Air Quality Health Advisory Issued for All Regions of New York State Friday

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos and State Department of Health (DOH) Commissioner Dr. James McDonald issued an Air Quality Health Advisory for all regions across the State for Friday, June 30, 2023.

Air quality is forecasted to reach ‘Unhealthy’ Air Quality Index (AQI) levels on Friday for Western and Central New York and Eastern Lake Ontario regions. At this level, everyone may begin to experience health effects, members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.

The pollutant of concern is fine Particulate Matter in the air due to Canadian wildfires. The advisory will be in effect from 12 a.m. through 11:59 p.m Friday.

DEC and DOH issue Air Quality Health Advisories when DEC meteorologists predict levels of pollution, either ozone or fine particulate matter 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. DEC and DOH issue Air Quality Health Advisories and corresponding guidelines based on 24-hour forecasts, although one-hour values may exceed forecast values in these regions.