PITTSBURGH — A Code Orange Air Quality Action Day alert has been issued for Tuesday for most of western Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said smoke from the Canadian wildfires along with light winds will contribute to concentrations of fine particulate matter on Tuesday.
The alert includes:
- Allegheny County
- Armstrong County
- Beaver County
- Butler County
- Fayette County
- Washington County
- Westmoreland County
Young children, the elderly and those with respiratory problems are advised to limit outdoor activities.
“The air quality is not as good as it should be and we see this whenever there is high heat and high humidity and a lot of small microscopic particles in the air,” AHN Internal medicine physician Dr. Brian Lamb said.
Dr. Lamb suggests staying inside during the middle of the day — when it’s usually the hottest — especially if you have an underlying condition like asthma or COPD.
“But even a typically healthy person should be cautious,” he said. “You may start wheezing a little bit because as you’re breathing those particles in if you get enough, even healthy people can notice irritation in their airways.”
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