like a series Although massive fires continue to rage through 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.
Wildfire smoke is a mixture of water vapor, 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, 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 in the world. US Air Quality Index.
“Wildfire smoke is a risk to everyone, especially when the particles released are in large quantities over long periods of time, like what’s happening in California right now,” says Zachary Rubin, a Chicago-area pediatrician and spokesperson. from 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 itchy eyes, runny nose, itchy throat, and headache, to severe respiratory problems, including difficulty breathing, wheezing, cough, fatigue, and chest pain. Symptoms can take from a few hours to days after exposure to appear. In more severe cases, the risk of premature death increases.
Children, older adults, pregnant people, and people with heart or lung disease or weakened immune systems are at higher risk of developing serious side effects. But Rubin says it’s possible for anyone, regardless of their health, to have respiratory effects from exposure to wildfire smoke.
“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 you are depends on many factors, including your current health, your proximity to the fire, and the duration of exposure. “A good rule of thumb is that more exposure is worse,” he says.
The composition of a wildfire can also have an impact on human health. With California fires engulfing homes and businesses, smoke in the region is likely to contain chemicals released by 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 out airnow.gov to learn more about the current air quality in your area. Because air quality can change rapidly throughout the day, you should monitor readings regularly if there is a fire in your area and try to limit your exposure to outside air when quality is poor. He Duty of vigilance The app 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 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 Francisco. 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 elevated respiratory rate from inhaling smoke, that causes the heart to beat faster and can exacerbate pre-existing heart problems. Even healthy people can experience chest pain and difficulty breathing due to smoke inhalation.