Why do people run outdoors in visible haze and AQI 200+?
Air Quality Index is around 200 across NYC, surpassing it in areas, due to high PM 2.5 from the Canadian wildfires. I guessed it was high before even checking the weather because the haze was very noticeable.
What I also saw were dozens of people running outside unmasked (I assume they were exercising, not prison escapees). A 30-minute run in this AQI apparently can be equivalent to smoking a few cigarettes. From what I read, the risks of running outdoors outweigh the benefits once AQI surpasses 150 (or 100 for people with conditions).
I'm a runner myself and I would run indoors in these conditions in an air-purified room as well as wear an N95 when traveling outside if it's approaching anywhere near 200. Yesterday when I returned home I found some of the bad air had leaked in and I had to run the purifier on high for 45 minutes to bring the PM 2.5 level down from 80 μg/m³ to under 10.
If these people don't have the option to run indoors (e.g. no personal treadmill or gym membership) they could do other cardio indoors or postpone it. Are people just not aware of the high AQI even with the alerts and visible haze, do they not care about the health goal contradiction, ...?
