Air Quality Research and Resources

To make the best plan possible, a great deal of research went into determining various points on our plan.

Government Resources and Data
Various government agencies are responsible for the measurement, health effects, and protocols around air quality including federal and local agencies. We spoke directly with the Nevada County Public Health Department, the Nevada County Environmental Health Department, and the Northern Sierra Air Quality Management District about their recommendations for outdoor organizations.

Additionally, the EPA holds a wealth of past data on the air quality in Nevada County, which allows us to know more about what we can expect to happen in the future. This data is displayed and elaborated upon below.

Expert Opinions
To find more information specifically upon the effects of poor air quality upon children, we spoke with a pulmonologist at UC Davis, a pulmonologist at Kaiser Permanente, and a Senior Environmental Scientist at the British Columbia CDC.

Benchmarking from Other Organizations
Various organizations, including school districts and transportation agencies, use air quality data to determine how they run. We compared our plan against these organizations.

After reaching out to individual camps and making public requests, we did not find any other camp that has a written air quality plan.

Selected Resources:
[1] Wildfire Smoke Guide for Public Health Officials (EPA)
[2] Sacramento County Public Health Air Quality Chart
[3] Sonoma County Public Schools Air Quality Chart
[4] Protecting Children from Wildfire Smoke and Ash (EPA)
[5] Air Quality and Children (Hauptman, 2020)
[6] Quantitative Health Risk Assessment for Particulate Matter (EPA)

Past Air Quality Data
Source: https://www.epa.gov/outdoor-air-quality-data