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

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

Fire smoke a Mixture of water vapor, gas 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, pose the greatest threat 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 alert. US Air Quality Index.

“Smoke from wildfires is dangerous for everyone, especially when the particulate matter emitted is high over a long period of time, like what’s happening right now in California,” said Zachary Rubin, a Chicago-area pediatrician and spokesman for the American College of Pediatrics. Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology.

When fine particles are inhaled, they can cause inflammation in the body. Symptoms can be mild, such as burning or itchy eyes, runny nose, itchy throat, and severe respiratory problems including headache, shortness of breath, coughing, fatigue, and chest pain. Symptoms may take a few hours to a few days to appear. In the most severe cases, it increases the risk of premature death.

Children, older adults, pregnant people, and those with heart or lung conditions or a weakened immune system are at higher risk of serious side effects. But Rubin says it’s possible for anyone, regardless of their health status, to have respiratory effects from wildfire smoke exposure.

“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 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.

Combustion of wildfires can also affect human health. As California wildfires engulf homes and businesses, smoke from the region is likely carrying chemicals released from artificial building materials that are more toxic than those released from burning vegetation.

People can test in Los Angeles County and elsewhere in the United States airnow.gov To learn more about the current air quality in their area. Because air quality can change rapidly during the day, you should monitor readings regularly if there are fires in your area, and try to limit your exposure to outdoor air if the quality worsens. D Watch duty The app is a good resource for checking if fires are burning near where you are.

How to protect yourself and others

“The lungs purify the air we breathe and send it to the heart, and the heart pumps it out to the rest of the body,” said Shazia Jamil, professor of medicine at Scripps Clinic and the University of California, San Francisco. diego Jamil assisted in development Guide How to Stay Healthy During a Wildfire for the American Thoracic Society.

If someone has shortness of breath, shortness of breath or an increased breathing rate from smoke inhalation, the heart beats faster and can exacerbate pre-existing heart problems, he says. Even healthy people can experience chest pain and shortness of breath from inhaling smoke.