About the Air Quality Health Index - Canada.ca

The Air Quality Health Index or "AQHI" is a scale designed to help you understand what the air quality around you means to your health. Skiptomaincontent Skipto"Aboutgovernment" HonourthememoryofHerMajestyQueenElizabethII AbouttheAirQualityHealthIndex WhatistheAirQualityHealthIndex(AQHI)? HowistheAQHIcalculated? WhatisthescalefortheAQHI? HowcanIfindoutmoreabouttheairquality inmycommunity? WhatistheAirQualityHealthIndex(AQHI)? TheAirQualityHealthIndexor"AQHI"isascaledesignedtohelpyouunderstandwhattheairqualityaroundyoumeanstoyourhealth. Itisahealthprotectiontoolthatisdesignedtohelpyoumakedecisionstoprotectyourhealthbylimitingshort-termexposuretoairpollutionandadjustingyouractivitylevelsduringincreasedlevelsofairpollution.Italsoprovidesadviceonhowyoucanimprovethequalityoftheairyoubreathe. Thisindexpaysparticularattentiontopeoplewhoaresensitiveto airpollutionandprovidesthemwithadviceonhowtoprotecttheirhealthduringairqualitylevelsassociatedwithlow,moderate,highandveryhighhealthrisks. TheAQHIcommunicatesfourprimarythings; Itmeasurestheairqualityinrelationtoyourhealthonascalefrom1to10. Thehigherthenumber,thegreaterthehealthriskassociatedwiththeairquality. Whentheamountofairpollutionisveryhigh,thenumberwillbereportedas10+.  A categorythatdescribesthelevelofhealthriskassociatedwiththeindexreading(e.g.Low,Moderate,High,orVeryHighHealthRisk). Healthmessagescustomizedtoeachcategoryforboththegeneralpopulationandthe‘atrisk’population. CurrenthourlyAQHIreadingsandmaximumforecastvaluesfortoday,tonight,tomorrowandthenextday. TheAQHIisdesignedtogiveyou thisinformationalongwithsomesuggestionsonhowyoumightadjustyouractivitylevelsdependingonyourindividualhealthriskfromairpollution. FollowthisguideonhowtousetheAQHI. HowistheAQHIcalculated? TheAQHIiscalculatedbasedontherelativerisksofacombinationofcommonairpollutantsthatisknowntoharmhumanhealth. Thesepollutantsare: Ozone(O3)atgroundlevel, ParticulateMatter(PM2.5/PM10)and NitrogenDioxide(NO2). WhatisthescalefortheAQHI? TheAQHIismeasuredonascalerangingfrom 1-10+.TheAQHIindexvaluesaregroupedintohealthriskcategoriesasshownbelow.Thesecategorieshelpyoutoeasilyandquicklyidentifyyourlevelofrisk. 1-3 Lowhealthrisk 4-6 Moderatehealthrisk 7-10 Highhealthrisk 10+ Veryhighhealthrisk MoreinformationonthescaleandtheAQHIcategories. HowcanIfindoutabouttheairqualityinmycommunity? TofindyourlocalAQHI,visitYourLocalAQHIConditions. IfyouresideoutsidetheAQHIcommunityareas,pleasecontactyourlocalpublichealthoffice,MinistryofEnvironment,orlocallung andasthmaassociationchaptersforavailablelocalresourcesonairqualityandyourhealth. Reportaproblemormistakeonthispage Pleaseselectallthatapply: Alink,buttonorvideoisnotworking Ithasaspellingmistake Informationismissing Informationisoutdatedorwrong Loginerrorwhentryingtoaccessanaccount(e.g.MyServiceCanadaAccount) GCKeyaccess SecureKeyConcierge(BankingCredential)access PersonalAccessCode(PAC)problemsorEIAccessCode(AC)problems SocialInsuranceNumber(SIN)validationproblems Otherloginerrornotinthislist Ican'tfindwhatI'mlookingfor Otherissuenotinthislist Submit Thankyouforyourhelp! Youwillnotreceiveareply.Forenquiries, contactus. Datemodified: 2021-04-28