AQI – air quality index – this abbreviation is used by all global environmental authorities to inform the public about the level of air pollution as well as to predict air pollution. If the level of the air quality index increases by a large percentage of pollution, the public receives a significant impact on health. Different countries have their own air quality index that meets national standards.
All of these countries have one thing in common, the desire to know the level of air pollution and its impact on public health, which makes it possible to prevent many diseases and significantly increase life expectancy.
Calculation of the air quality index requires information on the level of pollution over a certain average period obtained from air quality monitoring gas analyzers or obtained by calculation (which is a less accurate method of determining air pollution). The concentration and time of spread of pollutants in the atmosphere are taken together. The health effects of a particular volume of pollutants are determined by epidemiological studies. Air pollutants vary in strength and the function used to convert an air pollutant to an air quality index varies by pollutant. The air quality index is usually formed by levels, each level has its own description and characterization, color code and standardized public health information message.
The air quality index can increase due to many factors such as rush hour traffic, fires, lack of wind, or shortages of air pollutant diluents. Stagnant air often caused by an anticyclone, temperature inversion, or slow wind speeds allows air pollutants to remain in one place, resulting in high concentrations of pollutants, as well as a chemical reaction between pollutants in the atmosphere and resulting in smog.
On the day when the level of the air quality index is predicted to increase the agency or health organization should:
- Advise sensitive groups such as seniors, children, and those with respiratory or cardiac diseases to avoid outdoor physical activity
- Announce the day and ask people to leave their cars at home and use public transport to reduce emissions.
- Recommend the use of respirator masks to avoid putting fine particles into the lungs.
During periods of very low air quality, in cases of air pollution in a particular place, city, or neighborhood, when the air quality index indicates that severe exposure could result in significant harm to public health, the agency or authorized body may impose an emergency plan that would allow them to order major air polluters such as thermal power plants, thermal power plants, coal-fired, gas-fired plants, and others to reduce emissions until harmful conditions are abated.
The definition of the air quality index in different countries reflects the reasoning behind the development of national air quality standards. Websites of state institutions allowing at any time, in real time to see data on air quality and in particular the air quality index are now gaining popularity and are available in almost all major cities in the world.
