On June 18th, the Sonoma County Health Officer issued the following health advisory:
Sonoma County residents are urged to limit outdoor activities in parts of the county with poor air quality caused by wildfire events both in and outside of Sonoma County. People may experience adverse health effects from the smoke over Sonoma County and across the region. Members of sensitive groups may experience effects that are more serious. Older adults, pregnant individuals, children and people with heart disease or respiratory illness should avoid prolonged outdoor exertion. Everyone else, especially children, should limit outdoor exertion. Take more breaks during outdoor activities.
Keep yourself and others safe:
Check these air quality monitoring (AQI) resources to learn what the air quality is in the parts of the county in which you live and work:
Purple Air: https://map.purpleair.com
NSCAPCD: https://nosocoair.org/
BAAQMD: https://www.baaqmd.gov/
EPA: https://www.airnow.gov/
CAL/OSHA provides and regulates guidelines to protect workers from wildfire smoke. For more information, visit: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/doshreg/Protection-from-Wildfire-Sm oke/Wildfire-smoke-emergency-standard.html.
When checking the AQI, please note that federal certified monitors at EPA’s AirNow Fires site are most accurate but have an update lag of two to three hours.
Note that Sonoma County is a large county and the air quality will fluctuate in different parts of it due to a number of factors. It’s important to keep track of the air quality in your region and to take steps if it diminishes.