Air Quality Risk Decision Tool
Translate AQI into practical risk, scenario guidance, and cigarette-equivalent exposure so you know what today's air means and what to do next.
Make the AQI number understandable
Use cigarette-equivalent framing, PM2.5 estimates, and all-day exposure comparisons to decide whether this is background noise or a day-changing risk.
Choose the right action for the situation
Turn one reading into commute, exercise, kids, and indoor-air decisions instead of staring at a raw score.
Build repeat-use habits
Save common scenarios, share result URLs, and jump into city, scenario, and comparison pages when the same problem returns.
Decision Tool
Enter a PM2.5 AQI and exposure time to estimate a cigarette-equivalent particle exposure. If you only know the overall AQI, confirm PM2.5 is the dominant pollutant first.
Understand the number
Turn a raw AQI reading into a particle dose you can picture.
Decide what to do
Get scenario guidance for commuting, exercise, kids, and windows.
Reuse and share it
Save recent checks and copy result URLs for later decisions.
Input mode
Enter a US-style AQI value between 0 and 500.
Quick scenario presets
Recent checks
Saved results appear here after you calculate.
The result panel will translate it into cigarette-equivalent exposure, action guidance, and common-scenario decisions.
Step 1: The tool converts a PM2.5 AQI back to an estimated PM2.5 mass concentration using the current U.S. EPA breakpoints and reporting rules from the Air Now calculator.
Step 2: based on this research, 22 µg/m³ of PM2.5 sustained for 24 hours is treated as one rough cigarette-equivalent for risk communication, not a literal personal dose.
This tool is a decision aid, not a medical diagnosis. It is most useful for comparing exposure levels, planning protective steps, and seeing how repeated days can add up.
Trust Signals
Review policy
July 20, 2026. We update supporting pages when calculator logic, live data behavior, or source framing changes.
Primary sources
AQI uses EPA / AirNow breakpoint logic. Cigarette-equivalent framing follows Berkeley Earth’s PM2.5 interpretation.
Live data layer
City pages use EPA AirNow where supported, with cached fallbacks and planning baselines if the API fails or coverage is unavailable.
Popular AQI values
Open a commonly searched AQI value for its 24-hour cigarette equivalent, PM2.5 estimate, health category, and practical guidance.
Start with the number or question you already have. Every tool leads to a concrete calculation, comparison, or action plan instead of another generic article.
Tools →1. Interpret
Use cigarette-equivalent framing, PM2.5 estimates, and all-day exposure comparisons to decide whether this is background noise or a day-changing risk.
2. Decide
Turn one reading into commute, exercise, kids, and indoor-air decisions instead of staring at a raw score.
3. Revisit
Save common scenarios, share result URLs, and jump into city, scenario, and comparison pages when the same problem returns.
Scenario Guides
These pages are built for repeat visits when the same question keeps coming back: commute, school, exercise, or smoke response.
Use AQI to decide whether a daily commute is routine, cautionary, or worth changing.
Default check: AQI 110 for 2h
Translate AQI into a clear decision for running, cycling, or training outside.
Default check: AQI 85 for 1h
Plan school runs, recess, and after-school time when children are more sensitive than adults.
Default check: AQI 95 for 3h
Use AQI to decide when normal air-quality habits are not enough and smoke response should begin.
Default check: AQI 165 for 24h
Credibility
The calculator converts AQI back to PM2.5 using EPA-style AQI breakpoints, then uses Berkeley Earth cigarette-equivalent framing to make exposure easier to understand.
We treat this as a decision aid, not a medical diagnosis. The output is built to help you compare dose, plan behavior, and decide what to check next.
Methodology and update policy are documented so users and search engines can see how the site is maintained.
See formulas, source framing, limitations, and how the content is reviewed.
Understand what each AQI band means before you even calculate.
Move from concern to action with masks, filtration, and clean-air-room planning.
Compare a clean day with a smoky day to see how quickly dose and advice change.
Move from passive checking into a smoke-day action plan for windows, workouts, sleep, and clean air.
Enter particle concentration directly if your monitor shows PM2.5 instead of AQI.
City Guides
These guides combine live AQI when available, local planning patterns, and next-step actions so the page is useful even after the first visit.
Use AQI to plan commuting, outdoor time, and indoor-air decisions in Los Angeles.
Suggested starting check: AQI 105
Use AQI to plan commuting, outdoor time, and indoor-air decisions in San Francisco.
Suggested starting check: AQI 92
Use AQI to plan commuting, outdoor time, and indoor-air decisions in New York City.
Suggested starting check: AQI 88
Use AQI to plan commuting, outdoor time, and indoor-air decisions in Seattle.
Suggested starting check: AQI 120
Use AQI to plan commuting, outdoor time, and indoor-air decisions in Delhi.
Suggested starting check: AQI 175
Use AQI to plan commuting, outdoor time, and indoor-air decisions in Beijing.
Suggested starting check: AQI 160
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