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Air Pollution Spikes Overnight

Posted on: Thursday, 9 March 2006, 18:00 CST

By Dennis Lien, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

Mar. 9--The Twin Cities remains under an air-pollution health advisory today, despite an overnight spike that pushed the Air Quality Index into the alert category.

Noting pollution levels were dropping, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency decided this morning to hold off issuing an official alert. "We don't think it's going to last," MPCA spokesman Mark Sulzbach said. "We think it's going to gradually dissipate as the weather clears."

The AQI broke into the alert range, indicating the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups, late Wednesday afternoon but began to drop slowly at 7 a.m. today.

Sensitive groups include active children or adults with respiratory problems such as asthma. The soot, a product of car exhaust, power plants, wood stoves and other combustion sources, is extremely small and can be breathed deep into the lungs.

The pollution is part of a large band of dirty air extending from Minnesota to the East Coast. Light to moderate winds today are bringing drier air into the region, according to Sulzbach.

To reduce air pollution, people can take a number of steps, such as reducing their driving and postponing fires in wood stoves or outdoors. To monitor pollution levels, visit: http://aqi.pca.state.mn.us/hourly/

Dennis Lien can be reached at dlien@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5588.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Saint Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.)

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