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Thick Vog Covers Oahu; Possible Health Concerns
09 April 2008
(KHON2)
Thick Vog as far as the eye could see - and today that wasn't very far. The haze that blanketed Oahu kept the horizon from view.
"Visibility because of the vog is limited its also compounded by the fact sometimes the sun hits the vog it produces that hazy type sky," said Ray Tanabe, National Weather Service  From the Tantalus lookout, you can see just how thick the vog was today - towards Waikiki, you can barely see past Diamond Head. "But this seems to be one of the worst times," said Jean Evans, American Lung Association of Hawaii Executive Director. "It really depends on what's coming out of the volcano and what makes it over to here." Unlike the Big Island - high levels of SO2 aren't blowing over to the neighboring islands - but that doesn't mean the vog isn't a problem. "For people with asthma this could be a major trigger for many people sort of like new years eve is a trigger for people," said Evans. "It can just irritate, if you have difficulty anywhere, small airways something like this will irritate it." With the nation's second highest asthma rate in children and more than 130-thousand people in Hawaii with lung disease - people are feeling it. "In a situation where there is vog, their health could deteriorate pretty rapidly, so until the vog goes away they may not get better they may get worse," said Evans. The Lung Association recommends staying indoors - and today that meant out of the rain. But the rain - is what may help to clear this heavy haze. "When rain falls down it certainly helps to scrub some of the particulars like smoke particles vog particles out of the atmosphere and that actually has a clearing affect," said Tanabe. iI you have any breathing problems keep medications handy and drink plenty of warm fluids. The American Lung Association of Hawaii website has more health information. Source: KHON2 Author: Brianne Randle |
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