Week of air quality alerts in Columbia, and Walla Walla Counties

WAITSBURG - With regional wildfires producing smoke in Eastern Washington, it has been hard to ignore the health issues associated with it.

The National Weather Service and local agencies have issued air quality alerts for conditions forecasted to continue through next week. The air quality index (AQI) in Waitsburg, Walla Walla, and College Place has reached moderate to unhealthy levels.

On Tuesday, Waitsburg's AQI registered 159, with a forecast for Wednesday and Friday rising to 166. College Place and East Walla Walla also had levels above 165.

Any AQI below 50 is classified as "healthy." Fifty to 100 is "moderate," while 100 to 150 is unhealthy for "sensitive groups," and anything above 150 is bad for everyone.

Pollutants in wildfire smoke include small-diameter particles that can enter the lungs and bloodstream and ground-level ozone, which can irritate throats, cause headaches, and chest pain.

Air quality matters because we breathe a lot of air. On average, each adult breathes over 2,000 gallons of air per day. Breathing that much polluted air can quickly result in health issues. Long-term exposure can even cause early death.

Children are at higher risk than adults because their lungs are smaller, so they take more breaths. They are also more likely to suffer from asthma, which worsens their sensitivity to pollution.

Seniors and people with existing heart or respiratory disease are also at higher risk.

So, what should you do when an air quality alert is issued? The Environmental Protection Agency recommends reducing physical activity, especially outdoor exercise, as well as indoor workouts. Exercise causes deeper and faster breaths which allow pollutants into respiratory systems faster.

Limit time outside during air quality alerts. Wearing an N95 respirator or P100 mask can reduce exposure; however, cloth or surgical masks do not block fine particles.

Indoors, keep windows and doors closed and set the air conditioning to recirculate. Use clean air filters or run a portable HEPA air purifier.

Monitor smoke conditions by checking websites or apps that track and update weather and air quality, including AirNow.gov. AccuWeather.com or ecology.wa.gov.