Eruption Pollution Warning Issued in West Fjords
High pollution levels because of the Holuhraun eruption are present in the area, and residents are advised to stay inside,
Residents in Ísafjörður and elsewhere in the icelandic West Fjords received a text message from the Civil Protection Department at around 11 pm yesterday evening, warning them that high pollution levels because of the Holuhraun eruption were present in the area and advising them to stay inside, Iceland Review reports.
A pollution detector by the police station in Ísafjörður showed sulfur dioxide (SO2) levels of 2,000 mµ/m3 last night—600 mµ/m3 is the safety limit. People were asked to close all windows and turn up the heat to keep the gas out, visir.is reports.
The warning came as a surprise as Ísafjörður is about as far from the eruption site as possible and, while North and East Iceland have seen their fair share of SO2 gases, so far the West Fjords have not been affected by the pollution.