New pollution-monitoring devices have begun their operation in cities and towns in the southwestern Japanese prefecture of Fukuoka, amid rising concerns over polluted air from China, local officials announced on Tuesday.
The prefectural announcement came after local reports warned harmful pollution could be arriving on winds from China, where high levels of Particulate Matter 2.5, a pollutant found in exhaust fumes and factory smoke, are measured, and the hazardous air may cause respiratory and circulatory diseases plus other health problems.
According to the Fukuoka Institute of Health and Environmental Sciences, the new gauges were set up in a total of 10 places, such as Nogata City and Dazaifu City, and they started to monitor the levels and concentrations of PM 2.5 on Tuesday.
The institute said the new models are expected to function in combination with the already existing nine monitoring devices to make sure that all areas of the prefecture are watched around the clock.
In the afternoon, 30 micrograms of PM 2.5 per cubic meter of air were registered as of 3 p.m. local time in Yanagawa City, which is a level below the government-set daily limit of 35 micrograms.
Yoichi Kurokawa, Manager at the prefectural institute's Environmental Sciences Department told Xinhua that the prefecture will widely and preciously collect data from the devices additionally installed and analyze the air to detect the central cause of the pollution near future.
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