How Wildfire Smoke Affects Your Health—And How to Protect Yourself

Like a list Large fires continue to burn in the Los Angeles area, with smoke filling the area and forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes, leaving the air unhealthy in many parts of the region.

Fire smoke is a a mixture of water vapor, air, and particles known as particles. The smallest of these particles are called PM2.5 because they are less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, so they pose a serious threat to human health. They can get inside the lungs and sometimes get into the bloodstream. Earlier this week, PM2.5 around Los Angeles rose to “hazardous” levels, the highest level of medical alert. US Air Quality Index.

“Smoke is dangerous for everyone, especially if the particles are released over a long period of time, as is happening in California right now,” said Zachary Rubin, a pediatrician in Chicago and a spokesman for the American College. of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology.

When these particles are inhaled, they can cause inflammation in the body. Symptoms can range from mild, such as burning or itching in the eyes, runny nose, sore throat, headache, to difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, coughing, fatigue, and chest pain. It can take anywhere from a few hours to days after symptoms appear. In severe cases, it increases the risk of premature death.

Children, the elderly, pregnant women, and those with heart or lung disease or a weakened immune system are at higher risk of developing other complications. But Rubin says it’s possible for anyone, regardless of their health, to experience respiratory effects from exposure to smoke.

Laura Corlin, an environmental epidemiologist at Tufts University School of Medicine says: “Any level of air pollution, including wildfires, can be dangerous to your health. The risk depends on many factors, including your health, how close you are to the fire, and how long it is lit. “A good rule of thumb is that more exposure is worse,” he says.

The creation of wildfires can also affect human health. As the California wildfires have destroyed homes and businesses, smoke in the region may be carrying chemicals produced from construction materials that are more toxic than those released from burning vegetation.

People in Los Angeles County and elsewhere in the US can check it out airnow.gov to find out more about the current air quality in their area. Since the air can change quickly during the day, you should always monitor the readings if there are fires burning in your area, and try to reduce your exposure to outdoor air when the conditions are bad. The Watch Duty app is a great tool to see if there is a fire near where you are.

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 the Scripps Clinic and the University of California, San. Diego. Jamil helped create a the director of the American Thoracic Society on how to stay healthy during a fire.

It is said that if someone is having shortness of breath, shortness of breath, or heavy breathing due to smoke inhalation, this can cause the heart to beat faster and can worsen pre-existing heart problems. Even healthy people can experience chest pain and shortness of breath from inhaling smoke.