Overview: From the perspective of pollution from toxic fine particulate matter (PM2.5), Kingston’s air quality for the first seven months of 2026 was the second-most-unhealthy of the 2020’s, (6.6 µg/m3). That is 32% above the WHO-recommended limit of 5.0 µg/m3 and, as you can see from the chart on our Health Impacts page, well above the threshold for causing increased mortality among Kingstonians. Kingston’s PM2.5 levels had exceeded that limit in 57 of the past 79 months, often much worse. Smoke from Ontario wildfires was a significant factor for a couple of weeks in early-to-mid July but, as usual, most of the toxins which we were breathing came from US emissions. That made the charges by Donald Trump and some of his Republican congressmen who claimed that Canada was damaging American lungs and justified punishing tariffs even more hypocritical than has been their disgusting norm, especially given that he has chosen to slash US Forest Service firefighting capability by 25% while we have increased ours. Given that we have absolutely no levers to influence US-generated pollution, all we can do is to limit how much gets into our lungs by taking some of the measures suggested in our Self-Protection page. Do you know others who might benefit from more awareness of the reality of our air quality and how they can better protect their health? If so, please share this link: https://kingstonairquality.ca.
by Ron Hartling
The purpose of this site is to raise awareness of the uncomfortable reality that, with respect to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), Kingston air quality is consistently worse than the World Health Organization (WHO) standard. The site gives practical advice on managing household exposure to health-damaging particulates. Updates are posted daily around 7 am but the satellite view below shows the current Kingston reading at any time of day. If you live elsewhere, just click at your location on the map. For ease of personal decision-making, overall daily risk levels are categorized by severity in the table to the right.
Note that, while most Canadian and US sources define Risk Level 1 as airborne fine-particulate-matter (PM2.5) concentrations less than 12 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3), I employ “Level 0” to differentiate readings within the far more evidence-based, less politically-influenced WHO healthy zone. Click on the Health impacts page for clarification on the critical differences between short- and long-term exposure risks.
Commentary as of Sunday August 16 at 7:00 am
Yesterday’s readings: Kingston’s official PM2.5 readings were reasonably healthy during yesterday’s daylight hours, mostly between 3 and 4 µg/m3 for a daily average of 4.8 µg/m3. That was our best in more than 10 days. No overnight readings were published, which suggests a failure in the Kingston sensor station but, checking Belleville, they were likely in the moderately-unhealthy Level-1 range.
Forecast for today: Today’s readings will likely again fluctuate between the upper half of the comparatively-healthy Level-0 range and the lower half of Level 1.
Detailed forecast: Environment Canada’s 24-hour Kingston forecast calls for full easterly winds this morning, becoming southeasterly this afternoon, back to easterly this evening and calm overnight. The high-altitude Jetstream, however, will continue to curve southwesterly well to our north, too far distant to have much effect on our air quality. As you can see from the satellite image, there are Level-1 particulate concentrations in those directions, which will likely keep Eastern Ontario readings within that range.
Personal protective measures: No such measures should be needed today or tomorrow.
As of 6:30 am, this satellite view of PM2.5 fine particulate flows over North America showed a continuation of the pattern of the past several days, with much of the continent subjected to quite unhealthy air from a mix of wildfire smoke and heavy-industry emissions. While the Pacific coasts of both Canada and the US remain the worst-afflicted by wildfires, there are more currently burning out of control in the Northwest Territories. Fortunately for us, the latter smoke plumes have been passing far to our north. But there remain nearly 100 fires burning in the southern and southeastern states on top of the usual massive emissions from the Texas/Louisiana oil refinery belt. While some of the latter pollution is over much of the Great Lakes, Lake Ontario is currently mostly in the clear.
Summary of Recent Readings
This table summarizes and provides context for the most recent three weeks of Kingston PM2.5 airborne fine particulate readings. The key numbers are, of course, the daily averages because that’s what informs us how our recent exposures have contributed to or ameliorated whatever annual exposure to toxic particulates we are comfortable with or accepting of. For those who choose to lower their at-home exposure in order to better protect their and their households’ long-term health, the numbers provide important information on how much effort may be required to stay within their comfort levels.
To facilitate that analysis, the table also computes each day’s risk category (usually a mix of 0’s, 1’s and 2’s), as well as 7- and 28-day running averages and medians. It also reports on the minimum and maximum readings for each day, as well as on the number of hours that day during which Kingston PM2.5 readings may have exceeded either or both the World Health Organization’s recommended maximum and the seriously outdated and therefore misleading US/Canadian equivalent.