce air pollution through community schemes, apparently works with the government to find “practical solutions”. However, even it agrees enough isn’t being done. Hong Kong NGOs seem to struggle when it comes to dealing with our atypical bureaucracy – they get lost in the maze.

There are a few glimmers of light, though. In an effort to counter the government’s ineffective air pollution index – to be replaced with more stringent standards (and accompanying app) at the end of the month – the Hedley Environmental Index was born. This website updates in real time the average pollution levels and its direct impact on the public’s health as well as the financial losses. The tool records premature deaths (last month said to be 257), hospital bed days (12,852) and hospital visits (620,270). These delineations allow us to see the real health risks – and that should allow the government to put into play solutions to combat them.

So far, nothing. That’s no cause to breathe easy.

via Breathing dirty air is Hong Kong’s lot, sadly | South China Morning Post.

Posted in Air Quality, Asia, China | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Eight Chinese cities fined for air pollution

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

Local governments in eight cities in northeast China’s Liaoning Province have been fined a total of 54.2 million yuan (8.9 million U.S. dollars) for air pollution, the provincial department of environment protection said Tuesday.

The fines, the first the provincial agency has imposed on lower-level governments, send a clear signal that the provincial government is becoming more serious about tackling air pollution.

The tough penalties come as severely polluted air has become a main source of complaints and frustration over health concerns among urban residents.

Choking smog attracted wide attention again last week as it blanketed 100 cities across more than half the country. Many rushed to buy face masks and air purifiers to ward it off, and primary and middle schools in the eastern city of Nanjing were even forced to close for two days.

According to a regulation which went into effect last year, the Liaoning provincial government evaluates 14 cities on indicators of PM10 (particles less than 10 micrometers in diameter), sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.

Shenyang, capital of Liaoning, was ordered to pay a fine of 34.6 million yuan. Seven other cities, including Dalian and Anshan, were fined 19.6 million yuan.

Zhu Jinghai, head of the provincial department of environment protection, said all the fines would be spent in the fight against severe air pollution.

Decades of breakneck economic growth, the coal-dominated energy mix and lax environmental law enforcement are blamed for the prominent pollution in Liaoning and other parts of China.

The public hailed a circular released Monday on improving the work evaluations of local Party and government leadership and officials, which could lead to greener and more balanced growth.

The circular said Chinese officials should reduce their obsession with economic growth and focus more on people’s livelihoods and the environment.

“The circular calls for quality economic growth, a departure from the old extensive growth mode,” said a netizen named “Kanshazishadoukan” on Sina Weibo, a popular Twitter-like microblogging service. “It lays out targeted and forceful measures, and I hope the measures will be fully carried out,” the microblogger said.

via Eight Chinese cities fined for air pollution – People’s Daily Online.

Posted in Air Quality, Asia, China | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Even ‘safe’ levels of air pollution can harm your health

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Respro® UK Ltd

Scientists have found that being exposed to levels well below European air quality limits is a major health risk.

In fact, prolonged exposure to particles of soot or dust in traffic fumes or ­industrial emissions may be more deadly than previously thought.

Research examining 20 years of data from 360,000 city residents in 13 European countries shows an increase of five microgrammes per cubic metre in annual ­exposure to fine-particle air ­pollution raises the risk of death by natural causes seven per cent.

Lead researcher Dr Rob ­Beelen, of Utrecht University in the Netherlands, said: “A difference of five microgrammes per cubic metre can be found between a location at a busy urban road and at a location not influenced by traffic.

“Our findings support health impact assessments of fine particles in Europe previously based almost entirely on North American studies.”

Published in The Lancet, the research looked at data from 22 ­different studies. Annual average air pollution concentrations of nitrogen oxides and particulates were linked to home addresses and exposures estimated. Traffic density on the nearest road and total traffic load on major roads within 110 yards of the home were also recorded.

A total of 29,076 people died of natural causes during a follow-up period of just under 14 years.

Results showed that long-term exposure to fine particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres (PM2.5) posed the greatest threat – even within concentration ranges well below EU limits.

The association between prolonged exposure and premature death remained significant even after adjusting for factors such as smoking, social status, fitness, education and body-mass index. The researchers also noted PM2.5 was associated with excess mortality in men but not in women.

In a comment linked to the study, Dr Jeremy Langrish and Dr Nicholas Mills from the British Heart Foundation Centre for Cardiovascular Sciences at Edinburgh University, said: “Despite major improvements in air quality in the past 50 years, the data draw attention to the continuing effects of air pollution on health.

“These data, along with the findings from other large cohort studies, suggest that further public and environmental health policy interventions are necessary.”

Speaking to the Daily Express, Dr Langrish added: “This is the first time a large European study has reported associations between air pollution and death and it has shown that at levels of air pollution that we are normally exposed to, and that are relatively low, they are still associated with increases in the risk of death.”

via Even ‘safe’ levels of air pollution can harm your health | Health | News | Daily Express.

Posted in Air Quality, Europe | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment