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As a series As massive wildfires continue to burn through the Los Angeles area, blanketing neighborhoods with smoke and forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes, air quality remains unhealthy in many parts of the county.
The smoke of the fire 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 have a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers, 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 “dangerous” levels, the highest warning of the United States Air Quality Index.
“Wildfire smoke is dangerous for everyone, especially when the particulate matter that’s released is in large amounts over long periods of time, like what’s happening in California right now,” says Zachary Rubin, a Chicago pediatrician and spokesman for the ‘American College. of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
When fine particulate matter is inhaled, it can trigger inflammation in the body. Symptoms can range from mild, such as burning or itchy eyes, runny nose, scratchy throat and headache, to severe respiratory problems, including difficulty breathing, wheezing, coughing, fatigue and chest pain. . It can take anywhere from a few hours to days after exposure for symptoms to appear. In the most serious cases, it increases the risk of premature death.
Children, older adults, pregnant individuals, and those with heart or lung conditions or weakened immune systems are at greater risk of developing severe side effects. But Rubin says it’s possible for anyone, regardless of their health status, to have respiratory effects from exposure to wildfire smoke.
“Any level of air pollution, including from fires, can be dangerous to your health,” says Laura Corlin, an environmental epidemiologist at Tufts University School of Medicine. How dangerous it is depends on many factors, including your existing health status, your proximity to the fire, and the length of exposure. “A good rule of thumb is that more exposure is worse,” he says.
The composition of a fire can also have an impact on human health. With California wildfires engulfing homes and businesses, smoke in the region is likely carrying chemicals released from synthetic building materials that are more toxic than those emitted by burning vegetation.
People in Los Angeles County and elsewhere in the United States can check airnow.gov to learn more about the current air quality in their area. Since air quality can change quickly during the day, you should monitor the readings regularly if there is a fire burning in your area, and try to limit your exposure to outdoor air when the quality is poor. U Watch Duty The app is a good resource to check if there are fires burning 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 develop a guide for the American Thoracic Society on how to stay healthy during fires.
She says that if there is a lack of breathing, wheezing, or has a high respiratory rate from smoke inhalation, which makes the heart beat faster and can worsen pre-existing heart problems. Even healthy people can experience chest pain and shortness of breath due to smoke inhalation.
