Raising concerns about the poor quality, the United States on Wednesday termed the air quality level in the national Capital as “very unhealthy”, which could result in significant aggravation of heart or lung diseases. “Air Quality Index value 260 falls in the category of very unhealthy,” said the US Embassy here, which has recently established an air quality monitoring programme with on-site measuring instruments.
The 260 AQI is a measure based on the amount of fine particulate or PM 2.5 in the air, a standard recognised by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and which allows the comparison against US standard measures.The category defines “significant aggravation of heart or lung disease and premature mortality in persons with cardiopulmonary disease and the elderly” as resultant health effects.The US EPA has also developed a formula to convert raw PM 2.5 readings into an air quality index value that can help inform health-related decisions.