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A DEQ nepholometer, an air quality monitoring instrument, ready for field installation. |
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Many parts of Oregon have suffered through smoky air in recent weeks, the result of raging wildfires in both Oregon and Washington (smoke does not respect state boundaries). In turn, frequent air quality advisories have been issued, sometimes updated several times a day. But who determines the when, where and why of such advisories?
In part, members of Local 3336, Oregon AFSCME-represented workers at the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Eric Feeley, a Local 3336 member and a chemist with the agency’s Air Quality Monitoring Section, says DEQ personnel are behind the science of the advisories. Generally his agency does not issue the advisories on its own, but in conjunction with other organizations, most often public health authorities.
“We have 30 air monitoring stations statewide,” said Feeley. “Each one uses a measuring instrument called a nepholometer that pulls in air constantly, analyzes the particulate level through means of a light beam and kicks out a coefficient number that is, more simply said, the particular level of particulates in the air.”
DEQ maintains an Air Quality Index website that includes a state map with online “buttons” for each of the designated monitoring stations. The buttons are color-coded in six hues: a green button means good air quality all the way to a dark maroon color that means “hazardous.” As bad as the recent wildfires made the air seem, they generally triggered either orange or red buttons, which translate to “unhealthy for sensitive groups” and “unhealthy,” respectively.
From testing and readying the nepholometers to installing them, monitoring their feedback and issuing, when necessary, advisories, many Local 3336 members are involved in the process. Feeley says that air advisories are relatively rare in the northwest region of the state, but are much more common in eastern and southern Oregon. He notes there is a “lag time” in the process, so at any given point in time the air quality could be better or worse than the online button shows. The online site also features both a most recent one-hour and latest 24-hour index, which can help viewers determine the air quality trend.
Feeley also has advice for those who consider wearing over-the-counter particulate masks to combat the wildfire air: don’t bother.
“First off, those kind of masks don’t really fit anyone correctly, so that’s a problem,” said Feeley. “But moreover, they aren’t designed to catch the fine materials that come through wood smoke. The particulates that would bother a common person are going to pass right through those kinds of masks, so they really aren’t helping at all.
“This sounds simple, but your best defense against the kind of smoky air we’ve had recently is really just to stay indoors and keep the windows shut.”
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