ROADSIDE air pollution in Causeway Bay shot to very high levels for the first time yesterday, sparking warnings for children and sick people to avoid the busy area.
The roadside testing station outside Sogo department store registered a record level of 106, with the main pollutant found to be nitrogen dioxide from vehicle exhausts.
Levels of more than 100 trigger government health warnings, although even lower readings - calculated by checking levels of various pollutants - are linked to fatal respiratory disease.
Pollution in the shopping mecca should rise steadily around Christmas as dry weather approaches.
The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) warned people with heart or respiratory problems to avoid spending much time at street level in Causeway Bay yesterday. If they had to, they were advised not to exert themselves.
'Children will be similar. They're what we call the susceptible population - people who are more vulnerable to pollution,' said principal environmental protection officer Pang Sik-wing.