This week is Air Quality Awareness Week in Delaware.
Air Quality Awareness Week is actually the kick-off to the air quality and ozone season.
“As the temperatures start to rise and we have more sunny days, that is when we might see more spikes in our ground level ozone or smog days - these are called air quality action days,” according to Kate Layton, the public outreach manager for the Dover/Kent County Metropolitan Planning Organization.
She says typically on air quality action days - it’s a little harder to breathe. And they typically affect older adults, children and people with health issues, like asthma.
Layton says the Air Quality Delaware Partnership encourages everyone to use this awareness to try clean commuting, by bicycling, walking, taking transit, carpooling or even telecommuting - all in an effort to clean up the air.
“We’re trying to educate the public about ways to avoid air quality action days by keeping the air as healthy as possible. During Air Quality Awareness Week we’re encouraging people to practice clean commuting by doing things like bicycling, walking, taking transit and carpooling,” said Layton.
Recently, a new report from the American Lung Association slapped New Castle County with a failing air quality grade for the 19th year in a row.
New Castle County received an F for high ozone days in the American Lung Association’s latest State of the Air report.
