The haze of smoke drifting over Massachusetts from Canadian wildfires has obscured the summer sun and caused state officials on Wednesday to issue a statewide air quality alert.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection at about 9:45 a.m. issued the alert, saying that elevated levels of fine particles mean that air quality statewide is expected to be unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Sensitive groups include people with heart or lung disease, such as asthma; older adults; children; teens; and people who are active outdoors, the state said, adding that “people with either lung disease or heart disease are at greater risk from exposure to air pollution.”
People in sensitive groups “should reduce prolonged or heavy outdoor exertion, take more breaks, do less intense activities, follow asthma action plans, and keep quick relief medicine handy. Watch for symptoms such as coughing or shortness of breath,” MassDEP said.
The air quality alert is effective through 12 a.m. Thursday.
On Tuesday, without explicitly citing the wildfires that had begun influencing the atmosphere here, MassDEP issued an air quality alert for Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Nantucket and Plymouth counties due to “elevated levels of ozone.”
