Concerns over Houston's air quality arise for sensitive groups after unhealthy level predictions

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Over the next few days, Houston's air quality is predicted to be unhealthy for sensitive groups.

AirNow has a map where you can see the air quality forecast. It's a mix of yellow and orange on the map for Texas.

Yellow means moderate, and orange means it's unhealthy for sensitive groups. It's expected to stay in that unhealthy range for the next three days.

This type of air quality is a common problem in the summer in big cities. Experts say on hot and sunny days, the pollution from things like car exhaust is broken down and forms ozone. The levels are usually worse in the later afternoons.

ABC13 spoke to a pulmonologist at Memorial Hermann about this, and she said that being vigilant of air quality is important whether you are healthy or at risk.

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More than 8.7 million acres, an area larger than the state of Vermont, have burned.

"What that means for people who have underlying lung conditions is it can make it worse," she said.

When pollution is at hazardous levels, we should all do what we can to reduce our exposure to particle pollution levels.

Staying indoors is best if you can do so. ABC13 also reached out to Harris County Pollution Control about how closely they're monitoring air quality levels, but we haven't heard back yet.

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