Air Quality Index (AQI) -- and planning outdoor activity

[KHashmi317]

The topic of anti-pollution masks and outdoor air quality came up recently in the "Exercise" thread.

For year, I've subscribed to US EPA's AirNow updates.

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Every day the Air Quality Index (AQI) tells you how clean or polluted your outdoor air is, along with associated health effects that may be of concern. The AQI translates air quality data into numbers and colors that help people understand when to take action to protect their health.

You get them daily in your email inbox and can customize them for your zip code. E.g.,

https://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.local_city&zipcode=90249&submit=Go

There is also an app for your portable devices. Screen shots are here:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/epa-airnow/id467653238

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The AIRNow iPhone application will provide an increasingly mobile public with real-time air quality information that people can use to protect their health when planning their daily activities

The app will allow users to get location-specific reports on current air quality and air quality forecasts for both ozone and fine particle pollution (PM2.5). Air quality maps from the AIRNow website provide visual depictions of current and forecast air quality nationwide, and a page on air quality-related health effects explains what actions people can take to protect their health at different AQI levels, such as “code orange.”