What You Need to Know About Smoke in the Home

When wildfires spread through neighborhoods, they burn all kinds of things found in cars and houses and everything around them – electronics, paint, plastics, furniture.

Research shows that a mixture of drug release when man-made products like these burn they are different from what is released from plant fires and are much more dangerous. Smoke and ash can blow under the doors and around the windows of nearby buildings, bringing chemicals that are absorbed into furniture, walls, and other interior surfaces and continue to emit air for weeks to months.

As people return to smoke-damaged homes after wildfires, they are there several steps they can take to protect their health before cleaning.

High concentrations of metals and VOCs

In 2021, after the Marshall fire swept through areas near Boulder, Colorado, my colleagues and I at Colorado universities and labs heard from many people who were concerned about ash and ash. a lasting smell in their homes which had survived the fire.

In the houses that my friends were able to quickly test, they found elevated metals and PAHs – polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – in ash. We also found elevated VOCs – volatile organic compounds – in the air-conditioned samples. Some VOCs, eg dioxin, benzene, formaldehyde and PAHsit can be toxic to humans. Benzene is a known carcinogen.

At that time, we did not get any information about the health of people who have returned to their damaged homes after the wildfires. So, to analyze the behavior, we respondents affected by fire six months, one year and two years fire.

Even six months after the fire, we found that Many people were reporting symptoms which is related to the health risks associated with smoke and ash.

More than half (55%) reported having at least one symptom six months after the fire they attributed to the Marshall Fire. The most common symptoms reported were itchy or sore eyes (33%), headache (30%), dry cough (27%), sneezing (26%) and sore throat (23%).

All these symptoms, as well as having an unusual taste in the mouth, are associated with people who report that their house smells different when they return to it a week after the fire.

Most respondents to the study reported that the odor decreased over time. Many say that the change in odor is related to the passage of time, cleaning areas and air ducts, changing furnace filters, and removing carpets, rugs and furniture in the home. Despite this, many had symptoms.

We also found that living near more burned buildings was associated with poorer health outcomes. We found that for every 10 damaged buildings within 820 feet (250 meters) of a person’s home, there was a 21% increase in headaches and a 26% increase in having a bad taste in their mouth.

These indicators correspond to what can be expected from the properties that we find in the ash and measure it in the atmosphere within a few. buildings destroyed by smoke that we could study deeply.

Signs and temporary questions

There are still many unanswered questions about the health risks from ash-damaged buildings.

For example, we still don’t know what the long-term health effects will be for people exposed to indoor smoke and ash. We found the essentials population decline describing the symptoms one year after the fire. However, 33% of people whose homes were affected and responded to a later survey still described at least one symptom that they attributed to fire. About the same number reported one symptom two years after the fire.

We were also unable to measure the amount of VOCs or metals that each individual was exposed to. But we think that reports of changes in the smell of a person’s house one week after a fire indicate the presence of VOCs in the house. This can have health consequences for people whose homes are exposed to smoke or ash from wildfires.

Tips for staying safe after a wildfire

Wildfires are they are burning houses and other structures like many people enter it wild-town scene, the temperature rises and extended fire seasons.

If your home survives a nearby wildfire, here are some of them steps to consider before cleaning:

• When you’re ready to clean your home, start protecting yourself. Wear an N95 (or KN95) mask. and gloves, goggles and clothing that covers your skin. Cleaning can also send some of the gases and ash into the atmosphere.
• Keep people with heart or lung disease, the elderly, pregnant women, children and pets away from cleaning.
• Vacuum the floor, drapes and furniture. Recent scientific research documents how to clean the whole place Indoors you can reduce VOC concentrations and reduce indoor VOC emissions. When the outside air is exhausted, open the windows to let in fresh air.
• Avoid harsh chemical cleaners as they can react with chemicals in the ash.
• Clean your HVAC filters and ducts to prevent ash build-up, and replace the filters monthly until the odor is gone. Portable air purifiers with carbon filters can help remove VOCs and particulates.
• If your car smells of smoke, consider replacing the cabin air filter.

This is a change of context first published on Dec. 23, 2024.

Colleen E. ReidAssistant Professor of Geography, University of Colorado Boulder

This article was reprinted from Discussion under a Creative Commons license. Read the book the first story.