Petition for Withdrawal of Government Proposal to Increase PM2.5’s Allowable Exceedance to 35 Times
According to the Hedley Index conducted by the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong, over 10,000 premature deaths annually were caused by air pollution in Hong Kong in the past 5 years. The Hong Kong Air Quality Objectives (AQO) are far too loose compared to the World Health Organization’s Air Quality Guidelines (WHOAQGs), which makes them insufficient in safeguarding citizen’s health. Still, the government proposes to greatly increase the number of allowable exceedances for air pollutant, PM2.5, from 9 times to 35 times a year.
The reason behind the exceedance proposal is that the government estimated the level of PM2.5 would exceed the proposed AQO for 33 times in 2025. The proposal clearly places technical feasibility first and ignores the importance of public health. A research in 2011 done by the University of Hong Kong shows that, population in Hong Kong would be exposed to an additional 24% health risk every year, if the government were allowed to increase the number of exceedances. Moreover, it would set a very bad precedence and shows that the AQOs could be allowed to exceed virtually infinite times. Most importantly, the proposal to increase the number of allowable exceedance for air pollutants does not fulfill Air Pollution Control Ordinance’s major objective, which is to “abate, prohibit and control pollution of the atmosphere”.
On the other hand, the government shows low willingness to combat air pollution by not proposing to tighten the AQOs for the two pollutants, PM10 and ozone, even though the concentration levels of the two pollutants are expected to increase in the future.
We urge the government to:
Personal Data Collection Statement
Clean Air Network undertakes to comply with the requirements of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance to ensure that personal data kept are accurate and secure. Your personal information (including your name, email addresses, telephone etc.) may be used by CAN and the appointed service providers, for the purposes of sending you organizational updates, surveys, fundraising appeals, donation or membership administration, event invitations and other marketing communications via electronic mail, telephone, online, etc. You have the right to access and amend your personal information held by us. You may opt out of receiving communications from us at any time free of charge, and if you wish to request access to or amend any of your personal information, you can simply call our service hotline at 3971 0106 or send an email to [email protected] or write to CAN at Rm A, 2nd Floor, The Standard Chartered Bank Building, 102-106 Queen’s Road West, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong.
Petition for Withdrawal of Government Proposal to Increase PM2.5’s Allowable Exceedance to 35 Times
According to the Hedley Index conducted by the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong, over 10,000 premature deaths annually were caused by air pollution in Hong Kong in the past 5 years. The Hong Kong Air Quality Objectives (AQO) are far too loose compared to the World Health Organization’s Air Quality Guidelines (WHOAQGs), which makes them insufficient in safeguarding citizen’s health. Still, the government proposes to greatly increase the number of allowable exceedances for air pollutant, PM2.5, from 9 times to 35 times a year.
The reason behind the exceedance proposal is that the government estimated the level of PM2.5 would exceed the proposed AQO for 33 times in 2025. The proposal clearly places technical feasibility first and ignores the importance of public health. A research in 2011 done by the University of Hong Kong shows that, population in Hong Kong would be exposed to an additional 24% health risk every year, if the government were allowed to increase the number of exceedances. Moreover, it would set a very bad precedence and shows that the AQOs could be allowed to exceed virtually infinite times. Most importantly, the proposal to increase the number of allowable exceedance for air pollutants does not fulfill Air Pollution Control Ordinance’s major objective, which is to “abate, prohibit and control pollution of the atmosphere”.
On the other hand, the government shows low willingness to combat air pollution by not proposing to tighten the AQOs for the two pollutants, PM10 and ozone, even though the concentration levels of the two pollutants are expected to increase in the future.
We urge the government to:
Personal Data Collection Statement
Clean Air Network undertakes to comply with the requirements of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance to ensure that personal data kept are accurate and secure. Your personal information (including your name, email addresses, telephone etc.) may be used by CAN and the appointed service providers, for the purposes of sending you organizational updates, surveys, fundraising appeals, donation or membership administration, event invitations and other marketing communications via electronic mail, telephone, online, etc. You have the right to access and amend your personal information held by us. You may opt out of receiving communications from us at any time free of charge, and if you wish to request access to or amend any of your personal information, you can simply call our service hotline at 3971 0106 or send an email to [email protected] or write to CAN at Rm A, 2nd Floor, The Standard Chartered Bank Building, 102-106 Queen’s Road West, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong.