April 24, 2025
National Air Quality Awareness Week is May 5-9, 2025. It marks the beginning of the ozone season, when the Greater Philadelphia region typically begins to experience poor air quality from high levels of ground-level ozone.
National Air Quality Awareness Week is May 5-9, 2025. It marks the beginning of the ozone season, when the Greater Philadelphia region typically begins to experience poor air quality from high levels of ground-level ozone. This type of ozone forms when summer heat “bakes” exhaust from vehicles, producing an invisible but dangerous chemical in our air. This pollutant damages healthy lungs, makes people more susceptible to lung infections, and makes it even harder for people with lung disease to breathe. The good news is that everyone can help prevent air pollution and protect their community’s health. Air Quality Awareness Week kicks off efforts to reduce summertime air pollution by raising awareness and promoting actions individuals can take to make a difference.
Throughout ozone season, DVRPC will share alerts for Air Quality Action Days, which are days when the air quality is predicted to be poor and may require people to take action. In addition to recognizing Air Quality Action Days due to ground-level ozone, DVRPC and the Air Quality Partnership also share alerts due to particle pollution from wildfires. While ozone pollution is mostly invisible, an episode of high particle pollution can often be seen because the minute ashes from the burning material filled the air.
The Air Quality Partnership website includes voluntary actions each of us can take to help reduce pollution and protect each other. To reduce air pollution, rethink how you travel and try other modes of transportation, like transit, especially on poor air quality days. Active transportation, like walking or biking, is good for the air and your health (except on extremely poor air quality days, when outdoor activity should be limited). If you must drive, small changes–like combining errands in one trip–can make a big impact. Also, consolidating online orders into fewer shipments, which reduces the number of deliveries, can help reduce air pollution. To get more tips, see the daily air quality forecast, and sign up for alerts, visit www.AirQualityPartnership.org.