By Sam Bennison

To Your Health

Prince George under an air quality advisory due to dust

Mar 26, 2024 | 5:47 PM

PRINCE GEORGE— The dry weather and leftover traction gravel from winter has put Prince George under a dust advisory. The high concentration of particulates can affect everyone’s respiratory system but it’s of particular concern for people with chronic health conditions such as asthma.

As we wait for a rainy day to clear the dust it’s recommended to avoid strenuous physical exercise and stay away from busy highways to reduce exposure.

“We also monitor particles that are even smaller, two and a half micrometers in diameter and smaller,” says Gail Roth, an air quality meteorologist at the Ministry of Environment & Climate Change Strategy. “Those typically originate from combustion sources. So, you may see at other times we have what’s called an air quality advisory issued in the city, and that’s because of those finer particles.”

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Consider reducing your impact on the air quality by avoid idling your vehicle, driving slower, or take public transit. Roth also recommends gently spraying down your yard before cleaning.

“If people are out cleaning up their yards and there’s dust down and it’s really dry.It’s great if you can just, not use a huge amount of water because we want to be water conscious as well, but wet things down so that we’re not creating more dust. If you’re sweeping your driveway or that type of thing,” add Roth.

To stay up to date on all air quality advisory’s, you can visit the B.C. air quality webpage by clicking here.

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Email: sam.bennison@pattisonmedia.com