What is the Air Quality Index?

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Mid-Michigan has had a quiet forecast over the past few weeks as we continue to see sunshine and warm temperatures across most of the Great Lakes and even into New England. Why talk about it now? Well sometimes heat and sunshine can affect the air quality and cause some pollutants to increase. In fact, you have probably noticed the weather team here mention the air quality or the Air Quality Index a few times this week but what is it and what does it mean to you?

Air quality affects how you live and breathe, air quality is measured by how clean or polluted the air is. Like the UV Index, the Air Quality Index is a measurement of the density of certain pollutants in our air that can negatively affect our health. The five pollutants measured are ground level ozone, particulates, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. Both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) work together to put a forecast together that the public can use to act in a timely matter and adjust, prevent or limit the harmful effects of poor air quality.

Now that you know about the basics of air quality and the Air Quality Index how are they used to communicate risk to the public?

The Air Quality Index is a six-category scale from 0 to 500, the higher the number the greater amount of pollutants in the air and the greater risk for health concerns. Each category is related back to a color that helps people determine whether air quality is reaching unhealthy levels in their communities.

Green and yellow means the air is safe for everyone, orange is unhealthy for sensitive groups including children, senior citizens and individuals with heart and lung disease. Red and purple mean that air is unhealthy for everyone, and the highest color is maroon which is a health warning of emergency conditions.

An Air Quality Index of 50 or below would be in the green color which means there is good air quality in your area. Whereas an air quality of 200 or more or the purple color is considered unhealthy for everyone. Typically, any value above 100 the air quality is considered unhealthy, at first for certain sensitive groups of people, then for everyone as AQI values get higher.

Just like the temperatures or seasons everyone has that goldilocks situation that is perfect for them, everyone has different sensitivities to different air pollutants and different levels of the Air Quality Index. Being aware of both can help you understand how clean the air outside is, and even how you can protect yourself and loved ones from the harmful health effects of pollution.

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