Spare the Air alert extended until Wednesday

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District has extended a “Spare the Air” warning through Wednesday as elevated smog levels across the region continue to pose a respiratory hazard.

The Spare the Air warning is in effect on Tuesday and Wednesday. The combination of a light afternoon breeze from the sea, extremely high temperatures inland of over 38 degrees and exhaust fumes from the 3 to 4 million vehicles that travel through the Bay Area every day is leading to air pollution concentrations that are harmful to health, according to the aviation authority.

Parts of Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano counties will have air quality scores between 100 and 150 on the federal air quality index, which is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups. Active children, adults and people with respiratory conditions such as asthma are more vulnerable to the effects of air pollution and should limit their outdoor exertion.

Moderate air quality is expected in San Mateo, San Francisco, Marin, Napa and Sonoma counties, between 50 and 100. Particularly sensitive people in these regions are advised to avoid prolonged outdoor physical activity.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, elevated levels of ozone in the air can cause throat irritation, congestion and chest pain. It can also trigger asthma, inflame the lining of the lungs and worsen bronchitis and emphysema. Prolonged exposure to ozone can impair lung function.

People are advised to exercise outdoors only in the early morning hours, otherwise ozone levels rise. To reduce air pollution, people can limit driving by working from home, walking, cycling, carpooling or using public transportation.

When the Spare the Air warning is in effect, burning wood is illegal.

To find out when a Spare the Air alert is in effect, residents can sign up for email alerts, visit www.sparetheair.org, call 1(800) HELP-AIR, download the Spare the Air app, or connect with Spare the Air through Facebook or X.

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