Thursday, May 9, 2019


 

                  Klamath County Public Health

 

.

 

The Air Quality Outlook for today is “Good””

 

As of today, we will stop issuing the regular Air Quality and Woodstove use Advisory until the beginning of Air Quality Season on October 15, 2019.  We will monitor the air quality during wildfire season and issue daily smoke forecasts for Klamath County residents as needed.

 

All woodstoves and fireplaces as well as certified wood stoves and pellet stoves are allowed countywide. Outdoor or open burning is prohibited inside the Air Quality Zone.

 

 

 

If you have questions contact the Klamath County Air Quality Program at 883-1122

Wednesday, May 8, 2019


Klamath County Public Health

 

 

The Air Quality Advisory for today is “GREEN”

 

 

The use of non-certified woodstoves and fireplaces as well as certified wood stoves and pellet stoves are allowed countywide. Outdoor burning is prohibited inside the Air Quality Zone.

 

 

 Outdoor or open burning is allowed outside the Air Quality Zone provided the requirements of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Oregon Department of Forestry and the local fire district are met.

If you have questions contact the Klamath County Air Quality Program at 883-1122

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Jim

Tuesday, May 7, 2019


       Klamath County Public Health

 

The Air Quality Advisory for today Tuesday May 7, until noon, tomorrow Wednesday May 8, IS GREEN

 

 

The Air Quality Advisory for today is “GREEN”

 

 

All woodstoves and fireplaces as well as certified wood stoves and pellet stoves are allowed countywide. Outdoor or open burning is prohibited inside the Air Quality Zone. For outdoor burning outside the Air Quality Zone check with your fire district prior to burning.

 

 

 

The 2019 Spring Open Burn Window has ended. Outdoor burning inside the Air Quality Zone is prohibited.

Thursday, May 2, 2019


                      Klamath County Public Health

 

The Air Quality Advisory for today Thursday May 2, until noon, tomorrow Friday May 3, IS GREEN

 

               

The Green Advisory Call means:  

 

1.    ALL WOODSTOVES, PELLET STOVES AND FIREPLACES MAY BE USED INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE AQ ZONE as per Klamath County Ordinance 406.100.

2.    Outdoor burning is allowed outside the Air Quality Zone. Check with your local fire district for their open burn permit.

3.    Outdoor burning is prohibited inside the Air Quality Zone.

 

The 2019 Spring Open Burn Window has ended. Outdoor burning inside the Air Quality Zone is prohibited.

 

Air Quality Awareness Week, begins today. EPA will make the website live today Monday, April 29, the first day of AQAW (see https://www.airnow.gov/airaware).

 

 

  • Monday - Your Heart & Lungs
  • Tuesday - Wildfires & Smoke
  • Wednesday - Air Quality Index & Sensors
  • Thursday - Air Quality in Your Community
  • Friday - Air Quality Around the World

 

 

Air Quality in Your Community

Before you get out and about, visit AirNow.gov to check air pollution levels in your community. This is especially important if someone in your family belongs to a group that is more sensitive to air pollution, such as children, older adults, and those with heart or lung problems.

Provo Utah Firestation 21

Provo Utah Firestation 21



Every day organizations across the country fly brightly colored flags to show the daily Air Quality Index and increase air quality awareness. Learn more about the Air Quality Flag Program.

When ozone or particle pollution levels reach unhealthy levels, you and others in your community can reduce air pollution. Here’s how:

On the Road

  • Choose a cleaner commute — car pool, use public transportation, bike, or walk.
  • Combine errands and avoid idling your engine.
  • Be sure your tires are properly inflated.
  • Keep your car, boat, and other engines tuned.
  • Follow refueling instructions when you fill up at the gas station so that vapors don’t escape into the air. Be careful not to spill fuel and always tighten your gas cap.

At Home

  • Use paints and cleaning products that are safe for the environment.
  • Conserve electricity: Set your thermostat a little higher in the summer and lower in winter. Participate in local energy conservation programs. Look for the ENERGY STAR label when buying home or office equipment.
  • Consider using gas logs instead of wood. Burn only dry, seasoned wood. Get more information at EPA Burn Wise

In the Garden

  • Mulch or compost leaves and yard waste.
  • Rake leaves instead of using a leaf blower.
  • Opt for a manual lawn mower instead of electric or fuel-burning models.
  • Plant more plants, especially trees.

