News Release

For immediate release
April 18, 2008

Notice of Smog Advisory

Effective immediately, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment has issued a Smog Advisory until further notice for the following forecast regions:

Barrie-Orillia-Midland	Huron-Perth
Belleville-Quinte-Northumberland	Kingston-Prince Edward
Brockville-Leeds and Grenville	London-Middlesex
City of Hamilton	Niagara
City of Toronto	Oxford-Brant
Cornwall-Morrisburg	Parry Sound-Muskoka-Huntsville
Dufferin-Innisfil	Peterborough-Kawartha Lakes
Dunnville-Caledonia-Haldimand	Simcoe-Delhi-Norfolk
Elgin	York-Durham
Halton-Peel	Waterloo-Wellington

A Smog Advisory is issued when there is a high probability for elevated smog levels.

Warm, sunny conditions, combined with a southerly flow of polluted air from the U.S. and a local build-up of pollutants are resulting in elevated smog levels across parts of Ontario.

Smog is a hazy mix of pollutants made up of ground-level ozone, fine particulate matter and other pollutants. During the summer months, more than half of Ontario’s smog-causing pollution originates in the United States. In cooler months, domestic sources can be significant contributors to the formation of fine particulate matter.

The website www.airqualityontario.com contains a list of “spare the air” actions (www.airqualityontario.com/science/spareair.cfm) to help combat smog and minimize its effect on sensitive populations. If you want to learn more about air quality, visit the Ministry of the Environment’s website at ontario.ca/environment.

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Contacts:	Contact information for the general public:
John Steele, Ministry of the Environment, 416-314-6666	416-325-4000 or 1-800-565-4923/ www.ontario.ca/environment

 

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