Single Session For East Brunswick High School Thursday Due To Poor Air

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ - Environmental officials issued a "Code Red Air Quality Action Day" across New Jersey on Wednesday, as smoke from wildfires in Canada created unsafe air quality.

The Air Quality Action Day has been upgraded to the Unhealthy category and the alert extended to Thursday as well.

With poor air quality, the East Brunswick School District has decided to have a single session day for the high school, as the building is not completely air-conditioned, the district said Wednesday.

"Thursday, June 8th, 2023 the EBHS ONLY will be a moved to single session day without lunch for students. Due to the High School not being completely air conditioned, the windows would need to open and with the current wildfire impacting the air quality in New Jersey," the district said on Facebook.

The air quality In East Brunswick hit the "very unhealthy" level on the official U.S. Air Quality Index (AQI) Wednesday afternoon.

Thursday is expected to have lower levels of particulate matter in the air, but certain sensitive groups (children, teens, seniors, and those with heart or lung conditions) will be advised to avoid strenuous activity outside. People with sensitivities to air pollution should take extra care, officials said.

On Wednesday, the school district moved all outdoor activities indoors.

AirNow.gov, which reports air quality using the official U.S. Air Quality Index (AQI), shows that East Brunswick had a particulate matter level of 248 at 5 p.m. Wednesday. With the pollutant level this high, weather officials said "everyone should stay indoors and reduce activity levels."

The situation is not expected to improve much on Thursday as well. While some groups may be able to breathe easier, smoke and air pollution in the atmosphere will make it difficult Thursday for some sensitive groups (children, the elderly, people with breathing conditions) to do normal activities outside.

Some adults without lung conditions may feel irritation in their eyes, nose, and throat.

Air quality alerts are triggered by a number of factors, including the detection of fine-particle pollution — known as "PM 2.5" — which can irritate the lungs.

Exposure to air pollutants from the wildfire can cause headaches, irritated eyes and sinuses, fatigue, difficulty breathing, chest pains, asthma attacks, irritated throat and increased coughing, experts said.

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