More than a million residents across the American Southwest are being urged to shutter their windows and limit outdoor activities due to a sweeping cloud of hazardous air pollution. This unsettling warning comes as air quality monitoring stations in Texas, New Mexico, and parts of Arizona have detected alarming levels of harmful particles amid the dust storms that raged through the region on Friday morning.
El Paso, Texas, stands as the largest urban area affected by this air quality crisis. Nestled along the U.S.-Mexico border, this city is home to nearly 900,000 people, all of whom are now grappling with the implications of polluted air. However, the issue stretches far beyond El Paso, with the perilous air spanning roughly 200 miles across the Texas and New Mexico borderlands.
The situation is attributed to an increase in fine particulate matter, a type of air pollution comprising microscopic particles capable of infiltrating deep into the lungs. Such particles can trigger inflammation, breathing difficulties, and a range of other health complications upon inhalation.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has declared the air quality in the entire El Paso metropolitan area as ‘unhealthy,’ with even more dire conditions labeled as ‘very unhealthy’ near the vicinity of Fort Bliss, a major U.S. Army installation.
Air pollution known as fine particulate matter has been blamed for the widespread conditions. These are microscopic particles small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs, causing inflammation, breathing difficulties and other health issues when inhaled.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classified the air in the entire El Paso metropolitan area ‘unhealthy’ while a large patch near the US Army’s Fort Bliss has been deemed ‘very unhealthy.’
According to the World Air Quality Index project, a nonprofit providing real-time air pollution data for hundreds of countries, the air quality index (AQI) reached 411 in the northern part of El Paso.
Typically, air quality levels are only measured on a scale from 0 to 500. When outdoor air quality reaches 300 to 500, the EPA warns that everyone should avoid all physical activity outside.
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A major plume of hazardous air has been detected over Texas, New Mexico and Arizona on Friday, June 5
The source of the air quality alert in El Paso, Texas (Pictured) is believed to be major dust storms being blown north from Mexico (Stock Image)
The main driver of the air pollution in the Southwest has been PM10, a type of fine particulate matter made up of tiny solid particles or liquid droplets floating in the air that are less than 10 micrometers in diameter, thinner than a human hair.
This form of air pollution is noticeably larger than the more common PM2.5, which is typically composed of toxins or heavy metals produced by factories and car exhaust.
However, PM10 can still damage the lungs, worsen respiratory issues such as asthma and contribute to heart attacks and strokes that cause premature death when inhaled consistently.
In an air quality notice, AccuWeather warned: ‘Exposure can result in eye and throat irritation, coughing or difficulty breathing, and aggravated asthma. More frequent and excessive exposure can result in more serious health effects.’
Air quality website IQAir revealed in their live tracking data that the conditions were being fueled by steady winds moving north from Mexico.
The severe conditions that have developed around El Paso have been largely blamed on the natural geography along the US southern border, including regular dust storms from the Chihuahuan Desert.
Severe smog from cars, trucks and factories has also flowed across the border from the Mexican city of Juárez, which has a rapidly growing population of more than 1.6 million people.
This has led the American Lung Association to give El Paso an ‘F’ grade for ozone pollution in 2025.
Pictured: A mother and child walk in an El Paso dust storm. Breathing in the particles carried by these storms can result in serious respiratory issues (Stock Image)
Air quality monitors in Texas have declared the conditions in El Paso, Texas ‘hazardous’ due to skyrocketing levels of fine particulate matter
In New Mexico, multiple cities have been warned that the air quality has reached levels which are harmful to ‘sensitive groups.’
These include people with lung or heart disease, older adults, pregnant women, children and those who spend most of their day working outdoors.
New Mexico’s Las Cruces, Silver City, Deming and Lordsburg are all in the affected area on Friday, impacting roughly 250,000 people.
