What is the Air Quality Index?

People cross 6th Avenue in Manhattan on Wednesday as haze and smoke from wildfires in Canada blanket New York.  (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

People cross 6th Avenue in Manhattan on Wednesday as haze and smoke from wildfires in Canada blanket New York. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

“What is your AQI? »

— Everyone on the East Coast rn

With smoke from Canada’s wildfires triggering air quality alerts in more than a dozen U.S. states, millions of Americans have suddenly become familiar with the Air Quality Index or AQI, a color-coded numerical scale that aims to help people understand health risks and exposures to air pollutants at any given time.

The Environmental Protection Agency has an online dashboard (AirNow.gov) where you can enter your location (or any location) for the AQI.

“The U.S. Air Quality Index is getting a lot of media attention right now, but it’s really fantastic,” Dr. Brady Scott, member of the American Association for Respiratory Care, told Yahoo News. . “Because you can just type in your zip code and kind of figure out the air quality is where you are.”

A person wearing a mask uses a cellphone as haze and smoke from Canada's wildfires hang over the Manhattan skyline on Wednesday.  (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

A person wearing a mask uses a cellphone as haze and smoke from Canada’s wildfires hang over the Manhattan skyline on Wednesday. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

The so-called AirNow system was created by the EPA in 1998 to serve as a “national centralized repository” for real-time data collected by local, state and federal agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Park Service, NASA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And the following Air Quality Index (AQI) measures the amount of pollution in the air on a scale of 0 to 500, with the higher number indicating a higher concentration of the following pollutants regulated by Clean Air Action:

• Ozone at ground level

• Particulate pollution (also called particulate matter)

• Carbon monoxide

• Sulfur dioxide

• Nitrogen dioxide

Wildfires in Canada are releasing high concentrations of fine particles (less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, virtually invisible to the naked eye) into the air that has drifted south, causing an increase in AQI in states from Vermont to South Carolina.

In New York, for example, the AQI peaked at 405 on Wednesday afternoon, the highest level since record-keeping began, according to an analysis of EPA data by Fox Weather. The previous record – 279 – was set in July 1981.

People wear protective masks as the Roosevelt Island Light Rail crosses the East River as mist and smoke from the Canadian wildfires shroud the Manhattan skyline on Wednesday.  (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

People wear protective masks as the Roosevelt Island Light Rail crosses the East River as mist and smoke from the Canadian wildfires shroud the Manhattan skyline on Wednesday. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

Any number above 100 is considered “unhealthy” for sensitive groups, such as children or people with heart or lung conditions. When the AQI exceeds 200, everyone, even those without respiratory problems, is at risk.

Or you can just rely on colors.

“If it’s green or yellow, that’s OK for most individuals,” Brady explained. “When it is orange there is a concern that some people, especially those with respiratory problems, may be affected. When you are in the red zone and certainly when we are in the purple or brown zones, even if you are a so-called healthy person.

If you haven’t already done so, you can find your current AQI on the AirNow.gov website here >>>

People take photos in New York's Times Square on Wednesday as the sky is shrouded in haze and smoke from Canada's wildfires.  (Maye-E Wong/Reuters)

People take photos in New York’s Times Square on Wednesday as the sky is shrouded in haze and smoke from Canada’s wildfires. (Maye-E Wong/Reuters)

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