Poor air quality to continue in coming days

30 January 2006

BRUSSELS — The poor air quality recorded across much of Belgium in the past three days is set to continue for several more.

The warning comes after the Inter-regional Cell for the Environment recorded at various locations across the country high concentrations of fine particles in the air on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

On a scale of one (very good) to 10 (very poor), air quality on Sunday scored again nine (very poor) in Charleroi, seven (poor) in Brussels and eight (very poor) in Antwerp, Ghent and Liège.

A high-pressure region centered above the northern region of the British Isles sent cold, dry and stable continental air to Belgium.

This brought badly polluted air from Eastern Europe that together with locally-produced pollution led to very poor air quality in Belgium.

And the inter-regional cell also warned for continued air pollution in coming days, newspaper ‘Het Gazet van Antwerpen’ reported on Monday.

“We had expected that the situation would improve slightly during the weekend given reduced emissions from traffic and other activities both by us and in Eastern Europe,” Flemish Environment Society (VMM) official Mie Van den Kerchove said.

“In spite of this, the readings were exceptionally high. Although the weather forecasts are slightly more favourable for the coming days, the air quality could possibly remain poor due to the heightened activity.”

The VMM advised anyone who is exceptionally sensitive to air pollution — children, the elderly, smokers, people with heart disease — to avoid any physical exertion.

It also warned other people against jogging and said high concentrations of fine particles could also be recorded indoors because they can infiltrate almost anywhere.

Subject: Belgian news