INDIANAPOLIS — Weeks after Midwesterners suffered brutal air quality conditions from wafts of hazy smoke pouring across the region from Canadian wildfires, environmental officials in Indiana are issuing anticipatory air quality alerts ahead of this weekend.
(NOTE: The video in the player above is from a June 27, 2023, report on air quality concerns in Indiana.)
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management issued an Air Quality Alert for this weekend, and are forecasting high levels of fine particles — or PM2.5 — in the air for Sunday, July 16, in the following regions:
- Central/East Central Indiana, including the cities of: Bloomington, Brookville, Columbus, Frankfort, Indianapolis, Greensburg, Kokomo, Lebanon, Martinsville, Muncie, Richmond and all other cities within the area.
- North Central Indiana, including the cities of: Elkhart, Goshen, Knox, Logansport, Plymouth, Peru, South Bend, Warsaw, Winamac and all other cities within the area.
- Northeast Indiana, including the cities of: Angola, Auburn, Decatur, Fort Wayne, Hartford, Huntington City, LaGrange, Marion, Portland, Wabash and all other cities within the area.
- Northwest Indiana, including the cities of: Crown Point, Gary, Hammond, Kentland, LaPorte, Michigan City, Portage, Rensselaer, Valparaiso and all other cities within the area.
- Southeast Indiana, including the cities of: Brownstown, Corydon, Jeffersonville, Madison, New Albany, Salem, Versailles and all other cities within the area.
- Southwest Indiana, including the cities of: Bedford, Bloomfield, Evansville, Huntingburg, Mount Vernon, Paoli, Princeton, Rockport, Tell City, Vincennes and all other cities within the area.
- Western/West Central Indiana, including the cities of: Crawfordsville, Covington, Delphi, Fowler, Greencastle, Lafayette, Newport, Monticello, Spencer, Sullivan, Terre Haute and all other cities within the area.
The Indianapolis Office of Sustainability similarly issued a Knozone Action Day for Sunday, July 16 as winds continue to carry smoke south from wildfires in Canada. This marks the 16th Knozone Action Day declared so far in 2023.
Sensitive groups should remain indoors Sunday and refrain from activities that degrade indoor air quality, including burning candles and vacuuming.
Cloth face masks or traditional surgical masks do not provide adequate protection from smoke, according to officials.
The EPA recommends "particulate respirators" that have been tested and approved by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
It will have the words "NIOSH" and either "N95" or "P100" printed on it. If driving, select the air recirculation button to effectively cut off the outside air to the inside of the car, "recirculating" air inside your vehicle.
Environmental organizations cite different types of pollution in issuing air quality alerts — ground level ozone or fine particulate matter.
Ground level ozone, also called tropospheric ozone, is not emitted directly into the air and does not have a direct emissions source. Rather, it is created through chemical reactions that happen when oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds interact with sunlight.
Pollutants that are put off by cars, power plants, industrial boilers, refineries, chemical plants, and other sources chemically react to the presence of sunlight to create this tropospheric ozone that's not only dangerous for human health, but also a major contributor to climate change.
Even relatively low levels of ground ozone can cause health effects, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, who said children are at greatest risk from "exposure to ozone because their lungs are still developing," and they are "more likely to be active outdoors" when ozone levels are high.
Depending on the level of exposure, ground ozone can cause coughing and sore or scratchy throat. Exposure can make it more difficult to breathe deeply and vigorously, and can make breathing painful.
"Ground-level ozone is the primary contributor to smog in urban areas. Smog is formed when harmful emissions from sources like cars and lawnmowers react with heat and sunlight," the Office of Sustainability said in a statement.
Fine particulate matter, however, is another type of air pollution that can have major adverse affects on human health.
Unlike ground ozone, it's considered to be a direct source of pollution, being sourced from soot from fires, dust, factory debris, or fossil fuel emissions, which are all examples of particulate matter.
Fine particulate matter are often referenced by their size, so you could have PM2.5 or PM10 particulate matter, which indicate for how large the tiny droplets or particles actually are.
PM2.5 is of special concern to public health officials because their small size allow them to deposit into the deepest parts of a human lung and into our bloodstream. Larger PM10 particles can also still settle into our lungs and bodies, but because PM10 can also include PM2.5, that particulate size is referenced more often.
Exposure to PM2.5 particles is something the World Health Organization has named as a major contributor to declines in human health. Exposure to PM2.5 has been linked to premature death in people with heart or lung disease, nonfatal heart attacks, and irregular heartbeats. One study from Harvard found more exposure to PM2.5 is linked to higher rates of death from COVID-19.
To protect residents and local air quality, the Office of Sustainability said they issue Knozone Action Days whenever ozone or fine particulate matter levels rise above a certain threshold.
Indianapolis residents are already dealing with the impact of polluted air from both ground ozone and PM2.5. The Office of Sustainability estimated 10.9% of city residents live with asthma, while 8.6% of Indianapolis residents live with COPD. Both those figures are higher than the national average, according to the department.