Online Panic

24 April 2010 - Hong Kong is by now probably one of the most polluted cities in the world. Hong Kong's Clean Air Network claims that the city's air pollution kills three persons per day and point out that Hong Kong's maximum pollutant guidelines presently permit 2 - 4 times the pollutant levels recommended by the WHO (see http://www.hongkongcan.org/ - and do sign the petition). Yet, it seems that Hong Kong folks do not really care, or at least they remain rather silent on the issue. It came therefore as a complete surprise to me that online worries that the Iceland ash cloud could cause toxic substances to fall on the city could spread so rapidly. People argued to stay out of the rain because the acid rain could cause skin cancer. Huh? Acid rains from Hong Kong's polluted skies are nothing unusual. So why the sudden panic? Experts later clarified that the rains posed no danger to the skin. But maybe carry that umbrella anyway.