Just weeks after Canadian wildfires shrouded the northeastern United States in thick smoke, the ongoing blazes are sending more air through the Midwest that the Environmental Protection Agency considers unhealthy.
Detroit and Cleveland are currently experiencing air considered “very unhealthy,” with Air Quality Index (AQI) readings over 200.
Exposure to wildfire smoke can be harmful to human health, causing symptoms ranging from eye and respiratory irritation to asthma attacks and heart failure, the EPA said.
For millions of Americans in the eastern half of the United States, current air quality conditions represent the first exposure to severe wildfire smoke. Here are the recommendations from public health authorities on how to protect yourself:
Keep an eye on the AQI
AirNow.gov measures the presence of five major pollutants and calculates a scale from 0 to 500. You can even search specifically by your zip code.
Smoke can move quickly depending on wind patterns, so if there is smoke in your area, check a few times a day, especially before planning strenuous outdoor activities. If the air quality is in the red zone, meaning the AQI falls between 150 and 200, the air is considered unhealthy to breathe. For anything higher (purple for 200-300 and maroon for 300-500), everyone is advised to stay indoors.
For people with lung conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and long COVID, limiting themselves to indoor activities even when the sky is labeled orange is considered “unhealthy for sensitive groups.” According to the EPA, children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with heart disease are also at increased risk.
“If it is orange, there is concern that some people, especially those with respiratory conditions, may be affected,” Dr. Brady Scott, a fellow at the American Association for Respiratory Care, told Yahoo News earlier this month. “If you are in the red zone, and especially if we are in the purple or maroon zones, everyone is at risk, even if you are a supposedly healthy person.”
Keep your indoor air clean
During wildfire smoke events, you also need to keep indoor air clean, which means closing windows and, if necessary, using an air filtration system or single-room air purifier. Experts also recommend using an air conditioner that circulates the air inside the home, rather than bringing in air from outside.
“Air purifiers with a HEPA [high efficiency particulate air] filter sucks in the smoke, traps the particles and blows out clean air,” Dr. Raymond Casciari, a pulmonologist at Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, California, told Yahoo Life.
If you can’t get an air purifier right away, the EPA says you can make an air purifier by “attaching a furnace filter to a fan with tape, brackets, or a bungee cord,” although its effectiveness is not guaranteed, as research has shown missing. The agency recommends replacing the filters if they become dirty or smell like smoke.
Mask outside
If you do go outside when the air is considered unhealthy, experts recommend wearing a mask, especially if you’ll be outside for extended periods of time. The same masks that work best at reducing your risk of getting COVID-19 provide the most protection against smoke.
“You want to think about the two F’s: filtration and fit. When it comes to filtration, you want a high-quality mask, whether it’s an N95 or a KF94,” Joseph Allen, associate professor at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, told Health.com. “You want the mask to fit snugly to your face so that all the air you breathe is forced through the filter of the mask.”
A KN95 also provides protection against wildfire smoke, but surgical and cloth masks filter less and do not fit as tightly.
Mental health can also be affected
In the western half of the country, where wildfire smoke is an increasingly common problem due to climate change, many residents have often seen their favorite summer activities interrupted.
“In the West, we have become accustomed to the grim repetition of weeks-long, almost annual periods when wildfire smoke brings outdoor life to a virtual standstill,” California-based Yahoo News Editor-in-Chief David Knowles recently wrote.
If that sounds depressing, it is.
A 2022 study published in the journal BMC Public Health, which looked at those affected by wildfires on the West Coast, found that “45.3% reported feeling anxious because of the smoke, and 21.4% reported feeling depressed feel because of the smoke,” Knowles reported.
So keep an eye on your sanity and keep hope alive: the air patterns that bring smoke to the city can just as easily turn on a dime and take it away.
