Monitoring Total Particulate Matter

We measure the total particulate mass concentration in the air on a routine basis as well as during incidents that may affect ambient air.

Air Quality Index - AQI

Employee Smoke Alert	Los Alamos PM 2.5 24-hour Rolling Average	White Rock PM 2.5 24-hour Rolling Average
The current condition is: Good	1.5467 µg/m³	1.7985 µg/m³
Weather Forecast	View Los Alamos data	View White Rock data

AQI is an index for reporting daily air quality. It tells you how clean or polluted your air is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for you. The AQI focuses on health effects you may experience within a few hours or days after breathing polluted air. EPA calculates the AQI for five major air pollutants regulated by the Clean Air Act.

Air Quality and Work Activity Guidance

The air quality guidance below is published by the New Mexico Environmental Department. Work activity guidance has also been added by LANL's ADESH Directorate.

Indoor PM 2.5 equivalent particulate levels are normally 70-80% of outdoor levels unless HEPA filtered.
Health Levels are based on total PM 2.5.
All health related impacts are generalized and an individual's response to smoke may vary.
Managers and employees are encouraged to work together to assess any localized health risks that may result from exposure to ambient smoke and employee work activities, particularly with employees with preexisting health conditions as discussed in the chart below.

Condition	Concentration PM 2.5 (µg/m³ 24-hour average)	Air Quality Index	Cautionary Statements	Recommendations for Outdoor Work Activities
Good	0-12.0	0-50	None.	None.
Moderate	12.1-35.4	51-100	Unusually sensitive people should consider reducing prolonged or heavy exertion.	None.
Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups	35.5-55.4	101-150	Sensitive groups or individuals with preexisting conditions with heart or lung disease ( i.e. asthma), older adults, and children should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion.	Sensitive individuals or individuals with preexisting health conditions aggravated by smoke are responsible for determining and moderating outdoor work effort/activity level.
Unhealthy	55.5-150.4	151-200	People with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion. Everyone else should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion.	Restrict outdoor work activities to light activity: i.e. light manual work with hands or arms, occasional walking. Restrict Indoor and outdoor exercise and activity (Wellness Center closure).
Very Unhealthy	150.5-250.4	201-300	People with heart or lung disease ( i.e. asthma), older adults, and children should avoid all physical activity outdoors. Everyone else should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion.
Hazardous	250.5-500.4	301-500	People with heart or lung disease ( i.e. asthma), older adults, and children remain indoors and keep activity levels low. Everyone else should avoid all physical activity outdoors.

Wildfire Guidance

To address potential work time exposures to ambient particulate (smoke) generated from wild fires, the following guidance is offered:

Particulate from forest fires tend to be very small (0.4-0.7micrometers) and can add to or exacerbate many health conditions.
LANL currently measures ambient particulate levels in the Los Alamos town site at Los Alamos Medical Center and in White Rock using PM 2.5 micron, monitoring methods.
These monitoring results include contributions from smoke related particulate matter.
Rolling 24-hour PM 2.5 averages are updated every 30 minutes.

Learn more about Particulate Matter Sampling

LANL monitors the composition of particulate matter and volatile organic compounds in the ambient atmosphere in Los Alamos County and to provide better background data for these types of constituents for use in the event of an emergency. Data are downloaded from Tapered Element Oscillating Microbalance (TEOM) samplers every hour. In order to provide the most current data possible, the data have not been fully validated and verified. Two TEOM samplers are present at each sampling site:

PM 2.5
- Used for measuring particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter.
- PM 2.5 measurements represent fine particles that are inhaled deeply into the lung. Sources of these fine particles include internal combustion engines, forest fires, power plants, and atmospheric processes such as condensation and smog formation.
PM 10
- Used for measuring particulate matter less than 10 micrometers in diameter.
- PM 10 measurements include the PM 2.5 particles and larger particles such as those produced from “mechanical” disturbances such as unpaved roads, construction activities, material handling, and wind storms.