news release

 

ANDREW J. SPANO, Westchester County Executive

JOSHUA LIPSMAN, M.D., M.P.H., Commissioner of Health

 SUSAN TOLCHIN, Director of Communications

 

 

CONTACT:     SUSAN TOLCHIN                                                                           

                           MARY LANDRIGAN                                                                   

                                                                                                                                      (914) 813-5000 (After Hours)

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                  July 22, 2004           

 

AIR QUALITY ALERT ISSUED FOR WESTCHESTER COUNTY TODAY AND TOMORROW

Residents with respiratory or heart conditions may wish to limit strenuous outdoor activity

 

The Westchester County Department of Health today announced that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has issued an advisory of elevated levels of fine particles in the air for today, July 22, and tomorrow, July 23, for the Metropolitan New York City region, which includes New York City, Rockland and Westchester.  People with breathing and heart problems, children and the elderly may be particularly sensitive to fine particles and may wish to limit strenuous outdoor activity.

Fine particles are able to travel deeply into the respiratory tract, reaching the lungs. Exposure to fine particles can cause short-term health effects such as eye, nose, throat and lung irritation, coughing, sneezing, runny nose and shortness of breath. Exposure to fine particles can also affect lung function and worsen medical conditions such as asthma and heart disease. Recent studies suggest that long-term exposure to particulate matter may be associated with increased rates of bronchitis and reduced lung function. 

The Westchester County Department of Health recommends that when outdoor levels of fine particles are elevated, going indoors may reduce your exposure, although some outdoor particles will come indoors.  Some ways to reduce exposure are to limit indoor and outdoor activities that produce fine particles (for example, burning candles indoors or open burning outdoors) and avoid strenuous activity when fine particle levels are high.  Contact your healthcare provider for specific recommendations if you are at particular risk. 

The term fine particles, or particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5), refers to tiny particles or droplets in the air that

 

MORE

Page 2 Air Quality Alert

are two and one half microns or less in width. Like inches, meters and miles, a micron is a unit of measurement for distance. There are about 25,000 microns in an inch. The widths of the larger particles in the PM2.5 size range would be about thirty times smaller than that of a human hair. The smaller particles are so small that several thousand of them could fit on the period at the end of this sentence.

Outdoor air levels of fine particles increase during periods of stagnant air (very little wind and air mixing), when the particles are not carried away by wind, or when winds bring polluted air into the area. In general, as the levels of fine particles in outdoor air increase, the air appears hazy and visibility is reduced. These conditions are similar in appearance to high humidity or fog.

            Sources of fine particles include the exhausts of cars, trucks, buses and off-road vehicles (e.g., construction equipment, snowmobiles, locomotives).  In New York State, some of the fine particles measured in the air are carried by wind from out-of-state sources.  Because these fine particles can be carried long distances from their source, events such as wildfires or volcanic eruptions can raise fine particle concentrations hundreds of miles from the event.  Fine particles are also produced by common indoor activities. Some indoor sources of fine particles are tobacco smoke, cooking (e.g., frying, sautéing, and broiling), burning candles or oil lamps, and operating fireplaces and fuel-burning space heaters (e.g., kerosene heaters).

            For more information on PM2.5, contact the Westchester County Department of Health at (914) 813-5000 or visit www.westchestergov.com/health.

-30-