As Hawaii continues the recovery process in the wake of devastating wildfires on Maui, the state Department of Health (DOH) is closely monitoring and testing air quality in surrounding communities. The agency is cooperating closely with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and other partners leading debris removal efforts to ensure the work does not significantly impact air quality in the area.
The DOH is monitoring for particulate matter with a diameter of 0.01 millimeters or less, asbestos, and metals, including antimony, arsenic, barium, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, lead, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, selenium, thallium, vanadium, and zinc.
In addition, DOH and U.S. EPA have installed 51 real-time air monitors in Lahaina and Olowalu. Data from these monitors are available here. These real-time monitors measure for PM 2.5, particulate matter that is 0.0025 millimeters and smaller in size (about 30 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair) that can be a component of ash, dust, smoke, and air pollution.
Contaminants of concern, such as metals like lead or arsenic, stick to pieces of ash and dust as small as PM 2.5. Because of this, air monitoring for PM 2.5 can be used as an indicator of the presence of contaminants.
DOH will continue to post weekly air quality monitoring reports on its website.
