As a series of large fires continues to rage through the Los Angeles, California, area of the United States, covering neighborhoods in smoke and forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes, air quality remains unhealthy in many parts of the county.
Smoke from forest fires is a mixture of vapore of water, gases and microscopic particles known as particulate matter. The smallest of these particles, known as PM2.5 because they are less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, are the most dangerous to human health. They can lodge deep in the lungs and sometimes enter the bloodstream. Earlier this week, PM2.5 around Los Angeles reached “hazardous” levels, the highest warning in the world. United States Air Quality Index.
Harmful for everyone
“Wildfire smoke is dangerous to everyone, especially when the particles are released in large quantities and for long periods of time, as is happening now in California,” explains Zachary Rubin, a pediatric allergist in the Chicago area and spokesperson for the American College of Allergology, Asthma and Immunology.
Inhaling fine particles can trigger inflammation in the body. Symptoms can range from mild, such as burning or itchy eyes, runny nose, itchy throat, and headache, to severe respiratory problems, such as difficulty breathing, wheezing, cough, fatigue, and chest pain. Symptoms can take anywhere from a few hours to days after exposure to appear. In more severe cases, the risk of premature death increases.
Children, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with heart or lung conditions or a weakened immune system are at higher risk of developing serious 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 that from wildfires, can be dangerous to health,” says Laura Corlin, an environmental epidemiologist at Tufts University School of Medicine. The degree of danger depends on many factors, such as health status, proximity to the fire and duration of exposure: “A good rule of thumb is that the more exposure, the worse,” he says.
The composition of a forest fire can also affect human health. With California fires ravaging homes and businesses, the region’s smoke likely contains chemicals released by synthetic building materials that are more toxic than those emitted by burning vegetation.
Residents of Los Angeles County and the rest of the United States can consult airnow.gov for more information about air quality in your area. Because air quality can change rapidly throughout the day, you should monitor readings regularly if a fire is burning in your area, and try to limit your exposure to outside air when quality is poor. The application Watch Duty is a good resource to check if there are fires near where you are.
How to protect yourself and others
“The lungs purify the air we inhale and send it to the heart, which pumps it to the rest of the body,” explains Shazia Jamil, a pulmonologist and professor of medicine at the Scripps Clinic and the University of California, San Diego. Jamil helped create a guide for the American Thoracic Society on how to stay healthy during wildfires.
He says that if someone is short of breath, wheezing, or has a high respiratory rate from inhaling smoke, the heart beats faster and pre-existing heart problems can be aggravated. Even healthy people can suffer chest pain and shortness of breath from smoke inhalation.
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