Annual Wintertime High Pollution Advisory
Program Set to Begin; First Color-Coded Advisory to be
Issued on Oct. 31
Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008 - DENVER-Air quality
meteorologists for the Colorado Department of Public Health
and Environment’s Air Pollution Control Division will issue
the first color-coded air pollution advisory of the annual
wintertime High Pollution Advisory Program at 4 p.m. on
Friday, Oct. 31. The first red or blue
advisory of the 2008-2009 season will take effect at
midnight. Subsequent advisories will be issued daily at 4
p.m. and remain in effect for 24 hours through Tuesday,
March 31, 2009. Internet users interested in
the current advisory status and other, real-time air quality
data simply need to visit
http://www.colorado.gov/airquality to access information
provided by the division’s comprehensive air monitoring
network. The Air Pollution Control Division
also maintains two telephone hotlines (303-758-4848 and
303-782-0211) that provide the public with recorded air
quality information. The hotlines are updated with newly
recorded messages daily. Most major
Denver-metropolitan area media outlets include each day’s
advisory in some form in weather segments, on weather pages,
in news briefs, as part of traffic reports, or in daily
calendars and/or digests. Internet users not
only will find the current advisory information at
http://www.colorado.gov/airquality but also current air
pollution conditions recorded at any of several monitors
located throughout the metropolitan area. Data are updated
automatically each hour, 365 days a year.
Internet users can select options that will display both bar
and line graphs for specific air pollutants to investigate
daily and day-to-day trends at a given site, and reports
that compare air pollution levels site-to-site. Information
is archived for reference.
Each day through March 31, the division will
issue either a red or blue air pollution advisory. Red
advisories, which indicate that air quality conditions could
lead to air pollution levels above federal and/or state
standards, trigger mandatory residential burning
restrictions and voluntary driving reductions. Burning is
limited to approved fireplaces, wood stoves, pellet stoves
and masonry heaters in the seven-county Denver-metropolitan
area. Approved fireplaces, wood stoves,
pellet stoves and masonry heaters are those that meet U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency Phase II (Colorado Phase
III) certification. A current list of approved devices is
available upon request from the Colorado Department of
Public Health and Environment or can be viewed on-line at
http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/ap/woodstoves.html.
Blue advisories require no public action. However, residents
are urged to consider using alternate modes of
transportation whenever possible. The High
Pollution Advisory Program area is defined as the seven
Denver-metropolitan area counties (Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder,
Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson). Residences above
7,000 feet in elevation in parts of Boulder, Douglas and
Jefferson counties are exempt from the residential burning
restrictions under red advisories, as are residences east of
Kiowa Creek in extreme eastern parts of Adams and Arapahoe
counties. Each red or blue advisory includes
the current maximum air pollution concentration and
visibility readings in the metropolitan area, as well as the
highest readings for the day. Each advisory specifies which
pollutant is responsible for the day's current high and
maximum high readings, where those readings were recorded,
and provides a pollution outlook for the advisory period.
The most troublesome wintertime pollutants are carbon
monoxide and particulate matter. Carbon monoxide is produced
during the incomplete combustion of organic fuels. Its
primary source in the Denver-metropolitan area is
automobiles. Carbon monoxide affects the
central nervous system by depriving the body of oxygen. It
can reduce a healthy person’s ability to perform tasks such
as jogging or running. Sensitive people such as those with
cardiovascular disease, angina patients and pregnant women
can be affected more negatively. Particulate
matter refers to tiny airborne particles, regardless of
chemical composition, that are small enough to be inhaled.
They can become imbedded in a person’s respiratory tract and
lungs and cause respiratory damage. The smaller the
particle, the more deeply it can penetrate.
Particulate matter sources include automobiles, various
industrial processes and smoke from residential wood fires.
Last winter, 105 blue and 46 red advisories were issued
during the five-month season, with two advisory periods
split (red until midnight, blue thereafter). Advisory
periods only are split in the event of extreme
meteorological conditions, such as an approaching winter
storm. The previous winter, 104 blue and 45 red advisories
were issued, with three advisory periods split. About
two-thirds of advisories during a typical season are blue,
the other third red. |