NOAA’s Air Quality Safety page is https://www.weather.gov/safety/airquality

 

 

  Jim

 

 

 

Wednesday, May 1, 2019


                   Klamath County Public Health

 

The Air Quality Advisory for today Wednesday May 1, until noon, tomorrow Thursday May 2, IS GREEN

 

               

The Green Advisory Call means:  

 

1.    ALL WOODSTOVES, PELLET STOVES AND FIREPLACES MAY BE USED INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE AQ ZONE as per Klamath County Ordinance 406.100.

2.    Outdoor burning is allowed outside the Air Quality Zone. Check with your local fire district for their open burn permit.

3.    Outdoor burning is prohibited inside the Air Quality Zone.

 

The 2019 Spring Open Burn Window has ended. Outdoor burning inside the Air Quality Zone is prohibited.

 

Air Quality Awareness Week, begins today. EPA will make the website live today Monday, April 29, the first day of AQAW (see https://www.airnow.gov/airaware).

 

 

  • Monday - Your Heart & Lungs
  • Tuesday - Wildfires & Smoke
  • Wednesday - Air Quality Index & Sensors
  • Thursday - Air Quality in Your Community
  • Friday - Air Quality Around the World

 

 

The Air Quality Index and Sensors

Teachers, students, and citizen scientists from around the world are charging ahead to learn more about air quality from low-cost, portable air sensors. People are interested in:

  • Comparing the Air Quality Index (AQI) posted on AirNow.gov and information from sensors
  • Understanding the accuracy of sensor data at the neighborhood level and
  • Engaging students in environmental science activities using air quality sensors.

AQI and Sensors

Both sensors and AirNow give you information about air quality. EPA recommends that you use AirNow for information on air quality and health. Here’s why:

AirNow reports the current AQI for ozone and particle pollution, two common air pollutants. The AQI is based on EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards and the underlying scientific information about exposure to those pollutants and health. In addition, the monitors that report to AirNow are built and operated according to rigorous air monitoring regulations, and they provide high-quality data. Most low-cost sensors currently do not meet these same data quality standards.

What your sensor can do is give you helpful information about short-term (such as 1-minute) air quality levels right at your location that you can use to adjust your outdoor activities. For example, do you regularly see elevated particle pollution readings on your walk to work? Move a street over and see if they improve. If they do, you may want to change your route. Are you seeing elevated ozone readings that are lasting for a while in the afternoon? You might want to switch your afternoon run to the morning, when ozone levels typically are lower, or run on a treadmill at the gym.

Using Sensors: Exploring Local Air Quality

The air sensor technology market is expanding as more companies make lower-cost portable monitors available to the public. People are using air quality sensors to get more information about local air quality.

A growing number of air sensors for monitoring air quality are being made commercially available, encouraging more widespread use by individuals, citizen groups, researchers, regulatory officials, and in networks implemented by the private sector. Even though these devices are not as accurate or precise as the national ambient air monitoring network, some can provide useful information about very local air quality.

A wide variety of air sensor technologies currently exist in the market that offer streaming and real-time data capabilities. They vary in size, design, purpose (indoor or outdoor use), type of pollutants measured, power, and communications capabilities. Many cities in the United States currently have air sensor networks operating, with data collected privately or for sharing with the public. In addition, many citizens are procuring sensors for their private use to better understand their exposure to air pollution.

The reliability of these technologies, particularly over long periods of time, is currently not well known. As the technology is in a state of rapid innovation, new versions of air sensors are coming onto the market frequently. To understand whether these technologies produce reliable air pollution data, it is important to compare their performance against well-proven measurement methods. EPA is one of the recognized leaders in evaluating and testing these technologies, sharing information about their performance, as well as applying them in field studies with citizen scientists, states, tribes, communities and industry.

EPA scientists created a toolbox for air sensors to provide interested members of the public, also known as citizen scientists, with resources to effectively collect, analyze, interpret, and communicate air quality data. EPA’s Air Sensor Toolbox for Citizen Scientists provides information and guidance on new low-cost compact technologies for measuring air quality.

Engaging Students: Guide for Building a Particle Pollution Sensor

EPA also participates in educational outreach to schools, museums, and other locations to teach students about air quality to understand and protect the air we breathe. EPA developed a guide for building a particle pollution air sensor to teach older children (grades 5-12) about air quality and air science. The guide provides all the information needed to build an air quality sensor, and opportunities for students to do hands on wiring and coding.

