Air quality in Golden has been an ongoing issue, and with air quality advisories in B.C. this summer, particulate matters have spiked recently.
The air quality in the summertime, in most part due to wildfire activity, is not nearly as bad as it is in the winter, but it is still important to be cautious when particulates reach more than 25 micrograms per cubic metre. On August 12, those levels reached 78.3 micrograms per cubic metre.
Particulate matter (PM) are the small solid or liquid particles floating in the air. They are made up of different substances like carbon, sulphur, nitrogen, and metal compounds.
Smaller particles are able to move deeper into the respiratory system, including the lungs. Fine particles, smaller in size than 2.5 micrometres are linked to more serious health effects, which is why the Golden monitoring station tracks both 2.5 and 10 micrometre sizes. For size, PM 2.5 is about 1/8 the diametre of human hair.
The PM10 monitoring station tracks fine and coarse particles that range in size up to 10 micrometres in diametre. These tend to stay in areas such as the nose and throat.
The measuring system at the Golden Hospital only measures particulates, explained local Air Quality Advisory Committee member Annette Lutterman. Particulate matter can be produced from burning materials, road dust, construction, and agriculture.
“We don’t measure sulphur dioxides, ozone, nitrogen,” she added.
The station measures small particulates with a diametre of 10 microns (PM10), and fine particles with a diametres of 2.5 (PM2.5). In both categories, air quality has regularly reached the province’s preferred threshold in Golden.
“It has been kind of consistently up,” Lutterman said. “The Department of Environment starts looking at issuing advisories when we get an average over 24 hours above or near 25 (micrograms per cubic metre).”
A smoky skies air quality bulletin is in place for the Southern Interior, Fraser Canyon, Omineca, and Cariboo regions, and the Central Coast, Eastern B.C., including the Kootenays and Robson Valley, Northwestern B.C., and Vancouver Island.
During a wildfire, smoke conditions can change quickly over short distances and can vary considerably, the bulletin states.
In the East Kootenays, Edgewater, Invermere, Canal Flats, Skookumchuck, and communities around Cranbrook are included in the advisory.
On August 13 and 14, fire smoke covered most of the province, according to www.firesmoke.ca.
Fire smoke is one of many sources for particulate matter. Other sources include furnaces, tobacco smoke, all mobile vehicles, and industries, like the mill, which produces a spike in Lutterman’s mobile air quality system.
One of the largest sources of particulate matter across the province is residential wood burning. Wood smoke can come from sources such as fireplaces or wood stoves, and open burning of vegetation or backyard burning.
Air quality in the winter in Golden is particularly worse than the air quality caused by fire smoke in the summer, Lutterman said. Residential fireplaces and vehicle fumes contribute to the poor air quality, which can become trapped in the Valley.
The effects from different types of poor air quality can impact people in many different ways. Anyone experiencing difficulty breathing should contact their doctor as soon as possible.
For more information about air quality levels in Golden, visit www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/air/air-quality/current-air-quality-data and select “Southern Interior Air Zone.”
