Outdoor decision planner
Should I exercise, commute, or send kids outside at this AQI?
Choose the reported pollutant, audience and activity. The planner keeps official AQI categories separate from concentration-and-time context and never treats an unknown pollutant as PM2.5.
Recommended plan
Proceed and keep checking
Most people can continue, while monitoring for irritation during long or hard efforts.
EPA AQI category
AQI 150: Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups
Selected-duration health-impact estimate
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Choose an easier route, reduce pace, or switch to an indoor session when the plan calls for adjustment.
Moderate activity increases the amount of air inhaled, so breaks and timing matter.
The Berkeley Earth comparison is disabled because an overall AQI can be driven by ozone or another pollutant. Confirm PM2.5 as the reported pollutant before using it.
This planner summarizes public AQI guidance and does not replace medical advice, an emergency alert, or workplace safety requirements.
A number becomes useful when it changes a decision
AQI guidance depends on both the category and who is exposed. Sensitive groups are advised to modify activity earlier than the general population.
Duration and exertion affect how much air you breathe, but they do not change the official AQI category. This tool shows both layers without inventing a new health threshold.
What the plan uses
- EPA PM2.5 activity guidance for the six AQI categories
- Separate general-population and sensitive-group recommendations
- Berkeley Earth's rough population-level health-impact comparison only for confirmed PM2.5
- Same-slope extrapolation above AQI 500, clearly labeled as outside the standard scale
Trust Signals
How to interpret this activity plan
Review policy
August 8, 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.
AQI activity questions
Does a longer activity change the AQI category?
No. AQI describes ambient conditions. Duration and intensity change exposure context, so the plan mentions them separately.
Why can I select an unknown pollutant?
Many apps show an overall AQI. It may be driven by ozone rather than PM2.5, so the Berkeley Earth comparison must stay disabled until PM2.5 is confirmed.
What does sensitive group mean here?
It follows public AQI guidance for people at greater risk from air pollution. The tool does not collect or diagnose a medical condition.