Additional Piece: How to Protect Yourself from Wildfire Smoke
As wildfires continue to rage across the country, millions of Americans are experiencing the harmful effects of wildfire smoke. The smoke contains fine particulate matter that can penetrate deep into the airways of the lungs and cause respiratory problems. People with preexisting health conditions, such as asthma and COPD, are particularly susceptible to the effects of wildfire smoke. In this article, we’ll explore some ways to protect yourself from wildfire smoke and its harmful health effects.
Monitor Air Quality
It’s important to monitor air quality in your area to determine the level of risk. The US Air Quality Index provides information on the risk levels of air pollution, including wildfire smoke. Check your local news sources, the National Weather Service, or AirNow.gov for information on air quality. If air quality is in the unhealthy range, stay indoors as much as possible.
Stay Indoors
The best way to protect yourself from wildfire smoke is to stay indoors and minimize your exposure. Keep windows and doors closed and use air conditioning if possible. If you don’t have air conditioning, you can create a DIY air purifier by placing a HEPA filter in a box fan. This can help remove some of the fine particulate matter from the air.
Wear a Mask
If you must go outside, wear an N95 or KN95 mask to filter out some of the harmful particulate matter. Make sure your mask fits tightly around your nose and mouth to ensure maximum protection. Cloth masks and surgical masks do not provide adequate protection from wildfire smoke.
Protect Your Home
Seal your windows and doors to prevent smoke from entering your home. You can also use weather stripping or caulking to seal any gaps or leaks. If you have an HVAC system, use high-efficiency filters and change them regularly. Consider installing an air purifier with a HEPA filter in your home.
Conclusion
Wildfire smoke can have harmful health effects, particularly for people with preexisting conditions. It’s important to monitor air quality, stay indoors as much as possible, wear a mask if you must go outside, and protect your home from smoke. These measures can help reduce your exposure to harmful wildfire smoke and protect your health.
Summary:
Wildfire smoke has harmful health effects and can especially impact those with preexisting health conditions. While some relief from Canadian wildfires is expected, health experts warn that some health effects may persist. Health effects of wildfire smoke include burning eyes, runny nose, shortness of breath, and more. People with heart, lung, or other conditions need to be extra careful. Stay indoors, monitor air quality, and take medications regularly. The smoke will linger for a few days, with some relief expected early next week. Protect yourself with N95 or KN95 masks, avoid going outside, and seal your home to prevent smoke from entering. The US Air Quality Index provides information on the risk levels of air pollution.
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June 8, 2023: While millions of Americans in the Midwest and East Coast felt some relief from smoke from Canada’s wildfires, with more relief expected over the weekend, health experts warned that for people at risk, some dangerous health effects may persist.
People with moderate to severe asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD, and other risk factors are used to checking air quality warnings before going outside. But this situation is anything but typical.
Even people who are not normally at risk can have burning eyes, runny nose, and shortness of breath. These are some of the symptoms to be aware of, since health effects of wildfire smoke. Special considerations should be made for people with heart, lung, and other conditions that put them at higher risk. Those affected may also have trouble sleeping, anxiety, and ongoing mental health issues.
The smoke will linger for the next few days, possibly clearing early next week as the winds shift direction, Weather Channel meteorologist Ari Sarsalari predicted Thursday. But that doesn’t mean the physical or mental health effects will go away so quickly.
“We are seeing dramatic increases in air pollution and we are seeing increases in patients going to the ED and hospital. We expect this to increase in the coming days,” said Meredith McCormack, MD, MHS, volunteer medical spokesperson for the American Lung Association.
“The air quality in our area, Baltimore, and other surrounding areas is not healthy for anyone,” said McCormack, who specializes in critical care and pulmonary medicine at Johns Hopkins University.
How serious are the health warnings?
California residents may be more familiar with the dangers of wildfire smoke, but this is a new experience for many along the East Coast. Air quality alerts are popping up on the cell phones of people living in Boston, New York City and as far south as northern Virginia. What should be the estimate 75 million to 128 million affected Americans?
We asked the experts to weigh in on when it’s safe or not to spend time outdoors, when to seek medical help, and the best ways people can protect themselves.
