Air Quality Advisories Issued In Parts Of Tampa Bay Area: Officials

TAMPA BAY, FL — Sarasota, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties have issued air quality advisories through Friday, officials said.

Saharan dust is affecting air quality across Florida by elevating elevated particulate matter (PM2.5), according to a Sarasota County news release. PM2.5 are inhalable particles of 2.5 micrometers or smaller.

Thunderstorms and cyclones in the Sahara Desert in northern Africa produce high-speed winds that lift the dust and move it thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It usually affects Florida during the summer months until mid to late July.

“Saharan dust can have positive benefits to the environment, such as providing mineral nutrients that support plant and marine life, but can negatively impact air quality causing particulate air pollution that may lead to respiratory problems in some people,” the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County wrote in a Facebook post.

Pinellas County said in a news release, “We expect to experience high moderate levels of PM2.5 with air quality index (AQI) values from 51-100.”

In Sarasota, the air quality index was at 66 as of 10 a.m. on Friday, Air Now data shows. The AQI was at 66 in Bradenton, 58 in Tampa, and 45 in St. Petersburg and New Port Richey.

According to theEnvironmental Protection Agency's national ambient air quality standards for public health, levels may reach the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” category, Sarasota County officials said.

“People sensitive to PM2.5 or with lung disease such as asthma, older adults, children and teenagers, and people who are active outdoors, should consider reducing prolonged or heavy outdoor exertion,” Pinellas County officials said.