FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1993
13
AIR QUALITY REPORT FOR JANUARY RELEASED
THE
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION DEPARTMENT (EPD) TODAY (FRIDAY)
RELEASED AIR QUALITY INFORMATION FOR JANUARY 1993.
AN EPD SPOKESMAN SAID THE PURPOSE OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT WAS TO MAKE THE PUBLIC MORE AWARE OF THE AIR QUALITY LEVELS TO WHICH THEY MIGHT BE EXPOSED.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT NORMALLY CONTAINS MONITORING RESULTS OBTAINED AT ITS MONG KOK, CENTRAL/WESTERN AND KWAI CHUNG MONITORING STATIONS.
THESE LOCATIONS ARE TYPICAL OF THREE OF THE IMPORTANT LAND USE TYPES FOUND IN THE TERRITORY, NAMELY:
LOCATIONS CLOSE TO ROAD TRAFFIC IN BUILT-UP URBAN DISTRICTS,
COMBINED COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL DISTRICTS, AND
* DISTRICTS CLOSE TO INDUSTRIAL AREAS.
THE REPORTED AIR POLLUTANTS INCLUDE SULPHUR DIOXIDE (S02), NITROGEN DIOXIDE (NO2), RESPIRABLE SUSPENDED PARTICULATES (RSP) AND TOTAL SUSPENDED PARTICULATES (TSP).
THE GASEOUS POLLUTANTS ARE MONITORED CONTINUOUSLY WHILE PARTICLE SAMPLES ARE COLLECTED FOR 24 HOURS, ONCE EVERY SIX DAYS.
IN JANUARY, THE CONCENTRATIONS OF ALL SPECIES WERE BELOW THE HOURLY AND 24-HOUR AIR QUALITY OBJECTIVE VALUES THROUGHOUT THE MONTH, ALTHOUGH AT MONG KOK THE 24-HOUR NO2 CONCENTRATIONS WERE A SUBSTANTIAL PROPORTION OF THE 150UG/M3 AIR QUALITY OBJECTIVE.
CONCENTRATIONS VARIED SIMILARLY AT ALL SITES INDICATING THAT THE VARIATIONS WERE PRIMARILY THE RESULT OF REGIONAL METEOROLOGY RATHER THAN THE INFLUENCE OF LOCAL SOURCES.
THE FOUR POLLUTANTS DISCUSSED HAVE DIFFERENT ORIGINS. S02 MOSTLY ORIGINATES FROM THE COMBUSTION OF SULPHUR CONTAINING FOSSIL FUELS. NO2 IS FORMED EITHER DIRECTLY DURING COMBUSTION OR, BY THE ATMOSPHERIC OXIDATION OF NITRIC OXIDE (NO) WHICH IS ALSO DURING COMBUSTION.
PRODUCED
VEHICLE SOURCES THE
VEHICLE EXHAUST IS A MAJOR SOURCE OF NO AND NO2. EXHAUST IS ALSO A MAJOR SOURCE OF AIRBORNE PARTICLES; OTHER INCLUDE INDUSTRY, FURNACES AND BOILERS, CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES, SEA AND SOIL DUST,
THE EPD MONITORS AIR QUALITY CONTINUOUSLY AT 11 STATIONS, INCLUDING THE THREE MENTIONED ABOVE.
/SHORT-TERM
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