Delaware Valley Daily Air Quality Forecast

Air Pollution

Air pollution is created by different sources but the vast majority of air pollution originates with people. Industry, power plants, cars and trucks as well as many consumer products, all contribute to poor air quality. This means that everyone - business and consumers - contribute to the problem. Since air currents can carry pollutants great distances, millions of people are impacted by air pollution, making it our region’s largest environmental health risk.

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) monitors and sets national health standards for six common air pollutants. The Delaware Valley does not meet the standards for two of these pollutants - ground-level ozone and particulate matter (PM2.5). This means that the EPA has designated the Philadelphia Region as an air qulity "non-attainment area".

The AQP of the Delaware Valley covers an 18-county region in southeastern Pennsylvania (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties), southern New Jersey (Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Mercer, Ocean and Salem Counties), Delaware (Kent, New Castle and Sussex Counties) and Cecil County Maryland. This area includes the Philadelphia Ozone and PM 2.5 Non-attainment areas.

AQP Area

In the Delaware Valley, ground-level ozone is the air pollutant of most concern during the summer months and particle pollution is the air pollutant of concern for the rest of the year. It is important to note that particle pollution levels can also reach unhealthy levels during the summer months, usually in association with elevated levels of ground level ozone.

Ground-Level Ozone
Ozone in the upper atmosphere protects us from the sun’s harmful rays where it plays an important role protecting life on earth (good ozone). At ground level, where we breathe, ozone can be harmful to our lungs and the environment. In the summer, sunlight and heat can "bake" pollutants to form ground-level ozone, also known as smog (bad ozone). Inhaling high levels of ground-level ozone damages your lungs and may feel like a sunburn on your lungs. One way to remember the difference between good and bad ozone is the phrase "Ozone is good up high and bad nearby". Click here to see how ozone is formed at ground level.

Particle Pollution
Particle pollution is the term for tiny drops of liquid or small bits of dust, metals or other materials that float on the air. Some particles are large enough to see as soot or smoke. Other particles are so small that they can only be seen with an electron microscope. Particle pollution comes from a variety of natural and manmade sources such as cars, power plants and forest fires. Particle pollution is a year round problem.

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