Exercising in the great outdoors doesn't always come with a breath of fresh air. In many places, summertime has the worst air quality of any season. When a forecast lists a code red day for the air quality index, what does that mean for your outdoor plans ?

Summer in many places is perhaps the most inviting season for many outdoor activities, from jogging to frisbee golfing to playing pickup games of basketball at the park. If you've planned an outdoor activity for what turns out to be an air quality index alert day, should you have a "Plan B"?

People with asthma or other chronic lung conditions should exercise caution when air quality is bad, of course. But the frequent summertime mix of high temperatures, scarce breeezes and the resultant lingering pollution and particulates can spell a recipe for breathing difficulties for just about anyone. These factors in various combinations make it difficult to breathe efficiently and can drain energy quickly when exercising.

And the effects of a "bad air day" aren't just confined to a single day. The effects can linger for days and even weeks in some people, even if the air quality index is markedly better the day after exercising outdoors.

Particulate matter spewed from factories and automobiles tends to linger along roadways, making exercisng at the side of a road on a hot summer's day a thing to be doubly avoided.

Apart from man-made pollution, pollen and fungus spores are an obvious irritation for many. Over-the-counter versions of anti-inflammatory medications as well as prescription antihistamines are readily available to help combat their often debilitating symptoms. But for the irritating airborne compound known as ozone, science currently offers little relief.

Ozone can be produced when sunlight starts a chemical reaction between oxygen-containing molecules and emissions from man-made sources such as factories, power plants and automobiles. Ozone is highly reactive and is known to irritate the lining of the lungs and breathing passages.

Some recent research suggests that some people are born with a gene that protects them from some of the detrimental effects of ozone. But for the rest of us who aren't so lucky, air quality index alert days can be a reason to at least modify our outdoor plans. One way to lessen exposure is to curtail exercise duration. For example, if you typically walk 40 minutes, walk for 25 on an air quality index alert day -- or find a place to exercise indoors for your normal time.

Depending on location and communications medium, air quailty measurements are reported daily and even hourly in the United States. Resources include newspapers, radio reports, or on the Internet at sites such as www.airnow.gov.

A companion resource is the Air Quality Index (AQI). Developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and available online at www.epa.gov/airnow/aqi_brochure_08-09.pdf, the AQI can help make sense of reported data to gauge how clean or polluted the air is where you are -- and help you plan accordingly.

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed