New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Amanda Lefton and State Department of Health (DOH) Commissioner Dr. James McDonald are issuing an Air Quality Health Advisory for fine particulate matter on Wednesday for the Lower Hudson Valley, Upper Hudson Valley, Eastern Lake Ontario, and Central and Western New York regions due to the impact of smoke from wildfires in Canada.
In addition, there is the potential for visible smoke and hazy skies across the state and New Yorkers may see temporary spikes in smoke-related pollution that reach “unhealthy” levels that affect people with cardiovascular and respiratory concerns, as well as the general public.
The pollutant of concern is: Fine Particulate Matter
The advisory will be in effect from 12:00 a.m. until 11:59 p.m.
The Air Quality Health Advisory regions consist of: Lower Hudson Valley, which includes Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Ulster, and Sullivan counties; Upper Hudson Valley, which includes Albany, Columbia, Fulton, Greene, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, and Washington counties; Eastern Lake Ontario, which includes northern Cayuga, Jefferson, Monroe, Oswego, and Wayne counties; Central New York, which includes Allegany, Broome, southern Cayuga, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, southern Herkimer, Livingston, Madison, Onondaga, Oneida, Ontario, Otsego, Tioga, Tompkins, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, and Yates counties; and Western New York, which includes Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans, and Wyoming counties.
DEC and DOH issue Air Quality Health Advisories when DEC meteorologists predict levels of pollution, either ozone or fine particulate matter (PM2.5), are expected to exceed an Air Quality Index (AQI) value of 100. The AQI was created as an easy way to correlate levels of different pollutants to one scale, with a higher AQI value indicating a greater health concern.
