PARIS, France (AFP) — A French charity warned Tuesday about air pollution problems at the athletes’ village for the Paris Olympics which is set to welcome the first of thousands of competitors later this week.

Respire, which released a report into air quality problems at sports fields around the French capital, said that its results showed that “almost all” of the worst polluted sites were close to the Paris ring road.

The Olympic village in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Ouen sits just beside the eight-lane highway, which is visible from many of the apartments.

“Spikes in pollution can prevent sports people from reaching elite performance levels and cause asthma attacks and even dizzy spells,” the report said.

The “vast majority” of 112 sports centres studied in Paris and its suburbs have air pollution above the maximum levels recommended by the World Health Organisation, according to the study which used data from air monitoring service Airparif.

Five experimental outdoor air filters which resemble UFO-like towers have been installed at the Olympic village and will suck in air and filter out dangerous particles.

The roughly 40 low-rise towers of the village will welcome the first of 10,000 Olympians on Thursday ahead of the start of the Paris Games on July 26.