Green Innovation and Development Centre

7/01/2016 | Author :

The U.S. Embassy has installed an air quality monitor to measure PM 2.5 particulates as an indication of the air quality at the Embassy’s Chancery building at 7 Lang Ha street in Ba Dinh District, Hanoi.

AQI Reading on
2016-01-06 13:00:00

170
Unhealthy
if at this level for 24 hrs

For more details on air quality index, please follow the link to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Now website. Hanoi AQI can be observed either by clicking on the Hanoi location on the map, or by selecting Hanoi in the “Select a City” option on the upper right part of the page. The page provides AQI over the last 24 hour period as well as pollutant concentration and a downloadable historical document.

Please note that citywide analysis cannot be done with data from a single monitor. This data provides an accurate measure of the air quality in the section of Hanoi close to the U.S. Embassy. The Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment also provides air quality data for Hanoi. You can view this information at http://www.cem.gov.vn/.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed a formula to convert PM 2.5 readings into an air quality index (AQI) value that can help inform health-related decisions. Meanings of AQI numerical values can be seen in the chart below. For more information on AQI and how it is calculated, please click here.

Air Quality Index Levels of Health Concern	Numerical Value	Meaning
Good	0 to 50	Air quality is considered satisfactory, and air pollution poses little or no risk
Moderate	51 to 100	Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.
Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups	101 to 150	Members of sensitive groups may experience health effects. The general public is not likely to be affected.
Unhealthy	151 to 200	Everyone may begin to experience health effects; members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.
Very Unhealthy	201 to 300	Health warnings of emergency conditions. The entire population is more likely to be affected.
Hazardous	301 to 500	Health alert: everyone may experience more serious health effects.