From April through June 2024, Heartland Air Monitoring Partnership (HAMP) recorded 14,569 hours of air monitoring data for use in calculating the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) at seven stations in our Airshed.
Results show the AQHI in the HAMP Airshed measured a low risk to health at least 96% of the time for April, May and June, except on May 11 and 12, when wildfire smoke from northeastern British Columbia resulted in very high risk AQHI hours.
|
Hours monitored |
Low risk AQHI |
Moderate risk AQHI |
High risk AQHI |
Very high risk AQHI |
|
14,569 |
14,054 |
316 |
88 |
111 |
(All in hours)
- 14,054 (or 96.5%) of the hours were low risk AQHI.
- 316 (or 2.2%) of the hours were moderate risk AQHI.
- 88 (or 0.6%) of the hours were high risk AQHI.
- 111 (or 0.8%) were very high risk AQHI.
Summary of Exceedances
There were 25 one-hour exceedances of the Alberta Ambient Air Quality Objectives (AAAQO) and 18 exceedances of the 24-hour objective in the second quarter of 2024.
The May 11 and 12 wildfire smoke resulted in 14 of the 24-hour exceedances for fine particulate matter. The remaining 24-hour and one-hour exceedances were from an undetermined source.
One 24-hour exceedance and eight one-hour exceedances of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) occurred in April due to natural ice melt. H2S is released from bodies of water in the springtime when the ice cover melts. The H2S results from bacterial action in the oxygen-depleted environment under the ice during the winter and early spring.
The source of the remaining exceedances was undetermined. Hydrogen sulphide is used or produced in industries such as oil and gas refining. It also occurs naturally in bodies of water, sewers, manure pits, well water and oil and gas wells.
Air quality measurements are compared continuously to both one and 24-hour AAAQOs. An exceedance of an AAAQO is reported to the Alberta Government, and the likely cause of the exceedance is investigated.
Three-Year AQHI Rating Comparison in Second Quarter:
|
|
Low Risk |
Moderate Risk |
High Risk |
Very High Risk |
|
Q2 2022 |
99.30% |
0.70% |
0.00% |
0.00% |
|
Q2 2023 |
77.9% |
16.8% |
3.1% |
2.2% |
|
Q2 2024 |
96.5% |
2.2% |
0.6% |
0.8% |
For more details: April to June 2024 air monitoring report.