Have a question for Mom Detective? Submit it here.
JESSICA FROM RHODE ISLAND ASKS:
What is AQI and how do I protect my children from unhealthy air quality when all they want to do is play outside? Can air quality make you sick?
Tell EPA: There is no time to delay on ozone pollution
MOM DETECTIVE ANSWERS:
Hi Jessica, AQI is such a buzzword. It’s everywhere—it’s even on your phone. Still, I’m glad you asked because not everyone fully understands AQI meaning or what an air quality alert means. Here are the basics: AQI stands for Air Quality Index. Officially, it’s the Environmental Protection Agency’s index for reporting air quality. AirNow.gov, the government air monitoring website (bookmark it now!), says to “think of the AQI as a yardstick that runs from 0 to 500. The higher the AQI value, the greater the level of air pollution and the greater the health concern.”
If you’re like me, yardsticks don’t mean much. But you get the drift: low means breathe easy, higher means unhealthy air quality: time to rethink your day, including outdoor activities. The numbers are also correlated with colors, which make more sense to me. Green means go—got it.
Since you’re in Rhode Island, it’s likely the first time you really considered AQI meaning and unhealthy air quality was during the summer of 2023’s Canadian wildfires, when the air across the East Coast turned orange. But many people across the country, especially in places typically impacted by wildfires, have been relying on AQI for years to decide when it’s safest for kids to play outside. AQI is also super useful for vulnerable people, including those with asthma and other respiratory diseases, seeking to protect themselves.
Let’s delve a little deeper into AQI meaning. Your question is timely; the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particle pollution were updated in 2024 for the first time in over a decade. These inform the AQI, and many places will experience more days in the yellow (moderate) category as a result. Here’s what those yardstick numbers and colors represent: AQI is a composite result of these regulated by the Clean Air Act, all of which can absolutely make you sick. Immediate health impacts of air pollutant inhalation can include coughing, trouble breathing, chest pain, irritated eyes, and asthma attacks. Smartphone weather apps typically spell out the primary pollutant impacting air quality at any given moment.
- Particulate matter—especially fine particle pollution, also known as PM2.5 or soot, can cause serious health problems when entering the lungs or blood stream. It’s one of the most harmful components of wildfire smoke.
- Carbon monoxide—high levels reduce the oxygen that can travel to the heart and brain via the bloodstream.
- Ground-level ozone—also known as smog. Extreme heat combines with air pollution to create smog. Kids are, as you note, at greater threat from this powerful lung irritant because they traditionally spend more time outdoors. Smog is also particularly hard on people with asthma.
- Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)—these emissions from burning fossil fuels come from power plants and the exhaust from cars, buses, and trucks.
- Sulfur dioxide (SO2)—especially problematic for kids and asthmatics, SO2 also comes from the burning of fossil fuels, typically industrial facilities and power plants.
How to protect kids
We created a flyer (in English and Spanish) for parents and caregivers on how to minimize exposure to air pollution like smoke and smog on poor AQI days. When you check the weather daily, make checking AQI a habit too. If the AQI is “unhealthy for sensitive groups” or worse, consider staying indoors. All children under 18, even those without health conditions, fall into this sensitive group category. There are general principles you can plan your days by. Ozone, for example, is usually lower in the morning, so that’s your moment to venture out and play.
We recently interviewed Dr. Lisa Patel, a pediatrician and environmental scientist, about air quality. She wishes there were child-specific air quality alerts and believes in being conservative and cautious with children. She personally limits her time outdoors on “yellow” days. She lives in a place with frequent wildfire smoke and considers that for her son, the smoke is going to be a chronic exposure.
If poor AQI is coming from wildfire smoke, wearing an N95 mask outdoors can help. When there’s unhealthy air quality and you still choose to go outdoors, opt for lower intensity activities, like walking instead of running, and for shorter durations. On days when children need to be kept indoors, do your best to balance their natural need to play, their safety, and their mental health. Bad air quality and related health impacts can be scary. For times when children are not at home, speak with providers about their plans for unhealthy air quality days. Ask your child’s summer camp, day care, or school if they follow state guidance on bad air quality days—and let them know your preferences too. This children and youth activities guide for air quality from Washington State is comprehensive and helpful—for at home or out in the world.
Accuracy and monitoring
While AQI is an essential tool for unhealthy air quality, not everyone lives close to an air monitor. The data on your phone may not be hyper local. Check the EPA’s map to find out where the closest monitor to your home, school, or work is located. If you live far from an air monitor and are considering a home air sensor, keep in mind some are more accurate than others (seek out one evaluated by a third party), not all test for all air pollutants, and where you site and install them matters. Some for-profit companies allow customers to share data on a public website, which can be useful if your neighbor owns one. EPA maintains an Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping tool to help people uncover the locations of fossil fuel-fired power plants, toxic trackers, and specific state instruments. Check it out.
Additional ways to combat unhealthy air quality
Don’t neglect your indoor air quality . While it’s usually smart to open windows daily to ventilate your home, this is not advisable when AQI is high. Depending on what kind of air conditioning system you have at home, you may not want to run it on unhealthy air quality days. Familiarize yourself with your system, run it on recirculate, and keep your filters clean.
Our children are growing up with increasing pollution from wildfires and unhealthy air quality. One surefire way to protect all kids from bad air quality symptoms is to join Moms Clean Air Force to put pressure on our elected officials to impose the strictest air pollution regulations possible.