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What Is Level Orange Air Pollution?

The Environmental Protection Agency rates levels of air pollution according to the Air Quality Index, or AQI. The AQI rates air quality on a numerical scale ranging from zero, for no pollution, to 500, for extremely high pollution. The scale is also color-coded with six different colors: green, yellow, orange, red, purple and maroon. The AQI is calculated for five different air pollutants. If only one AQI number or color is given, it usually refers to the pollution levels of the most severe pollutants.

  1. Orange Level Air Pollution

    • Orange level air pollution, with an AQI index between 101 and 150, carries the "Unhealthy For Sensitive Groups" label. Orange level pollution is unlikely to cause problems for most people, but can mean trouble breathing and other complications for people with asthma, bronchitis or emphysema, as well as for young children and the elderly. It is basically the lowest level of air pollution where actual health problems start to manifest for any significant number of people, but these symptoms will mostly be very mild except for extremely sensitive individuals.

    Pollutants

    • The Clean Air Act names six primary air pollutants that are of the greatest importance: carbon monoxide, ground level ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and lead. Of these, the first five are given AQI numbers. Usually, ozone and particulate matter have the greatest immediate impact on human health, in the form of respiratory distress and aggravation of asthma and other lung conditions.

    Actual Concentrations

    • For particulate matter, an orange level AQI corresponds to levels between 35.5 micrograms per cubic meter and 65.4 micrograms per cubic meter. For ozone, it corresponds to concentrations between 76 and 164 parts per billion.

    Health Effects

    • Air pollution, especially from ground level ozone and particulate matter, can cause a wide range of health effects. Young children, the elderly and anyone with a lung or heart condition are likely to experience more severe symptoms. Possible effects include irritation of the throat and mucus membranes, difficulty breathing or a feeling of tightness in the chest, pain while breathing, asthma attacks and headaches. Ozone exposure can inflame lung tissue, similar to a sunburn. Repeat exposures can permanently scar lung tissue and damage the immune system so that lung infections such as pneumonia are more common.

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