Traffic camera view from 12th Street in Covington Wednesday afternoon.
By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet has taken the unusual step of requesting an air quality alert be issued for the state of Kentucky until midnight.
According to the Cabinet, and the National Weather Service, which has disseminated the alert, everyone may experience health effects. Members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects. Sensitive groups include the elderly, children, persons with asthma or other breathing problems, and persons with lung and heart disease.
People in these groups are being advised to greatly limit their outdoor activities to reduce their exposure to ozone and particulate pollution.
Smoke from the Canadian wildfires continues to adversely impact air quality.
There are some additional actions the public can take to reduce the impact on their health:
• Avoid exercising near busy roads.
• Avoid using gasoline powered lawn equipment or recreational vehicles.
• Turn off your engine when idling for more than 10 seconds.
• Conserve energy by turning off lights and setting the air conditioner to 75 degrees or above.
Some of the air quality index readings of cities across Kentucky around mid-day on Wednesday included Ashland 165, Bowling Green 112, Covington 199, Frankfort 175, Hopkinsville 151, Jackson 109, Lexington, 175, Louisville 191, Manchester 109, and Owensboro 190.
Readings of 0-50 are considered good, 51-100 moderate, 101-150 unhealthy for sensitive groups, 151-200 unhealthy for everyone, 201-300 very unhealthy, and 301+ hazardous.
You can track your local air quality www.airnow.gov/. You can enter the zip code for your city or any city in the United States to get a reading.
