Last update - 00:00 17/03/2008
MDA receives dozens of complaints of difficulty breathing due to smog
By Zafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent
MDA emergency services received on Monday 120 complaints of difficulty breathing due to abnormally high air pollution all across the country.
The Environment Protection Ministry issued an advisory to elderly people, people suffering from heart disease, children and pregnant women not to exert themselves.
Exposure to the pollutants in the air could pose a health risk, the Environment Ministry said, advising those listed to refrain from running, playing ball games, walking briskly and riding bicycles.
The advisory was issued after large quantities of dust from desert areas south of Israel permeated the air and spread across the country. The advisory added that on Tuesday, winds from the west will disperse the high dust concentrations.
The Ministry recorded ten times the average saturation of dust particles in the air on Monday. Especially high levels of pollution were recorded in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Beit Shemesh, Be'er Sheva, and northern Israel.
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