You've probably heard a lot more about air quality in the past few days...and for good reason! Air quality is consistently an issue in the Baltimore region (especially in the summer), but the current air quality issues from the Canadian wildfire smoke are significantly higher than usual.
Throughout all of this, you've probably heard of AQI. Think of the Air Quality Index (AQI) as a yardstick that runs from 0 to 500. The higher the AQI value, the greater the level of air pollution and the greater the health concern. For example, an AQI value of 50 or below represents good air quality, while an AQI value over 300 represents hazardous air quality.
For each pollutant, an AQI value of 100 generally corresponds to an ambient air concentration that equals the level of the short-term national ambient air quality standard for the protection of public health. AQI values at or below 100 are generally thought of as satisfactory. When AQI values are above 100, air quality is unhealthy: at first for certain sensitive groups of people, then for everyone as AQI values get higher.
The particular pollutant we are concerned about in this weather event is PM 2.5 (particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns across, 30 times smaller than a human hair). This can get into the respiratory and cardiovascular systems and can cause issues for everyone, but particularly for sensitive groups (those with asthma, heart disease, children, pets, etc.).
UMBC has several air quality monitors on campus that you can check to see the air quality right here on campus, but you can also find information for other areas from a quick internet search (and even on your weather forecasts).
A few tips:
- If you have a condition that makes you more susceptible to air quality conditions, take extra precautions to stay indoors (specifically places where the air is filtered--turn the AC on if you have it)
- Minimize the time spent outdoors, and be cautious of how much time your pets and kids are spending outdoors
- Wearing a high-quality mask outdoors if you must be outside can help minimize the effects of poor air quality (kn95 or n95 type mask)
- Use the "recirculate air" feature on your vehicle's AC if you are driving
- Keep the windows and doors of your house/apartment closed if possible.
- Stay up to date on how the air quality changes and adjust as needed.
For more information, the Office of Sustainability has a whole webpage dedicated to air quality, including a guide of what activities should be limited at different pollution levels and over different amounts of time to provide some guidance.
