Air Quality Index

Today's reading is 17 based on fine particulates and is considered good. The index was last updated on Wednesday, November 19, 2008.

AIR QUALITY INDEX
The Air Quality Index or AQI is an index developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency for reporting daily air quality. EPA uses the AQI for the five criteria air pollutants that are identified in the Clean Air Act: ground level ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. National ambient air quality standards have been established for each of these pollutants to protect the public against harmful health effects. The Mahoning-Trumbull Air Pollution Control Agency operates air monitors that determine the levels of particulate matter, ozone and sulfur dioxide in the ambient air. The highest measured pollutant on any day is used to calculate the AQI.

The purpose of the AQI is to help you understand what local air quality means to your health. To make the AQI easy to understand, the AQI scale has been divided into six color coded categories. The colors help you quickly determine whether air pollutants are reaching unhealthy levels as each color corresponds to a different level of health concern. The AQI categories, the levels of concern and the cautionary statements for each category are:

COLOR KEY FOR AIR QUALITY INDEX

"Good" When the AQI value is between 0 and 50, air quality is considered satisfactory and air pollution poses little or no risk.
"Moderate" "When the AQI is between 51 and 100, air quality is acceptable. However, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of individuals.
"Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" Certain groups of people are particularly sensitive to the harmful effects of air pollutants. For example, children and adults who are active outdoors and people with respiratory disease are at greater risk from exposure to ozone, while people with heart disease are at a greater risk from carbon monoxide. When AQI values are between 101 and 150, members of sensitive groups may experience health effects, but the general public is not likely to be affected when the AQI is in this range.
"Unhealthy" When AQI values are between 151 and 200, everyone may begin to experience health effects. Members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.
"Very Unhealthy" AQI values between 201 and 300 trigger a 'health alert' meaning that everyone may experience more serious health effects.
"Hazardous" AQI values over 300 trigger health warnings of emergency conditions. The entire population is more likely to be affected.

AIR QUALITY TABLE AND CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS

Index Values	Levels of Health Concern	Cautionary Statements
0 to 50	Good	None
51 to 100	Moderate	Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting prolonged outdoor exertion
101 to 150	Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups	Active children and adults and people with respiratory disease, such as asthma, should limit prolonged outdoor exertion
151 to 200	Unhealthy	Active children and adults and people with respiratory disease such as asthma, should avoid prolonged outdoor exertion; everyone else, especially children, should limit prolonged outdoor exercise
201 to 300	Very Unhealthy	Active children and adults, and people with respiratory disease, such as asthma, should avoid all outdoor exertion; everyone else, especially children, should limit outdoor exertion
301 to 500	Hazardous	Everyone should avoid all outdoor exertion

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