As a series As massive wildfires continue to burn across 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 particulate matter. The smallest of these particles, known as PM2.5 because they have a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers, pose the greatest danger to human health. They can lodge deep in the lungs and sometimes enter the bloodstream. Earlier this week, PM2.5 around Los Angeles rose to “hazardous” levels, the highest warning for American Air Quality Index.
“Wildfire smoke is a risk for everyone, especially when the particles are released in large quantities over long periods of time, as is happening right now in California,” says Zachary Rubin, a pediatric allergist in Chicago and a spokesman for the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. .
When fine particles are inhaled, they can cause inflammation in the body. Symptoms can range from mild, such as burning or itching eyes, runny nose, scratchy throat, and headache, to serious respiratory problems, including difficulty breathing, wheezing, coughing, fatigue, and chest pain. It can take several hours to days after exposure before symptoms appear. In the most serious cases, it increases the risk of premature death.
Children, older adults, pregnant women, and those with heart or lung disease or a weakened immune system are at greater risk of developing severe side effects. But Rubin says it’s possible for anyone, regardless of their health status, to have respiratory effects from fire smoke exposure.
“Any level of air pollution, including 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 existing health conditions, your proximity to the fire, and the duration of exposure. “A good rule of thumb is that more exposure is worse,” she says.
The composition of a forest fire can also affect human health. As fires in California engulf homes and businesses, smoke in the region likely carries chemicals released from synthetic building materials that are more toxic than those emitted by burning vegetation.
People in Los Angeles County and elsewhere in the US can check airnow.gov to learn more about the current air quality in your area. Because air quality can change quickly throughout the day, you should monitor readings regularly if a fire is burning in your area and try to limit your exposure to outdoor air when quality is poor. The Watch Duty The app is a good resource to check if there is a fire near your place.
How to protect yourself and others
“The lungs clean the air we breathe and send it to the heart, and 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. Diego. Jamil helped develop a guide for the American Thoracic Society on how to stay healthy during wildfires.
She says if someone is short of breath, wheezing, or has an increased rate of breathing due to smoke inhalation, it makes the heart beat faster and can worsen pre-existing heart problems. Even healthy people can experience chest pain and difficulty breathing due to smoke inhalation.