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What does
the API tell us?
The API ranges from 0 to 500 and is divided into 5 bands according to the
potential effects on health. An API number of 100 is particularly important
since it corresponds to the short-term Air Quality Objective values (i.e.
1-hour and 24-hour limits). An API higher than 100 means that one or more
pollutants may pose immediate health effects to some susceptible members
of our community. It should be noted that for an API in the range of 51 to
100, although immediate health effects are not expected for the general
population, long-term effects are possible if this level of air pollution
persists.
The potential
health effects for different ranges of API values are as follows:
| Air
Quality Status |
Air
Pollution Level |
API |
|
Health
Implications [1] |
| Air
quality significantly worse than both short-term and long-term
AQOs. |
Severe |
201
to 500 |
|
People with existing heart or
respiratory illnesses may experience
significant aggravation of their
symptoms and there will be also
widespread symptoms in the healthy
population. These include eye
irritation, wheezing, coughing,
phlegm and sore throat. |
| Air
quality worse than both short-term and long-term AQOs. |
Very
High |
101
to 200 |
|
People
with existing heart or respiratory illnesses may notice mild
aggravation of their health conditions. Generally healthy individuals
may also notice some discomfort. |
| Air
quality within the short-term AQOs but worse than the long-term AQOs. |
High |
51
to 100 |
|
Very
few people, if any, may notice immediate health effects. Long-term
effects may, however, be observed if you are exposed to such
levels for a long time. |
| Air
quality within all AQOs. |
Medium |
26
to 50 |
|
None to the general population. |
| Air
quality well within all AQOs. |
Low |
0
to 25 |
|
None to the general population. |
[1] The health
implications set out above serve as a broad guide only as a gradual
increasing risk of effects is expected as pollutant concentrations
rise.
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