If you've been thinking there have been more air quality alerts in recent months, you would right.
Air quality standards for fine particulate matter (particles less than 2.5 micrometers) in Iowa have been exceeded at 35 locations through Febuary 26, already surpassing the 34 exceedances of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards recorded during all of 2009.
And, the 35 exceedances don't include readings from last week when the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) issued air quality alerts for east central Iowa because of high levels of PM 2.5.
Nearly half of the excessive readings (16) occurred Feb. 4. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) blames the excessive levels of PM 2.5 on weather conditions which contain pollution from combustion sources such as power plants, industries and motor vehicles at ground level.
The 35 air quality exceedances for PM 2.5 through Feb. 26 include eight at Davenport locations, eight at Clinton air monitoring sites and seven at Muscatine locations.
The 24-hour air quality standard for PM 2.5 (effective Dec. 17, 2006) is 35.5 micrograms per cubic meter, and was established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"The size of particles is directly linked to their potential for causing health problems," according to the EPA. "Particles that are 10 micrometers in diameter or smaller. . . generally pass through the throat and nose and enter the lungs. Once inhaled, these particles can affect the heart and lungs and cause serious health effects."
Air quality alerts in Iowa are issued when pollution levels would be unhealthy for sensitive groups, such as the elderly, people with heart conditions or young children. For those groups, the DNR recommends they limit prolonged outdoor exertion until air quality conditions improve.
CLICK HERE for the Iowa DNR's exceedance report (through Feb. 26).
