Toluca air quality map

How much quality information about the state of the air is seen on the air pollution map for Toluca?

There is a great deal of very informative facts and figures on the air pollution map for Toluca and is readily available by clicking on the map icon which will encourage a new page to open filled with all the relevant information.

When this new page is first seen, the viewer will see a large expanse of colour which is a direct indication of the air quality at that time. The colour at present is greenish/yellow which shows the air quality as being “Moderate”. The full meaning of all the colours used on the site can be seen in the legend at the foot of the page. The colours used vary from pale green to dark purple and are the same ones for the entire IQAir site. The darker colours are used as the air quality gets worse.

The user will also see that there are many coloured discs superimposed over the city. These represent the locations of the ground-level air monitoring stations which provide the city with its data about air quality. In the middle of each disc is a number which is the United States Air Quality Index reading or US AQI for short. This is calculated by taking readings of six of the most prolific pollutants found in the city air. These are usually both sizes of Particulate Matter (PM2.5 and PM10), ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide. Not all cities have these actual stations and rely on data from overhead satellites instead. Toluca is one of those cities that has no physical stations but the results are just the same.

Once the US AQI reading has been established it is used as a metric when comparing levels of air quality in other places. The entire system is endorsed by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Each station can be explored individually because each one will reveal a wealth of information about air quality in that specific area of the city.

Looking back at the main city page, it can be seen in the coloured banner across the top of the page that the air quality at the time of writing was “Moderate” with a US AQI reading of 76. The colour of the banner also reflects the state of the air. The asterisk to the right of the number shows that the figure is derived from satellite data and not from physical stations. The main pollutant was found to be PM2.5 with a recorded level of 24.1 µg/m³ (microns per cubic metre). This figure exceeds the suggested target figure of 5 µg/m³ by almost five times. This target is recommended by the WHO.

Is there more information about air quality on the air pollution map for Toluca?

There is a lot more fascinating information about air quality on the air pollution map for Toluca. A “Full screen” icon will be seen at the top right of the opening page and by clicking it, a new page will open which is filled with all the relevant information.

When this full-size screen opens, a list of four options will appear on the left-hand side of the screen which can all be toggled on and off to fully see the effects they each have on the map.

The first option would show the positions of the ground-level air quality monitoring stations which are operated by the city, but as already stated, Toluca has no such stations and relies on its data from overhead satellites. The ones that are visible on the map are in neighbouring areas but are still very close to the city.

The second option shows the positions of any wildfires there are that might be burning out of control in the vicinity. At the start of April 2023, there were some fires towards the southwest of the city. This is when option four becomes important because it shows the speed and direction of the prevailing winds and will give a good indication of where the smoke from the fires might drift.

The third option is very dramatic because it can change the background colour of the map to reflect the current air quality. When air quality is poor, the colour will be quite dark and possibly confusing, in which case, the option can be disabled so that the map will revert to a more subdued colour palette.

The remainder of the facts and figures about air quality can be found on the right-hand side of the screen. A table can be found here which shows the ranking of the top seven most polluted cities in the world. The rest of the participating cities can be found under the full ranking section where several new pages will open to show these cities in descending order.

Is it possible to identify the source of air pollution from the air quality map for Toluca?

The source of the polluted air cannot be seen directly on the air quality map for Toluca, however, the main causes of air pollution are linked to the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. The combustion of these raw materials occurs in the processes or in the operation of the industrial and road transport sectors.

When considering the complete transport cycle, not only is the fuel used by a vehicle to move (the energy expenditure offered by official statistics) accounted for, but also the energy consumed in the manufacture of the vehicle itself, in the construction of the infrastructures through which it travels, in its maintenance, and, finally, in the scrapping of the vehicle.

PM2.5 is often quoted on the air pollution map for Toluca, but what is it?

The effects that particles cause on people's health have been associated with the exacerbation of respiratory diseases, such as bronchitis, and more recently their effects on cardiovascular diseases have also been analysed. The latest scientific work suggests that this type of pollution, and particularly particles from urban traffic, is associated with increases in morbidity and mortality of the exposed population and the increasing development of asthma and allergies among children. In the case of PM2.5, its size makes it easily breathable since it travels deep into the lungs, penetrating the respiratory system and depositing in the pulmonary alveoli, and from there, can even reach the bloodstream.