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• St. Croix, Pierce under air quality advisory

St. Croix County is under an "Air Quality Advisory" for much of Friday.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has issued the advisory for particle pollution (orange) through 6 p.m. tonight (Friday) for a long list of Wisconsin counties: St. Croix, Pierce, Buffalo, Crawford, Dane, Dunn, Eau Claire, Green, Iowa, Jackson, Jefferson, Juneau, Kenosha, La Crosse, Milwaukee, Monroe, Pepin, Racine, Richland, Rock, Sauk, Trempealeau, Vernon, Walworth, and Waukesha counties.

The advisory is being issued because of persistent elevated levels of fine particles in the air. These fine particles come primarily from combustion sources, such as power plants, factories and other industrial sources, vehicle exhaust, and wood burning.

People with lung diseases such as asthma and bronchitis, and heart disease should pay attention to cardiac symptoms like chest pain and shortness of breath or respiratory symptoms like coughing, wheezing and discomfort when taking a breath, and consult with their physician if they have concerns or are experiencing symptoms. Fine particle pollution deposits itself deep into the lungs and cannot easily be exhaled. People who are at risk are particularly vulnerable after several days of high particle pollution exposure.

For more information, call the Daily Air Quality Hotline at 1-866-324-5924 (1-866-DAILY AIR).