Kyrgyzstan needs to introduce the Air Quality Index (AQI) system. The head of MoveGreen movement Maria Kolesnikova announced at а roundtable discussion.
She noted that the U.S. Embassy’s air quality monitoring station has long been using this index to inform the public.
«But it is not yet used at the official level in Kyrgyzstan, only the concentration of harmful particles and PM. However, the AQI system itself is more understandable for the population, the air quality is indicated by color,» she said.
An air quality expert Zhanyl Madykova added that the quality index is an indicator of the daily state of the air and how certain pollution can affect the health.
«It helps the public to understand the state of air quality by using indicator-based colors. AQI is also used for certain pollutants (fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and others). In addition, recommendations are given to the population on what to do to minimize harm to health,» she said.
Zhanyl Madykova added that one of the advantages of the air quality index is that it can be visualized by mapping the country.
