BreatheWell St. Mary’s is a comprehensive air quality monitoring and health education initiative for St. Mary’s County. Through this initiative, outdoor air sensors have been installed across the county that will measure particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and other elements that may contribute to poor air quality and respiratory illnesses. SMCHD will share real-time air quality data and recommended protective health actions for community members.
Local Air Quality Dashboard
The Maryland Department of the Environment’s (MDE) Ambient Air Monitoring Network operates 24 air monitoring sites around the state and uses a variety of monitoring techniques to address pollutants circulating in the area.
Source: maps.health.maryland.gov/ephtportal/airQuality
The BreatheWell Dashboard is experiencing technical difficulties and is currently offline.
Download the SMCHD Air Quality Report (1/1/22-6/12/23). Data is collected from the Air Quality Sensor stationed at the SMCHD main office in Leonardtown.
Fly A Flag!
Be on the lookout for color coded flags flying at St. Mary’s County Public Schools – These flags indicate air quality index and corresponding outdoor activity recommendations.
Air Quality Blog
How Wildfires Affect Indigenous Communities
Indigenous communities have a long history of using fire as a tool for land management. This includes promoting ecosystem health, maintaining biodiversity, and reducing the risks of large-scale wildfires.
These traditional practices involve controlled burns to remove excess fuel, stimulate plant growth, and regenerate landscapes. Yet today, Indigenous communities are more vulnerable to wildfires which significantly impact their air quality.
And this is a serious threat to public health. According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, this year has officially seen Canada’s worst fire season on record. As of June 2023, more than 8 million hectares have burned so far. Worse yet, over 21,000 people from 45 Indigenous communities have been forced from their homes, according to Indigenous Services Canada. […]
How Air Quality Affects Mental Health
Take a moment to think about the air you breathe. It’s an invisible, essential part of our lives, often overlooked until we’re faced with its less pleasant qualities: smog-filled cityscapes, hazy skies, or the scent of industrial emissions. But the air we breathe is more than just a backdrop to our daily routines; it’s a silent influence on our well-being, and its quality can significantly impact our mental health.
Today, understanding the intricate connection between air quality and mental health has never been more crucial. From the bustling streets of our cities to the tranquility of our homes, the air we inhale carries far-reaching consequences for our psychological well-being. In this article, we’ll discover how the air we breathe shapes our mental health. […]
Harvesting Season: How Pesticides Create Air Pollution
When you think about farms, do you think they have better air quality than the city? Many people do. In reality, air quality on farms can be just as harmful as in the city due to a range of factors associated with typical farming processes. While agriculture is essential for sustaining our global population, it’s also a significant contributor to air pollution. One often overlooked factor in this equation is the use of pesticides, which play a major role in deteriorating air quality. So, let’s take a quick look at agriculture and air pollution and learn what farms can do to reduce the impact of pesticides on air quality. […]