Together with local policy thank-tank Civic Exchange, the Hong Kong branch of Asiaxpat.com, a guide for expatriates relocating to and living in Asia, has launched a campaign to put pressure on the authorities to take action on the "dangerous" polluted air.

"I am extremely concerned with the serious effects on my health resulting from exposure to the dangerous polluted air in Hong Kong," the petition read, urging the government to take immediate action.

The petition was sent out to its 20,000 members in the southern Chinese territory about a week ago.

"The air is worse than the government has let on. They brand Hong Kong as a world city but really it's like a third-world horrible polluted city," Asiaxpat managing director Paul Luciw told AFP.

"It's dangerous now, it's not good to breath the air. We are not exaggerating it. It's a fact," he said.

Luciw said he has met expatriates who have left Hong Kong because of the pollution and warned more will go if the problem is not addressed.

"I know loads of people who said because of the pollution they are moving somewhere else and choose not to raise their kids here," he said.

Civic Exchange, headed by local activist Christine Loh, said the petition will be passed onto the World Health Organisation, which it hopes will pressure the local government to adopt the WHO air quality guidelines.

A study by Friends of the Earth Hong Kong found the city's airport recorded one day of smog-related poor visibility in every 3.5 days last year, up from one in eight in 2002.

Rising pollution and risks to health have tainted Hong Kong's lure, according to a recent lifestyle survey that saw the Chinese territory plummet down a list of expatriates' favourite cities from 20th to 32nd.

Singapore was considered the best place for overseas Asian workers to be based, followed by Australian cities Sydney and Melbourne.

All rights reserved. © 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.