The Health Effects Of Breathing Wildfire Smoke
With the horrible destruction caused by the wildfires in Los Angeles, millions of people are experiencing dangerous air quality from smoke. What happens to your body when you breathe wildfire smoke? TODAY.com and Bloomberg.com recently published articles that discuss this topic, the physical damage that wildfire smoke can cause and when to seek medical treatment.
From TODAY.com:
Health effects of breathing wildfire smoke
Wildfire smoke includes a combination of gasses and fine particles including soot, dust and dirt, from burning trees, plants, buildings and other materials, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Although you might be able to spot some of these particles, others are microscopic, and inhaling them can irritate your lungs and restrict your airways.
“When we inhale, the particles (from smoke) stimulate our airways to become inflamed to not function normally,” Dr. Ronald Crystal, a pulmonologist and the chair of genetic medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, previously told TODAY.com.
Some pollutants are small enough to make it into your bloodstream and damage your organs.
If the air quality is particularly poor, you might experience tightness in your chest, wheezing and fatigue. Some studies have even linked wildfire smoke exposure to cardiac arrest, changes in mental health and cancer.
Air quality, which is measured using an index from 0-500, is currently above 151 in Los Angeles and its surrounding areas, according to AirNow.gov. Any value above 151 is considered dangerous.
From BLOOMBERG.com
What is certain is that wildfire smoke exposure can cause myriad respiratory problems, according to Catharine Guidice, an emergency physician and climate change and human health fellow at Harvard University’s FXB Center. It can also increase susceptibility to respiratory diseases, such as Covid-19, influenza, RSV and pneumonia.
There’s also a host of potential long-term impacts from increased dementia risk to pregnancy complications. “We see that children that were exposed to wildfire smoke in utero are born at preterm at higher rates. They have lower birth weights,” says Carlos Gould, an environmental health scientist at the University of California, San Diego.
He adds that smoke can even kill. The higher pollution levels seen in parts of Los Angeles, for example, may increase mortality by between 5% to 15% on the day people are exposed, and “that doesn’t account for lagged effects,” Gould says.
In other words, because of all the smoke, “we’re going to be seeing worsened respiratory health [and] higher mortality in the coming days and weeks,” he says. “That’s a particular concern with people with underlying respiratory conditions, underlying cardiovascular conditions, the elderly, children and pregnant women.”
Photo by Marcus Kauffman on Unsplash
The Health Concerns From Wildfire Smoke
During wildfires, cities and towns are being covered in a thick haze of smoke that is causing headaches, dizziness, nausea and respiratory health issues. Poor air quality can mean less Oxygen in the air. For people with pre-existing breathing problems, the situation can be extremely dangerous and sometimes life-threatening. Many people are also being forced to stay indoors to avoid the horrible air quality. But even then, the poor air and smoke can eventually make its way inside a home.
How To Deal With Wildfire Smoke Health Problems
4 Wildfire Smoke Health Problems and How To Deal With Them
https://www.futurity.org/wildfire-smoke-health-problems-2592902/
The above article points out that many communities were ill-prepared for the wildfires, and experts are trying to educate people as quickly as possible to avoid the same scale of destruction and health problems this year. The number of smoky days in California and the West due to wildfire is increasing drastically, Nadeau said during the wildfire symposium, with some parts of the region seeing an average of over 140 days per year of poor air quality.
Tips For Improving Your Air Quality
– Track the air quality in your area using several websites and apps that provide information (more on those below).
– If you live in an area with wildfire smoke, try to stay indoors. But if you have to go outside, wear a mask.
– For your home, buy a portable air monitor, air purifiers and clean any air filters you might have. However, don’t wait until last-minute. During recent wildfires, many stores ran out of air purifiers. Plan ahead! You can read more about the proper air purifiers to purchase in the article. (Note: Purifiers with HEPA filters are ideal)
One other important tip from the article: “Change your air filters, and if you can’t purify your entire residence, set up a clean air room,” she suggests. In other words, rather than trying to filter the whole house, focus on maintaining healthy air quality in one room. Reducing the volume of air that a purifier must filter goes a long way in lowering concentrations of smoke particles.”
Wildfire Preparation, Safety And Resources
The website READY.GOV has an AMAZING section about wildfire preparedness, safety and other resources. Launched in February 2003, Ready is a National public service campaign designed to educate and empower the American people to prepare for, respond to and mitigate emergencies, including natural and man-made disasters. The goal of the campaign is to promote preparedness through public involvement.
Visit ready.gov/wildfires to get all the information!
The READY.GOV wildfire section includes:
Recognize Warnings and Alerts
Making an Emergency Plan
Strengthen your Home
Know your Evacuation Zone
Gathering Supplies
Staying Safe During The Fire
Safely Returning Home After a Wildfire
Online Resources To Track Wildfire Updates
In recent years, online resources and apps to track wildfires and weather became extremely important. Thankfully, there are several easy sites and apps you can use daily to keep track of wildfires, extreme weather and even poor air quality. We recommend visiting some of these websites and bookmarking them if you live in an area that is at risk for wildfires:
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2020/weather/wildfire-and-air-quality-tracker/
Note: Boost Oxygen IS NOT a substitute for doctor prescribed medical-grade Oxygen. Our portable Pure Oxygen canisters can provide immediate respiratory support, but our product does not treat or cure breathing conditions that require treatment from a doctor. If you are experiencing breathing issues due to wildfires, please contact your doctor right away or seek immediate medical treatment at a hospital
