June 8, 2023 – While tens of millions of Americans within the Midwest and on the East Coast got some relief from smoke from Canada's wildfires, and more relief is predicted over the weekend, health experts warned that some dangerous health effects could linger in vulnerable people.
People with moderate to severe asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other risk aspects are used to checking air quality alerts before going outside, but this example is anything but normal.
Even individuals who aren’t normally in danger may experience burning eyes, a runny nose and difficulty respiratory. These are a number of the symptoms it is best to look out for because Effects of wildfire smoke on health. Special caution is suggested for individuals with heart disease, lung disease and other conditions that put them at increased risk. Sufferers might also experience sleep disturbances, anxiety and ongoing mental health problems.
The smoke will linger within the air for the following few days and will dissipate early next week as winds change direction, Weather Channel meteorologist Ari Sarsalari predicted Thursday. But that doesn't mean the physical or mental effects will go away anytime soon.
““We are seeing a dramatic increase in air pollution and a rise within the variety of patients coming to the emergency room and hospital. We expect this to proceed to extend in the approaching days,” said Dr. Meredith McCormack, MHS, a 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 pulmonary and critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins University.
How serious are the health warnings?
California residents may be more familiar with the dangers of wildfire smoke, but for many people on the East Coast, this is a new experience. Air quality alerts are appearing on cell phones for people in Boston, New York City and southern Northern Virginia. What should the estimated 75 million To 128 million What are the affected Americans doing?
We asked experts for their opinions on when it is safe or unsafe to spend time outdoors, when to seek medical help and how people can best protect themselves.
“It's essential to remain indoors and shut all windows to cut back exposure to wildfire smoke. It's also essential to avoid windows that will not be well sealed to attenuate potential smoke exposure,” said Robert Glatter, MD, editor in chief of Medscape Emergency Medicine and an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital/Northwell Health in New York City. (Medscape Medical News is affiliated with WebMD.)
Glatter points out that it can be helpful to place damp towels under doors and seal leaky windows.
Monitor your symptoms and contact your doctor or go to the emergency room, McCormack advised, if you notice an increase in any worrisome symptoms. These include shortness of breath, cough, chest tightness or wheezing. Also, make sure you're taking the recommended medications and have enough of them on hand, she said.
Fine dust, big concerns
It's getting warmer in many parts of the country, and that may mean air conditioning. Adding a MERV 13 filter to a central air conditioning system can reduce exposure to wildfire smoke. Using a portable indoor air purifier with a HEPA filter can also help people without central air conditioning. The filter can help remove small particles from the air, but it needs to be replaced regularly.
Smoke from wildfires contains numerous toxins, including heavy metals, carcinogens and particulate matter (PM) smaller than 2.5 micrometers. Glatter explained that these particles are about 100 times thinner than a human hair. Because of their size, they can lodge deeper in the airways of the lungs and cause chronic inflammation.
“This is also linked to an increased number of lung cancer and brain tumors,” he said, based on a Study 2022 in Canada.
The effects of smoke from wildfires can last for many years. After the Hazelwood coal mine fire in 2014, emergency room visits for respiratory and cardiovascular conditions remained higher than the previous year. up to 2 to 5 years later, Glatter said that here too, large amounts of fine dust in the smoke, smaller than 2.5 micrometers (PM 2.5), were to blame.
Exposure to smoke from wildfires during pregnancy has also been linked to abnormal fetal growth, premature birth and low birth weight, a Preprint from January 2023 proposed on MedRxiv.
Time to wear a mask again?
A properly fitted N95 mask is the best way to reduce exposure to wildfire smoke, “nevertheless it alone cannot eliminate all of the danger,” Glatter said. Surgical masks can only provide minimal protection, and cloth masks do not offer significant protection against the harmful effects of wildfire smoke.
KN95 masks are generally more comfortable to wear than N95 masks, but leaks are common, which can make this type of protection less effective, Glatter said.
“Masks are essential if you’ve got to go outside,” McCormack said. If you're driving, you should also turn the air conditioning on recirculation to filter the air in the vehicle, she recommends.
What does this number mean?
The federal government monitors air quality across the country. If you are not familiar, the US Air Quality Index includes a color-coded scale for ozone levels and particle pollution, the greatest threat 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 gets progressively more serious, from yellow for moderate risk (51 to 100) to maroon, a danger zone of 300 or higher on the index. When a maroon alert is issued, it is a health emergency warning that “everyone seems to be more more likely to be affected.”
New York City is under an air quality warning until midnight Friday, with a current “unhealthy” index reading of 200. Air quality in the city was measured at its worst ever on Wednesday, with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation warning that levels of particulate matter — small particles that can enter the lungs — are the biggest concern.
AirNow.gov warns that air quality in western New England down to Washington, DC, is in the three worst categories – from unhealthy to very unhealthy and hazardous. The ten worst locations Among the top 10 on the U.S. Air Quality Index as of June 8 at 10:00 a.m. ET is the Wilmington, DE area, with an index of 241, or “very unhealthy.”
Other “very unhealthy” locations have the following index values:
- 244: Suburb 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: City of Washington, DC
These two places fall into the warning category “dangerous” or “health emergency”:
- 309: Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
- 399: Susquehanna Valley, Pennsylvania
To receive an air quality alert for your area, enter your postcode at AirNow.gov.