- 1. Know what the ozone level is in your community. The EPA has a site to monitor air quality where you live (see related link). Most likely, your local weather broadcast ozone action days as well. Many cities also provide alerts, and many communities promote carpooling, non-motorized push mowers, use of hand edgers, and other non gas-powered use during these peak times.
2. Understand Air Quality Index (AQI) and its associated colors. The AQI is an index for reporting daily air quality and tells how clean or polluted your air is and its possible affects. The EPA has established six colors in association with the AQI. These categories include:
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Good / Green: Air quality is considered good or satisfactory, and air pollution poses little or no risk.
Moderate / Yellow: Air quality is acceptable; however, there could be some pollutants that could present a possible health concern for a small number of people.
Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups / Orange: For individuals of sensitive groups such as lung or heart concerns, premature infants, or some young children, the exposure to the outdoors should be limited or avoided. For most of the population, however, the air quality is still such where there should be no effect.
Unhealthy / Red: This is considered an unhealthy level for many people. Prolonged outdoor exposure should be avoided.
Very Unhealthy / Purple: This level means everyone--young and old, healthy and unhealthy alike--may experience more serious health effects.
Hazardous / Maroon: These are considered health warnings of an emergency nature, in which the entire population is likely to be affected.
Find out specifically at what level a care provider changes outdoor activities to inside, or whether afternoon programs could be switched to mornings on certain days for better air quality. If a nanny or in-home care provider is utilized, it may be up to the parents to set guidelines for outdoor play and it should be their responsibility to keep informed and to communicate the conditions. In other words, be aware and proactive to best protect the health of your child.
Although not directly related, parents should also find out what a care provider's practice is regarding heat and heat advisories for your children. Most child care providers welcome questions by concerned parents, and will communicate carefully to ensure children are kept healthy, safe, and comfortable.
