The health manager should also consider air quality when thinking about environmental health hazards. Things that may affect how safe the air is ― inside and outside —include wildfire smoke, vehicle emissions, industrial pollution, and burning agricultural or waste products.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) measures how safe the air is. The index uses different colors and a number scale to make it easy for people to quickly decide whether air quality is unhealthy in their communities. This can help people know when it is safe to go outside and when they may need to reduce outdoor activities and improve their air quality.
Children are more vulnerable than adults because they breathe more air relative to their body size. Poor air quality can increase the risk of respiratory diseases and other health problems, especially for children with asthma and allergies. When pregnant women breathe polluted air, they are more at risk for pre-term birth and having babies with low birth weight.
Head Start programs should check the AQI, keep children inside when it is not safe to breathe outside, and make sure the air inside stays healthy. The air inside might have germs or chemicals from common products and furniture. Polluted air from outside enters through windows and open doors. Also, moisture and warm air encourage mold and mildew to grow inside.
Tips and Strategies for Air Quality
- Set up a daily procedure to check the AQI and what to do after, including:
- Use information from the health department.
- Follow alerts from local weather and news sources.
- When the AQI is in the:
- Red zone between 101 and 150, limit outside activities to no more than an hour.
- Purple or maroon zones over 150, consider canceling all outdoor activities until the air quality improves.
- Improve indoor air quality with air circulation through a properly installed and adjusted heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system. You can also use fans, portable air purifiers, and open windows when appropriate.
- Check where your HVAC system pulls air in to make sure it’s not near idling vehicles or other sources of pollution that could bring harmful fumes indoors.
- Use qualified consultants to make sure HVAC systems work properly.
- When there is a concern about air quality (e.g., wildfire smoke or other high levels of pollution):
- Stay indoors and use an air purifier with a HEPA filter or MERV 13+ filter in your HVAC system.
- Consider having adults and children 2 and older wear a comfortable, well-fitted mask when going outdoors (ideally an N95).
- Keep your environment smoke-free and fragrance-free.
