Air Quality Awareness Week Reminds Americans to Stay Air Aware

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is celebrating Air Quality Awareness Week, which runs from May 5 through May 9. The goal of the nationwide initiative is to share information about the importance of clean air, the EPA’s ongoing efforts to address air pollution, and resources to stay engaged. The week also aligns with World Asthma Day on May 6. Additionally, May is both Asthma Awareness Month and Wildfire Awareness Month.

Air Quality Awareness Week, with the theme “Stay Air Aware,” highlights resources that increase air quality awareness and encourages people to stay aware of their air quality and incorporate air quality knowledge into their daily living. 

Air Quality Awareness Week also provides an opportunity for people to learn how they can take action to prepare for and respond to events and environments with poor air quality— not just during the month of May, but year-round.

Today the EPA’s focus is on indoor air quality. Indoor pollution sources that release gases or particles into the air are the primary causes of indoor air quality problems, according to the EPA. Some health effects may show up shortly after a single exposure or repeated exposures to a pollutant. These include irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. Other health effects may show up either years after exposure has occurred or only after long or repeated periods of exposure. These effects, which include some respiratory diseases, heart disease and cancer, can be severely debilitating or fatal, the EPA stated. 

The EPA’s three basic strategies to improve indoor air quality include:

1. Source control—Identify and eliminate individual sources of pollution. In most cases, source control is the most effective solution to indoor air quality problems. 
2. Ventilation improvement— Lower the concentration of indoor air pollutants by increasing the amount of outdoor air coming indoors. 
3. Air cleaners/filtration—The use of portable air cleaners and higher efficiency heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) filters can supplement enhancements from source control and improved ventilation.