Air quality in the Mason City area this week reached an “unhealthy” level for infants, the elderly and others sensitive to air pollutants. Sean Fitzsimmons of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says an air quality monitoring site near a couple of cement places in Mason City recorded unhealthy levels of pollutants on Wednesday. Fitzsimmons says a front moved through the Mason City area, bringing high winds in the afternoon, and officials believe the combination of high winds and industrial activity caused the reading. Fitzsimmons says the worrisome particulate matter reading went down the next day, on Thursday, and the monitor shows the air quality in the Mason City area remains at acceptable levels. Fitzsimmons says the weather pattern in Iowa may bring similar events. Fitzsimmons says when there’s low precipitation and high winds, there’ll probably be more of these “dust” pollution events.
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