SALT LAKE CITY — Over the past few days, air monitors along the Wasatch Front have recorded air quality that has exceeded federal health standards.
WATCH: More Utahns struggle with breathing during winter inversions, doctors say
The state of Utah is implementing mandatory action days to ease the inversion effect.
The Utah Department of Environmental Quality is forecasting that air quality in many parts of northern Utah is unhealthy for sensitive groups.
A mandatory action day means certain measures are taken to try to limit the impact of the inversion and bring air quality levels to healthier levels.
Employers should allow remote work, if possible, and those who do have to travel to their jobs are asked to use public transportation or carpool if possible.
Kids will most likely stay indoors for recess, and above all, wood burning is restricted.
“So the wood smoke actually provides both direct emissions of particulates, that's the smoke you can see, but also the precursors because the wood stoves are not as efficient as maybe even a car would be at, at combusting the fuel,” said Bryce Bird, Director of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality. “We see leftovers of the combustion products. so, oxides of nitrogen as well as the volatile material that's driven off as the wood is, is heated. and so, when we look at in the past, much of what we saw during winter inversion periods, we could attribute to home heating with solid fuels.”
You can track the quality of air in your neighborhood using FOX 13’s Airview app powered by Tellus.
