How do I ascertain air quality?
Q:With all the smoke from the various fires, air quality has been pretty poor here in Colorado. Some days it’s been awful! How can I check to see how clean our Rocky Mountain air is before I leave the house?
A: You’re correct that air quality has been poor these last few months. More people staying home has measurably cut down on commuter carbon monoxide, but that’s not enough. Fires, heavy industry, pollen, even household cleaners can affect air quality in a measurable way.
It turns out that our air is full of tiny particles! When you savor the smell of a campfire, when you reminisce about Mom after using a lemon-scented floor polish, when you go into a restroom and wish you had a hazmat suit breather, those are all because of microscopic particles floating in the air.
Measuring floating particles is also how smoke detectors work! Smoke particles scatter the detector’s light beam, the sensor detects that variation and triggers an audio alert.
Smoke, then, is a massive cloud of particular matter that is suspended in air, gets into our lungs when we breath, and can adversely affect our ability to extract oxygen. The result: The denser the smoke, the harder it is to breath and easier it is to get out of breath as our lungs have to work harder.
A variety of government agencies track air quality. One place to start is the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment’s Air Quality Page. Go here: colorado.gov/airquality/.
This morning, for example, Boulder is showing “moderate,” the Boulder reservoir is “good” and Longmont is “unhealthy for sensitive groups.”
There’s also Airnow.gov from the Environmental Protection Agency, but I find that a bit more confusing. Then again, the same agency offers some fascinating national air quality index (AQI) maps where you can really see the impact of the many fires raging throughout the Western USA: gispub.epa.gov/airnow/.
Weather sites and apps can also offer AQI measurements, particularly if there are alerts. I’m a big fan of the National Weather Service’s forecast.weather.gov site which doesn’t offer a daily AQI but does have alerts.
Or just check your smartphone weather forecast; it might well have an AQI number you just never noticed. As always, low AQI = good; high AQI = bad.
Finally, there are sensors you can install in your own home if you want to monitor your own AQI. I am very happy with my Foobot air quality monitor which makes assessing my own air quality as easy as glancing at the light emitting from the sleek device.
Stay safe out there, that smoke is definitely having an impact!
Dave Taylor has been involved with the online world since before the launch of the Internet and runs the popular Askdave Taylor.com tech help site. You can also find Askdave Taylor on Facebook and check out the Askdavetaylor Youtube channel too.