This report provides the number of hours that air quality is rated as less than "Good", according to Alberta's Air Quality Index, broken out by responsible pollutant. The five pollutants that make up the Air Quality Index (nitrogen dioxide, fine particulate matter, ozone, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide) can be selected, along with a date range, to display the number of hours when air quality is rated less than Good, as a result of those pollutants.

Air Quality in the oil sands region is generally rated Good 95 percent of the time or more. Fair and Poor air quality can be the result of meteorological conditions that can trap and concentrate pollutants near the surface, industrial upsets or natural occurrences such as forest fires. Poor air quality episodes in this region are most often the result of forest fire smoke.

Additional information on the Air Quality Index can be found in the Air Quality Index Fact Sheet. The current Air Quality Index is available 24 hours a day on Alberta Environment's real-time Air Quality Website or by dialing (toll-free) 1-877-247-7333.