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pollution can affect our health at any age and at any time of the year.
Any one responsible for the health and safety of other people needs to
be especially aware of air quality. If an air pollution advisory does
occur, people who supervise children, teenagers or the elderly should
take immediate action to reduce any exposure to the unhealthy air.
How Are Pollution Levels Reported?
 he
U.S. EPA replaced its Pollutant Standards
Index (PSI) in 1999 with its Air Quality Index (AQI) in order
to incorporate the new Federal ozone and PM 2.5 standards. The index is
designed to provide accurate, timely and easily understandable information
about daily levels of air pollution. This new index reflects revisions
to the primary health-based national ambient air quality standards for
ground-level ozone and particulate matter issued by U.S. EPA in 1997.
What Should We Do if There is an Air Pollution
Advisory?
The intervals, color code assignment, and the terms describing what we
should do when there is an Air Pollution Advisory is based on the AQI
Index Values and are as follows:
|
AQI
Index Values
|
Health Categories
|
Cautionary Statements for 8-Hour Ozone
|
|
0 to 50
|
Good
|
None |
|
51 to 100
|
Moderate
|
Unusually sensitive people should consider
limiting prolonged outdoor exertion. |
|
101 to 150
|
Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups
|
Active children and adults, and people
with respiratory disease, such as asthma, should limit prolonged outdoor
exertion. |
|
151 to 200
|
Unhealthy
|
Active children and adults, and people with
respiratory disease, such as asthma, should avoid prolonged outdoor
exertion; everyone else, especially children, should limit prolonged
outdoor exertion. |
|
201 to 300
|
Very Unhealthy
|
Active children and adults, and people
with respiratory disease, such as asthma, should avoid all outdoor
exertion; everyone else especially children, should limit outdoor
exertion. |
|
301 to 500
|
Hazardous
|
Everyone should avoid all outdoor exertion. |
Next Section - Science...
|
Overview
 Air
Transport Corridors
Pollution
Sources
Criteria
Pollutants
Meteorology
Visibility
Acid
Rain/Snow
Air
Pollution Advisories
|
