How wildfire smoke affects your health, and how to protect yourself

As a chain As wildfires continue to raze the Los Angeles area, blanketing neighborhoods in smoke and forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes, air quality remains unhealthy in many parts of the county.

Forest fire smoke is a A mixture of water vapor, gases and microscopic particles Known as particles. The smallest of these particles, known as PM2.5 because they are less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, pose the greatest risk to human health. It can settle deep in the lungs and sometimes enter the bloodstream. Earlier this week, PM2.5 levels around Los Angeles rose to “hazardous” levels, the highest warning globally. US Air Quality Index.

“Wildfire smoke is a risk to everyone, especially when the particles are released in large quantities for long periods, like what is happening in California now,” says Zachary Rubin, a Chicago-area pediatrician and spokesman for the American College of Medicine. Allergies, asthma and immunity.

When inhaled, fine particles can lead to inflammation in the body. Symptoms can range from mild, such as burning or itching eyes, runny nose, itchy throat, and headache, to severe respiratory problems, including difficulty breathing, wheezing, cough, fatigue, and chest pain. It can take from a few hours to days for symptoms to appear after exposure. In more serious cases, it increases the risk of early death.

Children, older adults, pregnant women, and people with heart or lung disease or a weakened immune system are more at risk for severe side effects. But Rubin says it’s possible for anyone, regardless of their health, to suffer respiratory effects from exposure to wildfire smoke.

“Any level of air pollution, including from wildfires, can be dangerous to your health,” says Laura Corlin, an environmental epidemiologist at Tufts University School of Medicine. How dangerous it is depends on many factors, including your current health condition, your proximity to fire, and the duration of exposure. “A good rule of thumb is that more exposure is worse,” she says.

The composition of wildfires can also have an impact on human health. As California fires sweep through homes and businesses, smoke in the area likely carries chemicals released by synthetic building materials that are more toxic than those released by burning plants.

People in Los Angeles County and elsewhere in the US can check it out airnow.gov To learn more about the current air quality in their area. Because air quality can change quickly during the day, you should monitor readings regularly if there is a fire burning in your area, and try to limit your exposure to outside air when the quality is poor. the View the assignment The app is a good resource to check if there are fires burning near where you are.

How to protect yourself and others

“The lungs filter the air we breathe and send it to the heart, so the heart pumps it to the rest of the body,” says Shazia Jamil, a pulmonologist and professor of medicine at Scripps Clinic and the University of California, San Francisco. Diego. Jamil helped develop A guide For the American Thoracic Society on how to stay healthy during wildfires.

If someone has shortness of breath, wheezing, or an increased respiratory rate due to smoke inhalation, it makes the heart beat faster and can worsen pre-existing heart problems, she says. Even healthy people may experience chest pain and shortness of breath due to smoke inhalation.