With the foggy days that we have experienced recently, air quality is deteriorating throughout the country. Warning: you must now be vigilant.
You will have noticed that Belgium has been covered in thick fog for a few days now. Often, in the evening, visibility is increasingly reduced. During the day, too, this phenomenon has been regularly visible lately.
While this obviously has consequences on the roads, the current fog also has an impact on air quality. Indeed, those who walk outside have noticed that the air they breathe is currently less good than usual. “It’s a little harder, especially uphill”says Chantal, who was out running this morning. “I’m going to catch my breath and on the way down, we breathe a little better. But hey, it’s true that we feel the pollution”she tells us, interviewed by Aurélie Henneton.
This feeling is actually justified. Indeed, air quality is directly impacted by the accumulation of fog. Fragile people, such as asthmatics, are therefore advised not to make any effort. “The concentration of fine particles being what it is, for the moment, it is a powerful bronchial irritant”explains pulmonologist Olivier Gilbert. “You can suffer from cough, shortness of breath and exacerbation of your chronic illness”he then recalls.
Healthy people and athletes are also affected by this call for caution. “When we do sport, we hyperventilate, so we move a lot of air. This air being loaded with microparticles, it reaches the pulmonary sphere more easily. And I would even say, for the microparticles, that it will reach the sphere of microcirculation and be resorbed in the body”explains Olivier Gilbert.
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The situation is expected to get even worse on Tuesday. The air quality will be very poor in several parts of the country, such as near Liège or Charleroi.
fog weather
