Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Local officials issued an air quality warning Wednesday after recording particularly high readings of pollution

The warning, issued Wednesday afternoon, advises all Fairbanks-area residents to limit prolonged exercise until the condition clears, said Jim Conner, an air quality specialist at the Fairbanks North Star Borough. People with respiratory or heart disease should avoid any prolonged exercise.

If the weather remains cold and calm, air quality could remain poor through today, Conner said.

Wednesday’s recorded level of fine particulates — a type of air pollution consisting of tiny bits of dust, metals, soil or other material emitted by wood stoves, power plants, cars and industry — were the highest for January and could be the highest seen all winter, Conner said.

“These are really unhealthy levels,” he said, and are bad enough to break the old levels applied by the Environmental Protection Agency until last winter, when the guidelines for labeling air pollution tightened. “We’ve done that before, but we didn’t do it very often.”

The pollution problem comes when calm weather traps fine particles of matter, emitted from cars and heating systems, relatively close to the ground. The low temperatures also contribute to increased vehicle idling and heating demands, making matters worse, the borough said in a news release.

Area residents can help by reducing any unnecessary driving, using public transportation or carpooling, burning wood or coal stoves without smoldering, turning down thermostats or plugging vehicles in to reduce cold-start emissions, he said.

The borough provides more information about air quality on its Web site (www.co.fairbanks.ak.us).

Contact staff writer Chris Eshleman at 459-7582.