What’s New: Kingston’s average PM2.5 airborne particulate level for November fell to 3.0 µg/m3, marking it as our healthiest month of the past five years. That was due to a continuation of unusually-frequent northerly and westerly wind directions, reducing our most recent 12-month average to 5.4 µg/m3 (8% above the evidence-based WHO limit of 5.0 µg/m3). While the past two months have been unusually healthy from that perspective, the fact remains that Kingston has exceeded the WHO limit in 46 of the past 59 months! If haven’t gotten into the habit of taking self-protective measures on days with high readings, you’re risking your health and that of your family. If you know others who you believe would benefit from more awareness of the reality of our air quality and how they could better protect their health, please share this link: https://kingstonairquality.ca.
by Ron Hartling
The purpose of this page is to raise awareness of the uncomfortable reality that, with respect to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), Kingston air quality is consistently worse than the World Health Organization (WHO) standard. The page gives practical advice on managing household exposure to health-damaging particulates. Updates are posted daily around 7 am. If you live elsewhere in Ontario, click on the “Links” menu item above and read the first entry for guidance on applying this site’s information to your situation. For ease of personal decision-making, overall daily risk levels are categorized by severity in this table.
Note that, while most Canadian and US sources define Risk Level 1 as airborne fine-particulate-matter (PM2.5) concentrations less than 12 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3), I employ “Level 0” to differentiate readings within the far more evidence-based, less politically-influenced WHO healthy zone. See the Health impacts page for clarification on the differences between short- and long-term exposure risks.
Commentary as of Thursday December 5 at 7:00 am
Current readings: Kingston’s PM2.5 hourly readings fluctuated between the upper end of the comparatively-healthy Level-0 range and more problematic Level-1 values, ranging from 2 to 7 µg/m3 before peaking at 10 µg/m3 overnight. Our daily average was 4.5 µg/m3, significantly up from Tuesday’s 2.5.
Forecast summary: Kingston readings are likely to drop back into the Level-0 range this morning and to continue being healthy for at least the next few days.
Detailed forecast: Environment Canada’s 24-hour Kingston forecast calls for the current brisk southwesterly winds to shift to equally brisk northwesterly for the remainder of the forecast period. That is consistent with the strongly northwesterly Jetstream flow. The result, as you can see from the US AirNow forecast map extract below, will be to bring clean northerly air much of this part of North America.
Personal protective measures: Such measures are unlikely to be required for at least the next several days.
This morning’s 5 am AirNow PM2.5 map extract for northeastern North America shows that yesteday’s unhealthy incoming Level-2 airmass reached Eastern Ontario overnight, giving Kingston a near pass while significantly worsening our air quality.
Summary of recent readings
This table summarizes and provides context for the most recent three weeks of Kingston PM2.5 readings. The key numbers are, of course, the daily averages because that’s what informs us how our recent exposures have contributed to or ameliorated whatever annual exposure to toxic PM2.5 particulates we are comfortable with or accepting of. For those who choose to lower their at-home exposure in order to better protect their and their households’ long-term health, the numbers provide important information on how much effort may be required to stay within their comfort level.
To facilitate that analysis, the table computes each day’s risk category (usually a mix of 0’s, 1’s and 2’s), 7- and 28-day running averages and medians. It also reports on the minimum and maximum reading for each day, as well as the number of hours that day during which Kingston PM2.5 readings may have exceeded either or both the World Health Organization’s recommended maximum and the seriously outdated and therefore misleading US/Canadian equivalent.
Tomorrow’s AirNow PM2.5 forecast map for Central and Eastern USA predicts that the offending Level-2 airmass will have fully passed over the Atlantic, leaving only the southeastern corner of the US with seriously unhealthy airborne particulate concentrations.