There are high concentrations of dust in the air again today, the Labour Ministry warned — its second such alert in as many days.
The dust is compounded by the high temperatures, with an orange alert from the Met Office in force until 5 pm today as temperatures remain stuck at some 10 C above the seasonal average.
In an announcement on Tuesday, the ministry said measurements from ground Stations of the Air Quality Monitoring Network operated by the Department of Labour Inspection had shown high concentrations of dust.
The public, and particularly any vulnerable groups of population (children, older people, and the infirm) are urged to avoid circulating in open spaces until the observed episode has elapsed, as the small size of respirable particles in dust may have negative effects on human health, it said.
Employers must take appropriate measures (organizational and/or technical) after assessing any risks that their employees may face while working in open spaces, and it is recommended that workers in such spaces use appropriate means of personal protection.
In detail, the latest hourly dust concentrations measured at 7:00 am in the following areas are:
Nicosia: 88 μg/m3
Limassol: 95 μg/m3
Larnaca: 87 μg/m3
Paphos: 88 μg/m3
Paralimni: 78 μg/m3
Zygi: 67 μg/m3
Ayia Marina Xyliatou: 82 μg/m3
It is noted that ‘dust’ refers to respirable particulate matter of a diameter smaller than 10 μm (PM10) in the air. According to the relevant legislation, a limit value not to be exceeded is set for the daily average concentrations at 50 μg/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter).
More information on the measured pollutant concentrations and real-time updates is available online at www.airquality.gov.cy, and also through the free mobile application ‘Air Quality Cyprus’.
(File photo)