The guide includes the following information:

  • Instructions for buying the parts and building your own particle sensor
  • A 10-minute activity that includes information on air pollution and explanation of how the PM air sensor works
  • Discussion questions to ask students after the lesson
  • Classroom handout
  • Build Your Own Particle Sensor

Assembled sensor kits with different components.

Assembled sensor kits with different components.

Students working with air quality sensors

Students working with air quality sensors

 

  Jim

 

 

Tuesday, April 30, 2019


 

                      Klamath County Public Health

 

The Air Quality Advisory for today Tuesday April 30, until noon, tomorrow Wednesday May 1, IS GREEN

 

               

The Green Advisory Call means:  

 

1.    ALL WOODSTOVES, PELLET STOVES AND FIREPLACES MAY BE USED INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE AQ ZONE as per Klamath County Ordinance 406.100.

2.    Outdoor burning is allowed outside the Air Quality Zone. Check with your local fire district for their open burn permit.

3.    Outdoor burning is prohibited inside the Air Quality Zone.

 

The 2019 Spring Open Burn Window ended yesterday. Outdoor burning inside the Air Quality Zone is prohibited.

 

Air Quality Awareness Week, begins today. EPA will make the website live today Monday, April 29, the first day of AQAW (see https://www.airnow.gov/airaware).

Monday, April 29, 2019


                         Klamath County Public Health

 

The Air Quality Advisory for today Monday April 29, until noon, tomorrow Tuesday April 30, IS GREEN

 

               

The Green Advisory Call means:  

 

1.    ALL WOODSTOVES, PELLET STOVES AND FIREPLACES MAY BE USED INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE AQ ZONE as per Klamath County Ordinance 406.100.

2.    Outdoor burning is allowed outside the Air Quality Zone. Check with your local fire district for their open burn permit.

3.    Outdoor burning is prohibited inside the Air Quality Zone.

 

The 2019 Spring Open Burn Window ended yesterday. Outdoor burning inside the Air Quality Zone is prohibited.

 

Air Quality Awareness Week, begins today. EPA will make the website live today Monday, April 29, the first day of AQAW (see https://www.airnow.gov/airaware).

 

 

  • Monday - Your Heart & Lungs
  • Tuesday - Wildfires & Smoke
  • Wednesday - Air Quality Index & Sensors
  • Thursday - Air Quality in Your Community
  • Friday - Air Quality Around the World

Check the AQI and Get Outside

 

People with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and heart disease are more affected by poor air quality. Just in the US, people affected include:


And one person can have all these conditions!



I'm Air Aware



In March, CDC and EPA launched “Air Aware,” a social media campaign to raise awareness of the risks of poor air quality and how AirNow and the AQI can help protect the health of people with asthma, COPD, and heart disease. https://www.cdc.gov/air/air_health.htm

Exercise is key in both pulmonary and cardiac rehabilitation and helps maintain health. It’s ok to be active! But the people most sensitive to air pollution should take steps to protect themselves. These steps include:

  • exercising outdoors--but away from busy roads--when the AQI says air quality is good;
  • exercising indoors when the AQI says air quality is poor; and
  • keeping indoor air clean by not smoking indoors or using poorly ventilated wood burning stoves or fireplaces and cutting down on vacuuming, burning candles or incense, and frying foods

Older people, and people with lung or heart disease, are more sensitive to adverse health effects from air pollution. Short-term exposure to unhealthy air quality contributes to respiratory and cardiovascular complaints. Short- and long-term exposure to particle pollution causes cardiovascular health effects and mortality, and is likely to cause respiratory health effects.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommend that people at higher risk of health problems caused by air pollution use the Air Quality Index (AQI) to learn about their local air quality and actions they can take to reduce exposure.

Learn more about the Air Quality Index at AirNow.gov

Learn more about Pulmonary Rehabilitation (68 pp., 6MB, about PDF)

Learn more about Cardiac Rehabilitation

References:

R, Gong J, Barratt B, Ohman-Strickland P, Ernst S, Kelly FJ, Zhang JJ, Collins P1, Cullinan P, Chung KF. Respiratory and cardiovascular responses to walking down a traffic-polluted road compared with walking in a traffic-free area in participants aged 60 years and older with chronic lung or heart disease and age-matched healthy controls: a randomised, crossover study. Lancet. 2018 Jan 27;391(10118):339-349.

Wheaton AG, Ford ES, Cunningham TJ, Croft JB. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hospital visits, and comorbidities—National Survey of Residential Care Facilities, 2010. J Aging Health. 2015;27:480–499. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4441204/External

 

 

 

 

 

  Jim