Pollution warning expected to continue in Eastern Iowa

An air pollution advisory was expected to remain in effect Saturday as a stagnant air mass remained over Eastern Iowa.

Advisories were issued today and Thursday as fine particulate pollution levels remained higher than normal.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources recommended that northeast Iowans with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly and children limit prolonged outdoor activity until air quality improve.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 24-hour health threshold for fine particles is 35 micrograms per cubic meter.

As of noon today, fine particle levels averaged in the low 40s across Iowa, with higher levels in northeast Iowa.

Cedar Rapids recorded 41; Iowa City, 43; Muscatine, 43; and Waterloo, 47.

Fine particles are emitted by vehicle traffic and other combustion sources and are formed by chemical reactions in the atmosphere.

Stagnant air masses do not allow the fine particles to disperse and pollutant levels rise.

Smaller particles can pass through the throat and nose and enter the lungs. Once inhaled, the particles can affect the heart and lungs and cause serious health effects, according to the EPA.

KCRG-TV9 meteorologist Josh Baynes said the slow moving air mass is holding warmer air aloft with cooler air toward the ground, “so there's not much vertical mixing.”

Those conditions were expected to continue through Saturday afternoon.

EPA's national air quality map is available online at www.airnow.gov

For Linn County, see: www.linncleanair.org