An air quality alert was issued for the Chicago area Thursday due to Canadian wildfire smoke in the region.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency issued an “Air Pollution Action Day” for the Chicago Metropolitan area Thursday that is in effect until midnight due to elevated particle pollution, according to a state press release.
Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Grundy, Lake, McHenry and Will counties were all included in the action day, officials said.
In Illinois, a Chicago Air Pollution Action Day is issued when air quality is forecasted to be at or above the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” category — or a level two on a scale of six — for two or more consecutive days for Chicago Metropolitan area.
Some areas in the city had air quality ranking at level three, or unhealthy for everyone, according to AirNow.gov.
Symptoms for sensitive individuals to look out for include wheezing, coughing, a fast heartbeat, fatigue, chest pain, and shortness of breath, the press release said. If symptoms worsen, call 911 or call a physician.
Chicagoans are encouraged to limit driving, conserve energy, use environmentally friendly household and cleaning products and avoid gasoline-powered equipment.
“It’s probably a good idea to limit time outside,” Kevin Doom, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said. “Doing a lot of heavy breathing is probably not ideal on a day like today.”
Northern winds blew smoke from wildfires in central Canada down to Chicago over the last several days causing the poor air quality, though conditions are expected to improve over the next few days, according to the weather service.
“The smoke should be starting to thin out a little bit now that the winds kind of changed direction,” Doom said.
