Inversion season is upon us and with it, some bad air days. But when should you forgo your daily run and when should you stay inside altogether?
Utah’s Department of Environmental Quality gauges the air daily with a color-coded ranking ranging from good (green), to hazardous (dark burgundy). But those rankings leave many scratching their heads. Bryce Bird, the director of Utah’s Division of Air Quality, said that beyond the ratings, self-assessment is part of the equation.
“If you feel burning in your eyes and the back of your throat, if exercising causes tightness in your chest, that’s certainly an indication for you that that level of air pollution is unhealthy for you,” he said.
Then there’s the question about the term “haze” used by the National Weather Service. Is that haze pollution-laden, or is it weather-born haze or maybe a bit of both? For Bird, “visual impairment as one thing to look at, but really focusing on the data that’s available from air monitors that help us to understand what the concentrations are or what pollution is leading to that haze.”
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aim to inform readers across the state.
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/4i1dAFV
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