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Orlando Air Quality Prompts Warning For People With Asthma

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
The Florida Channel
People with asthma may want to limit time outdoors.

People with asthma may want to limit time outdoors.

The Environmental Protection Agency is warning that the Orlando area’s air quality is not healthy for sensitive groups. That means people with asthma and lung disease, as well as the elderly and children, should cut down on prolonged or heavy exercise outside. They recommend keeping asthma medication nearby.

“The ongoing drought and wildfire situation in Florida certainly not helping in terms of air quality,” said Florida Public Radio Emergency Network Meteorologist Jeff Huffman. “This is typically a time of year when the air can be very stagnant, and you throw in the drought and the wildfire and the smoke and the haze and it’s making an uncomfortable situation for many.”

Check here for the latest air quality index from the EPA.

Health News Florida reporter Abe Aboraya works for WMFE in Orlando. He started writing for newspapers in high school. After graduating from the University of Central Florida in 2007, he spent a year traveling and working as a freelance reporter for the Seattle Times and the Seattle Weekly, and working for local news websites in the San Francisco Bay area. Most recently Abe worked as a reporter for the Orlando Business Journal. He comes from a family of health care workers.