However, it is perfectly possible to breathe world-class, healthy air even in a polluted city as long as you take the right precautions to protect yourself. Living in a polluted environment can be challenging. How can I improve the quality of the air I breathe?.Sensitive groups will experience reduced endurance in activities.ģ01-500+, “Hazardous” - General public and sensitive groups are at high risk to experience strong irritations and adverse health effects that could trigger other illnesses. Sensitive groups may experience respiratory symptoms.ġ01-150, “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” - General public and sensitive individuals in particular are at risk to experience irritation and respiratory problems.ġ51-200, “Unhealthy” - Increased likelihood of adverse effects and aggravation to heart and lungs among general public, particularly sensitive groups.Ģ01-300, “Very Unhealthy” - General public will be noticeably affected. We use the US EPA standard:Ġ-50, “Good” - Air quality is satisfactory and poses little or no health risk.ĥ1-100, “Moderate” - Air quality poses little health risk. Any value larger than 300, for example, is considered to be hazardous, while an AQI value of 0-50, on the other hand, represents good air quality.Įach AQI value corresponds to a given color, icon and recommendation. The index ranges from 0 to 500, where high index values indicate higher levels of air pollution and higher potential for adverse health effects. The overall AQI number at a given moment is dictated by the "riskiest" pollutant, with the highest AQI number. The index formula usually considers up to 6 main pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and ground level ozone), and calculates the respective health risk (or AQI number) for each one. Meanwhile in particularly sandy or dusty places, PM10 will be the main pollutant.ĪQI, or Air Quality Index, is a system for translating sometimes confusing or unintuitive pollutant concentration measurements, into one easy-to-understand scale to clearly represent the health risk posed by air pollution. Sometimes in hot summer months, however, Ozone will be the main pollutant. For this reason, PM2.5 is most often the “main pollutant” in the air, dictating overall AQI. It's near microscopic size means that it is so small it can be absorbed into the bloodstream upon inhalation - causing a variety of effects on a number of organs. PM2.5 is generally the most prevalent pollutant present at harmful levels.
Short term health effects of breathing polluted air include: What are the health risks associated with breathing polluted air?.As a result, real-time air pollution data and awareness is critical to protecting yourself from adverse effects.īy enabling location services and notifications on the AirVisual app, you can rest assured you are always informed of pollution spikes, wherever you are. Air pollution is dynamic and can change in as little as a few minutes based on weather patterns, polluting sources, human behavior, and other variables. There is no concrete answer for how your city’s air quality fairs. What’s the air quality like in my city?.