The Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) is an innovative health protection and prevention tool that can help you manage your exposure to air pollution. It relies on a simple scale of 1 to 10 to indicate the health risk level posed by a mix of common air pollutants.   It also lets you know when you can help to improve local air quality by walking or taking the bus instead of driving. 

Physical Activity and the AQHI

It is important to remember that people who are active outdoors are also at an increased risk of exposure to air pollution. If your local AQHI levels pose a risk for exercising outdoors you may want to consider the following:

• Change the time of the activity to the morning or late evening when the pollution levels are generally the lowest,
• Exercise indoors that day,
• Do a less strenuous activity or exercise more moderately, or
• Delay the activity till the next day.

Be sure to check the AQHI online and understand your health risks from being exposed to poor air quality. If the air quality is poor (an AQHI rating over 6) all populations are urged to avoid strenuous physical activity until the air quality improves.

Canada was the first country in the world to develop an Air Quality Health Index.