State officials announced Tuesday they are switching to a different system for warning the public about winter air pollution.
Colorado Department of Health and Environment air-quality officials no longer will issue “red” and “blue” advisories during winter months to indicate health risks, spokesman Christopher Dann said.
Instead, they’ll rely on a federal 0-500 Air Quality Index used in-house for years, Dann said.
For example, Denver’s air quality Tuesday afternoon — poor visibility but with individual pollutant readings considered healthy — previously would have registered as “red.” The AQI system declared the air good, with a reading on the scale of 35.
The index assigns six health-based labels to readings: good, moderate, unhealthy for sensitive groups, unhealthy, very unhealthy and hazardous.
“Air quality is important every day of the year. We want to communicate air-quality information consistently every day,” Dann said.
“We haven’t violated a pollutant standard during the winter since 1995. That doesn’t mean we don’t have days, however, when the air is less than healthy.” Bruce Finley, The Denver Post