“It is important to stay inside and close all windows to reduce exposure to wildfire smoke. It is also essential to stay away from windows that are not properly sealed to minimize any potential smoke exposure,” said Robert Glatter, MD, general editor of Medscape Emergency Medicine and an emergency physician for Medscape Emergency Medicine. Lenox Hill Hospital/Northwell Health in New York City. (Medscape Medical News is affiliated with WebMD.)
Glatter noted that placing wet towels under doors and sealing leaky windows can help.
Monitor your symptoms and contact your doctor or go to urgent care, McCormack advised, if you notice any increase in worrisome symptoms. These include shortness of breath, coughing, chest tightness, or wheezing. Also be sure to take the recommended medications and have plenty on hand, she said.
Fine Particles, Big Concerns
The weather is warming up in many parts of the country, and that may mean air conditioning. Adding a MERV 13 filter to a central air conditioning system could reduce exposure to wildfire smoke. Using a portable indoor air purifier with a HEPA filter can also help people who don’t have central air conditioning. The filter can help remove small airborne particles, but it must be replaced regularly.
Wildfire smoke contains multiple toxins, including heavy metals, carcinogens, and fine particulate matter (PM) smaller than 2.5 microns. Glatter explained that these particles are about 100 times thinner than a human hair. Because of their size, they can embed themselves deeper into the airways of the lungs, triggering chronic inflammation.
“This has also been linked to higher rates of lung cancer and brain tumors,” he said, drawing on a study 2022 in Canada.
The effects of smoke from wildfires can continue for many years. After the 2014 Hazelwood coal mine fire, emergency department visits for respiratory conditions and cardiovascular problems remained higher for up to 2 to 5 years later, Glatter said. Once again, large amounts of fine particulates in the smoke, less than 2.5 microns (PM 2.5), were to blame.
Exposure to wildfire smoke during pregnancy has also been linked to abnormal fetal growth, preterm birth, and low birth weight, a Preprint January 2023 on MedRxiv suggested.
Is it time to wear a mask again?
A well-fitting N95 mask will be the best approach to decrease wildfire smoke exposure, “but by itself it can’t eliminate all risk,” Glatter said. Surgical masks may add minimal protection, and cloth masks will not provide significant protection against the damaging effects of wildfire smoke.
KN95 masks tend to be more comfortable to wear than N95. But leaks often occur that can make this type of protection less effective, Glatter said.
“Masks are important if you need to go outside,” McCormack said. Also, if you’re traveling by car, set the air conditioning system on recirculation to filter the air inside the vehicle, he recommended.
What does that number mean?
The federal government monitors air quality throughout the country. In case you are not familiar, the US Air Quality Index includes a color-coded scale for ozone levels and particulate pollution, the primary concern from wildfire smoke. The lowest risk is the green or satisfactory air quality category, where air pollution poses little or no risk, with an index number from 0 to 50.
The index becomes progressively more serious, from Yellow for moderate risk (51 to 100) to a Brown category, a dangerous range of 300 or higher on the index. When a Maroon advisory is issued, it means an emergency health warning where “everyone is more likely to be affected.”
New York City is under an air quality alert until midnight Friday with a current report of the “Unhealthy” Index of 200. The city recorded its worst air quality ever on Wednesday. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation advises that levels of fine particulate matter (small particles that can enter a person’s lungs) are the biggest concern.
AirNow.gov warns that western New England to Washington, DC, has air quality in the three worst categories, ranging from unhealthy to very unhealthy to dangerous. He ten worst places on the US Air Quality Index as of 10 a.m.
Other “very unhealthy” places have the following index readings:
- 244: Suburbs of Washington, DC/Maryland
- 252: South Shore of New Jersey
- 252: Kent County, DE
- 270: Philadelphia
- 291: Greater New Castle County, DE
- 293: Northern Virginia
- 293: Metropolitan Washington, D.C.
These two places are in the “dangerous” or health emergency warning category:
- 309: Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
- 399: Susquehanna Valley, Pennsylvania
To check for an air quality advisory in your area, enter your ZIP code at airnow.gov.
https://www.webmd.com/asthma/news/20230608/wildfire-smoke-and-air-quality-how-long-could-health-effects-last?src=RSS_PUBLIC
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