The St. Mary’s County Health Department encourages community members to take caution over the next several days due to local air quality alerts. The Maryland Department of the Environment has issued a Code Red Air Quality Alert for Southern Maryland for Wednesday, June 7, 2023 and predicts unsafe for sensitive groups to moderate air quality conditions on Thursday and Friday of this week due to the impact of fires in Quebec, Canada.
During air quality alerts, sensitive groups including people with heart or lung disease (such as asthma), older adults, children, and pregnant persons should avoid long or intense outdoor activities and consider rescheduling or moving activities indoors. All community members should reduce long or intense outdoor activities and take breaks during outdoor activities. N95 masks may be helpful in reducing exposure to outdoor air pollution. Indoor air filtration with particle removal may help address outdoor air pollution that gets pulle
March 8, 2021
The St. Mary’s County Equity Task Force is pleased to announce the launch of the BreatheWell St. Mary’s initiative, a comprehensive air quality monitoring and health education initiative for St. Mary’s County.
Through BreatheWell St. Mary’s outdoor air quality sensors will be installed across the county that will measure particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and other elements that may contribute to poor air quality and respiratory illnesses. Indoor air quality sensors and air purifiers will also be used to promote occupational health in 24/7 first responder facilities and the county libraries.
Real-time outdoor air quality data and recommended protective health actions will be noted on the St. Mary’s County Health Department Air Quality Dashboard at: www.smchd.org/breathewell. Additionally, schools will fly color coded flags that indicate air quality index and corresponding outdoor activity recommendations for students, as illustrated here.