XN000022-1991-11-12 — Page 12

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1991

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GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT

MAIN OFFICES,

WING

THE MEETING WILL BE HELD AT THE CONFERENCE HALL, FIRST FLOOR, CENTRAL GOVERNMENT (NEW ANNEXE), STARTING AT 2.30 PM.

ARE

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHO WISH TO OBSERVE THE PROCEEDINGS

LEUNG WING-CHONG ON TEL. REQUESTED TO RESERVE A SEAT BY CALLING MS 802 3511 DURING OFFICE HOURS.

AS SEATS IN THE CONFERENCE HALL ARE LIMITED, BOOKINGS ACCEPTED ON A FIRST-COME-FIRST-SERVE BASIS.

WILL BE

0

OCTOBER AIR QUALITY REPORT RELEASED

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THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION DEPARTMENT (EPD) TODAY (TUESDAY) RELEASED AIR QUALITY INFORMATION FOR OCTOBER AS OBTAINED AT ITS MONG KOK, CENTRAL/WESTERN AND KWAI CHUNG MONITORING STATIONS.

THIS IS THE FOURTH MONTHLY ANNOUNCEMENT MADE BY THE DEPARTMENT. SIMILAR ANNOUNCEMENTS WILL BE MADE REGULARLY.

THE REPORTED AIR POLLUTANTS INCLUDE SULPHUR DIOXIDE (302) AND NITROGEN DIOXIDE (NO2) WHICH ARE MONITORED CONTINUOUSLY ROUND THE CLOCK, AND TOTAL SUSPENDED PARTICULATES (TSP) AND RESPIRABLE SUSPENDED PARTICULATES (RSP) WHICH ARE SAMPLED FOR 24 HOURS EVERY SIX DAYS.

THE GENERAL NO2 LEVEL IN OCTOBER WAS SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN FOR SEPTEMBER. THE DAILY AIR QUALITY OBJECTIVE OF NO2 WAS NOT EXCEEDED ANYWHERE ALTHOUGH THE HOURLY OBJECTIVE FOR NO2 WAS EXCEEDED TWICE ON OCTOBER 1 IN KWAI CHUNG.

DUST LEVELS (TSP AND RSP) IN AIR IN OCTOBER THAN IN SEPTEMBER.

WERE ALSO HIGHER

AS HONG KONG GETS INTO THE WINTER MONTHS, THERE WILL BE A TREND OF RISING NO2 AND DUST LEVELS.

AN EPD SPOKESMAN EXPLAINED THAT THE DRY ATMOSPHERIC CONDITION AND THE LESS EFFICIENT DISPERSION ABILITY IN WINTER GENERALLY CAUSED POLLUTANT LEVELS TO RISE.

THE SPOKESMAN SAID THE PURPOSE OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT IS ΤΟ MAKE THE PUBLIC MORE AWARE OF THE GENERAL AIR QUALITY LEVELS TO WHICH THEY MIGHT BE EXPOSED, AND THE ATMOSPHERIC AND OTHER FACTORS. THAT AFFECT AIR QUALITY.

THESE AIR POLLUTANTS MAINLY COME FROM COMBUSTION OF FUEL IN INDUSTRIAL PLANTS AND MOTOR VEHICLES ENGINES. TSP AND RSP ARE ALSO GENERATED BY CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES AND SOME MANUFACTURING PROCESSES.

/THE DAILY