The lasting effects of wildfire smoke is a major issue, especially for at risk people, how can we protect ourselves?

The air is a mixture of fog, and smoke, summer is typically the foggy season in San Francisco Bay which leads to a disappointing fireworks display on July 4th. Moving further inland east past the Coast Range, and over the long stretch of the Diablo Mountains, the smoke from the wildfires is blown South covering the Valley west of the Sierra's.

This is a photo of the air quality in Montana during one of
the many wildfires that took place over the past two years.

Joined with the foggy season is now the "Wildfire season", during the past two summers the smoke has been especially bad. I have to add a comment however that the people in the direct line of the fires still are suffering immensely, my intent is not to take away from that although this blog addresses them as well. The season has been beginning shortly after the rainy season ends, normally late May or early June lasting until the rain begins again in late October to Early November. The smoke spreads throughout the western U.S. and has reported as far east as New York City. Carried by the jet stream almost 1/2 of the country experiences the smoke-filled air.

Carried in the smoke is a mix of microscopic particles, liquid droplets, and gases on its journey caught in the jet stream. Burning trees, grasses, structures, and forest litter smoke is all combined together making the mixture complicated. When combined with burning vehicles, factory's, and retail shops the concoction is even more complicated. The ingredients making up the smoke vary depending upon what is burning, and how it is burning, smolders are different than a full-on blaze ripping through the wooded areas. Wildfire smoke is carbon monoxide, flammable organic carbon, and alkaline ash, black carbon, and carbon particles some of which are cancer-causing. What may be the effects of breathing it for long periods of time each year for an extended time?

We don't know what is in the smoke of a wildfire.

Smoke is diluted as it gains distance from the source, the organic materials, gases, and droplets either dissipate or fall to the earth. All smoke eventually lands on the ground, the further from the fire the less there is to drop. The longer the exposure to the smoke creates a higher likely hood of developing a smoke-related illness. Short-term exposure may lead to heart problems, the smoke has a tendency to accelerate plaque buildup in arteries and blood vessels. Those with heart disease and respiratory illnesses have a heightened risk with the chances of health impacts increasing with extended exposure. It threatens those far downwind with no way of telling how far from the source is safe. When the rainy season begins the sky will be cleansed of it taking days or weeks to be completely eliminated. During this process, the smoke continues traveling many miles away, sometimes as far as coast to coast.

Huge cities like Bejing and Mumbai have air pollution issues, how does the situation in the Western States compare to those cities? One difference is in California, for example, it covers a relatively small area shifting wind patterns, heavy dew, and cool weather affects the amount of smoke being sent into the air. In locations such as Bejing, the entire city, and surrounding areas are covered for days, weeks, and months. Everyone has to put up with it in those cities, for us it is a situation of living in an environment much like a developing country with no air pollution standards, laws, or controls. What if anything can we do to protect ourselves?

When the smoke reaches this level, go home and stay there. 

Some areas may become affected by the smoke with no advance warnings, it depends on the movement of the winds and atmospheric conditions making preparation difficult. Who would suspect the wildfires in Oregon and Montana would combine with the smoke in Colorado and California to be sent on its windblown journey out over the Pacific Ocean and back across California sending it east. We have been getting a double dose for the past two months, a high-pressure area off the Golden Gate causes the re-circulation. The air was clear yesterday, today our visibility is 5 miles. 

We can protect ourselves in several ways.

* Go away from the smoke, stay with relatives or friends living far away is a good choice for at-risk people, I have been considering this lately.

* Close up the house as tightly as possible, sealing leaking windows, doors, and vents with duct tape will keep the smoke outside. Keep in mind the particulate matter smaller than 10 microns can pass through walls. Most houses leak air so this is not a foolproof remedy.

* Purchase a HEPA filter, generally they are too small to purify an entire home they are suitable for a single room when sealed off. Operating them in the occupied rooms during the day then moving it to the bedroom at night as they are fairly expensive.

* Clean air products do nothing to remove the pollution from the air, in fact, some can make the situation worse by releasing Ozone into the home.

*  An  N95-certified dust mask is relatively effective, although not 100% successful at removing all of the particulates they will remove a reasonable amount making the air safer. A better bet is to purchase either a "full face" or "half face" respirator (commonly called a gas mask) when used with the proper filters and fit they are efficient at removing the small particles. The cheap dust masks are useless, we can skimp on many things but when it comes to safety equipment purchase the best that is affordable.

A cheap mask is upper left, an N95 mask is upper right and 
a half face mask is on the bottom center.

We have good knowledge of the pollution wildfires create, and the fires themselves, but as far as how different health issues arise is a different story. Where we lack in our understanding is who is most susceptible, we know for those with chronic conditions are. But how about those that are at risk who display no advanced symptoms? Laboratory studies have given some answers to researchers about what happens in the human body, however, that is a controlled environment. Exposures in a laboratory sometimes are very different from what occurs in a wildfire situation. As the fires increase in size, intensity, and occurrence throughout the world more research needs to be done to determine how long-term exposure affects people impacted by the fires.

Thanks for reading and sharing my blog, no matter where we live the potential of a wildfire starting, or to be affected by the smoke is a genuine danger and must be recognized as such. Keeping a supply of N95 dust mask and water on hand will go a long way in assuring our survival. Thanks again.

jacquesandkate  EmergencyKitsPlus.com