Living Smart

II ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY 050 051 rigorous testing, based on data being collected with portable sensors. As implementation grows bigger in scale, PRAISE-HK can provide full coverage to all parts of Hong Kong, allowing residents to keep pollutants at bay by planning the “cleanest” route. By limiting exposure, the risk from breathing pollutants that cause acute or chronic adverse health effects can be substantially reduced. For some, symptoms of exposure to air pollution occur quickly, such as irritated eyes and scratchy throats. For those with existing respiratory conditions, such as asthma, symptoms can be immediate and severe. For others, symptoms may take longer to emerge. Personal exposure to pollution is affected by daily activity patterns, ventilation practices and the built environment. Thus, there are many opportunities to manage and reduce these exposures. Smart living, made possible with knowledge of science and technology, can help reduce air pollution exposure and improve public health. Published on October 10, 2018 It makes sense to clear the air Prof. Christine LOH Chief Development Strategist, Division of Environment and Sustainability and Institute for the Environment A major positive step was taken in 2014 when a new legal mandate was put in place requiring the government to review Hong Kong’ s Air Quality Objectives (AQOs) at least once every five years. The purpose of requiring periodic review is to improve public health. Previously, the AQOs had not been reviewed for many years, and was a great source of public criticism. A new legal mandate requires a new process to assess the extent to which the AQOs could be tightened. The World Health Organization’ s air quality guidelines are the international benchmark to strive for because they are set according the latest science on air pollution’ s harm to public health. Its guidelines can be used as a reference for governments in setting their own air quality standards. The SAR government looked at how other jurisdictions conducted their air quality standards review and created an organized process. In 2016, it established the AQO Review Working Group to appraise development in air science and health effects of air pollution, examine air pollution levels and trends, identify improvement measures, develop an air quality management plan for improvements, and assess air quality in future under different control scenarios, and the scope for further tightening the AQOs. The working group also established sub-groups to engage many groups of stakeholders, including air scientists,