Over Half a Million Children Told to Avoid Going Outside Today
Residents of certain parts of Arizona were faced at unhealthy air pollution levels early on Tuesday, showed a live card from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Why it matters
Experts warn that poor air quality poses increased health risks for vulnerable groups, including the elderly, children and respiratory persons.
What to know
EPA cartography has shown high levels of air pollution in the “dangerous” category encompassing an area east of Phoenix, centered in the world, the seat of the county of Gila and the San Carlos reserve.
Air
Another “dangerous” air quality pocket was located southwest here, just northwest of Tucson.
“Avoid any physical activity outside,” advises EPA at this level.
According to the EPA map, Picture Rocks and Marana were among the inhabitants that this area has included.
In addition, some parts of Chandler and Gilbert have been faced with air quality in the “unhealthy” category.
Meanwhile, Phoenix and Scottsdale were faced with air quality which was “unhealthy for sensitive groups”, which includes children. At this level, EPA advises sensitive groups to make outdoor activities shorter and less intense.
The air quality index (AQI), developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), measures air pollution on a scale of 0 to 500:
- 0—50 (green): Good – Air quality is satisfactory.
- 51—100 (yellow): Moderate – acceptable, with potential concerns for sensitive individuals.
- 101—150 (orange): Unhealthy for sensitive groups – affects people with heart or pulmonary disease, older adults, children and pregnant people.
- 151—200 (red): Unhealthy – Anyone can start to feel healthy effects. Sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.
- 201-300 (purple): Very unhealthy – the risk of health effects is increased for everyone
- 301—500 (brown): Dangerous health warning of emergency conditions, everyone is more likely to be affected.
What people say
Professor of pediatric respiratory and environmental medicine Jonathan Grigg, with Queen Mary, University of London Nowsweek:: “There are vulnerable groups and classically, they are children because they have an additional problem to do with the development of their lungs, while our lungs do not develop as an adult.
“Their trajectory can be deflected so that they do not really reach their maximum pulmonary function.”
There are also “very clear links” between the inhalation of particles and death earlier from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, said Grigg.
In addition, Grigg said that conditions such as asthma are also exacerbated by exposure to air pollution.
What happens next
Air quality cards are updated regularly.
“You can find daily ozone forecasts and real -time ozone conditions for more than 300 cities across the country on the AirNow website: AirNow.gov”, explains the EPA.
