Air quality monitoring stations in Guangdong province will start tracking levels of dioxins, a cancer-causing chemical, in the coming months, a local official said on Tuesday.

Currently, dioxins levels are not monitored in the southern province because Guangdong, which borders Hong Kong and Macao, lacks specific equipment, according to sources with the Guangdong provincial center for environmental monitoring under the provincial department of environmental protection.

“The equipment was provided by the central government and it will take some time to install,” said an official from the Guangdong provincial center for environmental monitoring at a conference in Guangzhou on Tuesday.

The official said that the equipment will be installed at a monitoring station in Heshan, a city in the Pearl River Delta, and is being transported from Guangdong.

According to environmental experts, dioxins, like other heavy metals, do not degrade easily and can remain in the air for a long period of time, threatening public health.

Monitoring dioxins levels can help the relevant departments to introduce measures to fight air pollution and protect public health, the experts said.

Burning garbage, medical waste, fallen leaves, straws, disposable wires, coal, as well as vehicles’ exhaust emissions can produce dioxins.