Air Quality Index (AQI) Basics - AirNow.gov

Think of the AQI as a yardstick that runs from 0 to 500. The higher the AQI value, the greater the level of air pollution and the greater the health concern ... Skiptomaincontent X NoDataAvailable Therearenocurrentandforecastairqualitydatafoundnearyourlocation. Pleasevisittheforalistofcitieswithdata. PleasesearchforaU.S.location,orvisittheInternationalnavigationtab. X DataCourtesyOf UnabletoretrieveDataProviders. 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ViewAll(1) ShowAnnouncementsPopup 3 ArrowpointingfromAnnouncementsPopuptotheToolbutton ⨯ Announcements https://www.airnow.gov/announcement/3336 RecursosdeAirNowenespañol 2022-08-04 AhoralosrecursosdeAirNowenespañolsonmásfácilesdeencontrar.Hagaclicenlos“Recursosenespañol”paraencontrarlosenlacesanuestrosdocumentosenespañolsobreelÍndicedeCalidaddelAire,cómoprepararseparalosincendiosforestalesymás. https://www.airnow.gov/announcement/4636 CelebrateAirQualityAwarenessWeek 2022-05-03 It’sAirQualityAwarenessWeek!Thisyear’sthemeis“BeAirAwareandPrepared.”Learnhowyoucanbeawareandpreparedbycheckingoutdailyinformationaboutairqualitytopics,includingwildfiresmoke,asthma,andenvironmentaljustice,amongothers.Celebrate#AQAW2022withusonTwitterandFacebook. https://www.airnow.gov/announcement/4831 WildfireGuideInformationPage 2021-10-04 We’vecreatedanewWildfireGuideInformationPagewhereyoucanfindtheupdatedWildfireSmoke:AGuideforPublicHealthOfficials(WildfireGuide).ThepageincludeslinkstoWildfireGuideFactsheetsforthepublic,and Post-PublicationUpdates,whereyoucanfindup-to-dateguidanceandothernewevidence-basedinformationforpublichealthofficials. ViewAll(3) AQI Today Tomorrow More AirNow.gov LocationSearch Usethisboxforgeographicorlocaionbasedsearches. AirQualityIndex(AQI)Basics VersiónenEspañol WhatistheU.S.AirQualityIndex(AQI)? TheU.S.AQIisEPA’sindexforreportingairquality. HowdoestheAQIwork? ThinkoftheAQIasayardstickthatrunsfrom0to500.ThehighertheAQIvalue,thegreaterthelevelofairpollutionandthegreaterthehealthconcern.Forexample,anAQIvalueof50orbelowrepresentsgoodairquality,whileanAQIvalueover300representshazardousairquality. ForeachpollutantanAQIvalueof100generallycorrespondstoanambientairconcentrationthatequalstheleveloftheshort-termnationalambientairqualitystandardforprotectionofpublichealth.AQIvaluesatorbelow100aregenerallythoughtofassatisfactory.WhenAQIvaluesareabove100,airqualityisunhealthy:atfirstforcertainsensitivegroupsofpeople,thenforeveryoneasAQIvaluesgethigher. TheAQIisdividedintosixcategories.Eachcategorycorrespondstoadifferentlevelofhealthconcern.Eachcategoryalsohasaspecificcolor.Thecolormakesiteasyforpeopletoquicklydeterminewhetherairqualityisreachingunhealthylevelsintheircommunities. AQIBasicsforOzoneandParticlePollution DailyAQIColor LevelsofConcern ValuesofIndex DescriptionofAirQuality Green Good 0to50 Airqualityissatisfactory,andairpollutionposeslittleornorisk. Yellow Moderate 51to100 Airqualityisacceptable.However,theremaybeariskforsomepeople,particularlythosewhoareunusuallysensitivetoairpollution. Orange UnhealthyforSensitiveGroups 101to150 Membersofsensitivegroupsmayexperiencehealtheffects.Thegeneralpublicislesslikelytobeaffected. Red Unhealthy 151to200 Somemembersofthegeneralpublicmayexperiencehealtheffects;membersofsensitivegroupsmayexperiencemoreserioushealtheffects. Purple VeryUnhealthy 201to300 Healthalert:Theriskofhealtheffectsisincreasedforeveryone. Maroon Hazardous 301andhigher Healthwarningofemergencyconditions:everyoneismorelikelytobeaffected. SeetheActivityGuidestolearnwaystoprotectyourhealthwhentheAQIreachesunhealthylevels. Fivemajorpollutants EPAestablishesanAQIforfivemajorairpollutantsregulatedbytheCleanAirAct.EachofthesepollutantshasanationalairqualitystandardsetbyEPAtoprotectpublichealth: ground-levelozone particlepollution(alsoknownasparticulatematter,includingPM2.5andPM10) carbonmonoxide sulfurdioxide nitrogendioxide UsingtheAirQualityIndex TechnicalAssistanceDocumentfortheReportingofDailyAirQuality–theAirQualityIndex(AQI)