HONG KONG (AFX) - Hong Kong issued a health warning as air pollution reached high levels and cloaked the territory in dense smog.

A spokeswoman for the Environmental Protection Department said calm air had trapped pollutants from both Hong Kong and China's heavily industrialized neighboring Pearl River Delta.

The pollution index in some areas reached as high as 133 on a 1-200 scale, officials said, and the government advised people with heart or respiratory illnesses to avoid outdoor activities.

Friends of the Earth Hong Kong estimates that some 80 pct of the pollution drifts in from the Pearl River Delta, China's economic powerhouse.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/afx/2006/03/16/afx2601786.html