Luxembourg's Environment Department within the Ministry of Infrastructure and Sustainable Development has confirmed that on Wednesday, the oxone levels in Luxembourg exceeded the European Ozone threshold of 180 µg / m³.
At 14:00 on Wednesday, the weather station at Beidweiler recorded 185 µg / m³.
This threshold is defined as the level beyond which a short exposure presents a risk to human health regarding particularly sensitive sections of the population, i.e. the elderly, children and others with respiratory and cardiac conditions.
Recommended for when ozone levels are this high include for sensitive people not to do heavy physical effort outdoors, especially between 12:00 and 00:00. Inside buildings, ozone concentrations are usually halved.
As road traffic and the use of organic solvents are among the main sources of gas pollutants (i.e. nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds), leading to excessive ozone formation, certain restrictions have been announced:
- Obligatory: the speed limit on motorways is reduced to 90 km/h when oxone levels reach 160 ug / m3: this restriction came into force on Wednesday afternoon;
- Recommended: residents are encouraged to take public transport instead of their own cars; avoid the use of cars which are high emitters of pollutants, including those without catalytic converters and old diesel cars; avoid the use of paints and other products containing organic solvents.
