Washingtonians woke up Wednesday to murky skylines and the smell of smoke in the air. Wildfires in Canada have caused multiple air quality alerts throughout the Northeast U.S. over the past week, and Wednesday the District experienced its first Code Red since 2018.
“This is only the start of wildfire season, and this is a really, really early start to wildfire season,” said Dr. Lovinsky-Desir, a New York City-based pediatric pulmonologist. “I’m concerned that this is a trend that we’re going to see throughout the summer months.”
The Code Red alert marks the region’s air as unhealthy. It will likely remain in place through Thursday, according to forecasts by Metropolitan Washington Council of Government, and may drop down to a Code Orange on Friday.
District residents should stay indoors when possible, avoid strenuous activity outside and keep windows closed. Wearing an N-95 mask outdoors may also help keep harmful smoke out.
“Smoke is an irritant for the airways,” Lovinsky-Desir explained. “People may experience increased coughing or sneezing or other respiratory symptoms, which is our body’s way of trying to get rid of or filter out these particles.”
Who’s Most at Risk?
Sensitive groups should take particular care during air quality alert days. That includes anyone with a heart or lung disease as well as seniors, children and teens. D.C. Public Schools canceled all outside activities Wednesday, including outdoor gym classes, recess and sports practices and games.
Other at-risk groups include those who have to work outdoors for long hours of the day and unhoused people. Even though the whole region experiences the impact of the smoke in the air outside, not everyone has the same access to clean air indoors, either. Lovinsky-Desir said window-unit air conditioners — as opposed to central air — can simply blow outdoor air into the home, making staying inside a less effective way to avoid the pollution.
“Air purifiers and HEPA filters are not cheap,” she said. “They’re expensive, and not everybody can afford to buy something like that.”
What Does ‘Code Red’ Actually Mean?
The terms Code Red and Code Orange come from the U.S. Air Quality Index, which the Environmental Protection Agency uses to evaluate and report out air quality. The index gives a score from 0 to 500 based on the levels of five major pollutants — ground-level ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.
Code Orange, which indicates that the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups, ranges from 101 to 150. Code Red ranges from 151 to 200, and Code Purple, or “very unhealthy,” begins at 201. The last tier, Code Maroon, refers to anything above 300 and indicates “hazardous” or emergency-level air pollution.
The District’s Air Quality Index reading briefly hit 199 late morning on Wednesday, according to the EPA’s AirNow monitoring website. According to NBC4 meteorologist Chuck Bell, the day’s air quality is the worst D.C. has seen since 2011.
The region’s poor air quality ratings this week mostly come from high levels of particulate matter, or microscopic particles of solids and liquids in the air. Sometimes referred to as PM10 and PM2.5, particle pollution can enter people’s lungs and even bloodstreams, causing health harms. Wildfire smoke contains particle pollution.
The D.C. region has experienced at least eight Code Red and Code Orange air quality alert days so far in 2023, compared with just four Code Orange alerts issued during the entirety of 2022, according to records kept by Clean Air Partners. The organization’s data shows that nine air quality alerts occurred in the region throughout 2021.
