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Unhealthy air quality forecast for this week — DEEP ALERT

DEEP advises residents – especially children, the elderly and those with respiratory diseases – to avoid strenuous activity outdoors and to exercise before noon or after 8 p.m.

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An Air Quality Advisory for ground-level ozone has been issued for Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage and Summit Counties.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency also issued an alert for southern New England to expect unhealthy air the next several days.

Extreme summer heat combined with vehicle exhaust and out-of-state emission sources can lead to ground level ozone. “If exposure to the outdoors is unavoidable, make sure rescue inhalers and medications are readily available and avoid overexertion while outside”.

A weak Bermuda high pressure ridge is setting up off the coast of the southeastern US for the middle of the week.

The advisory reflects a prediction by DEC meteorologists of ozone pollution expected to exceed an Air Quality Index value of 100, officials said. The report stated that there are more than 17,000 children and more than 62,000 adults with asthma in the city. There is a chance the unhealthy air could remain until Friday, but a cool front is likely to push it out by Saturday morning, according to a DEEP news release. The higher the number, the worse the air quality is.

Multi-day air quality alerts have been rare in recent years.

Although all eight CT counties received an F grade for ozone levels on the report, “The State of the Air, ” Fairfield had the highest weighted average, 24.3, compared to 16.3 for New Haven. This will transport elevated levels of ozone from upwind air pollution sources into CT on both Wednesday and Thursday.

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Justin Tallis  Getty Images  2012 AFP