Stubborn roadside pollutant on rise again in Hong Kong after three years of decline, group says
NO2 readings last year serious enough to be observed inside homes and buses
Concentrations of a stubborn roadside pollutant intensified in Hong Kong last year, reversing three years of decline and casting doubt on the government’s ability to meet its air quality targets for 2020.
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels were serious enough in western parts of the city that unsafe measurements were observed inside homes and even buses, the environmental group Clean Air Network found.
The group’s latest review of the city’s air showed average annual NO2 concentrations measured at the government’s three roadside air quality monitoring stations had risen from about 82 micrograms per cubic metre of air in 2016 to 85mcg last year.
That was despite roadside NO2 levels falling steadily since 2013 and the Environmental Protection Department last year projecting the figures would dip below 80mcg by 2018 and hit 65mcg by 2020.
The group was now “pessimistic” about hitting those targets.