Air quality health advisory for NYC, LI on Thursday

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - New York State has issued an air quality health advisory for New York City and Long Island for Thusday, May 18, 2017, from 10 a.m. through 10 p.m.

The commissioners of environmental conservation and health are concerned about ground-level ozone, a pollutant formed when the temperature rises to summer-like levels.

DEC meteorologists are predicting the New York City, Nassau County, and Suffolk County Air Quality Index to rise to 101, which is unhealthy for "sensitive groups," according to officials.

"People, especially young children, those who exercise outdoors, those involved in vigorous outdoor work and those who have respiratory disease (such as asthma) should consider limiting strenuous outdoor physical activity when ozone levels are the highest (generally afternoon to early evening)," the DEC said in a release. "When outdoor levels of ozone are elevated, going indoors will usually reduce your exposure.  Individuals experiencing symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pain or coughing should consider consulting their doctor."

Ozone in the upper atmosphere is good; it protects the earth from UV rays. But ground-level ozone forms when pollution from cars, power plants, industrial boilers, refineries, and chemical plants reacts with sunlight, according to the DEC. This kind of ozone can be harmful.