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Clark County’s Division of Air Quality is issuing an air quality dust advisory for the early-morning hours of Wednesday, Oct. 9, for all you night owls who are staying up late to view the Tropicana implosion, scheduled to take place at 2:30 a.m. PT. The implosion will produce a cloud of “Trop dust” that may temporarily impact the area around the implosion site.

“We expect the dust could hang around for a few hours, but it won’t likely last for 24 hours,” said Paul Fransioli, senior air quality specialist with the Division of Air Quality. “The dust cloud will be heaviest near the implosion site and will likely dissipate as moves eastward.”

Airborne dust is a form of inhalable air pollution called particulate matter or PM, which aggravates respiratory diseases. Under windy conditions people with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children may feel better staying indoors as much as possible because they could be at greater risk from particulates, especially when they are physically active, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Consult your physician if you have a medical condition that makes you sensitive to air pollution.

The EPA’s Air Quality Index translates air quality data into colors to help people understand when they may experience health effects from air pollution. An AQI of 101 or more is considered a level that may be unhealthy for sensitive groups of people.

Tips to limit exposure to dust include:

• Limit outdoor exertion on windy days when dust is in the air. Exercise, for example, makes you breathe heavier and increases the amount of particulates you are likely to inhale.
• Keep windows and doors closed.
• Run your air conditioner inside your house and car to filter out particulates.
• Consider changing your indoor air filters if they are dirty.
• To keep dust down, drive slowly on unpaved roads.
• Don’t take short cuts across vacant lots.
• Ride off-road vehicles in approved areas outside the urban Las Vegas Valley.
• Call Environment and Sustainability’s dust complaint hotline at 702-385-DUST (3878) to report excessive amounts of blowing dust from construction sites, vacant lots or facilities.

STAY UP TO DATE WITH LOCAL AIR QUALITY INFORMATION

• Daily Air Quality Forecast Website: DESAQMonitoring.ClarkCountyNV.gov.
• Social Media: Facebook: www.facebook.com/ClarkCountyDES; Twitter/X: @ClarkCountyDES and Instagram: @clarkcountydes.
• Daily Text/Email Alerts: www.enviroflash.org.
• AIRNow Mobile App: https://www.airnow.gov/airnow-mobile-app/.