LA Times: PHI’s Kelsey Lamb on the Health Impacts of Wildfire Smoke

“It visibly lingers in the air, during and after a wildfire: a thick blanket of smoke and soot coupled with ash coating parked cars.

Santa Ana winds can spread these clouds of unhealthy air pollution from active firezones and burn scars to different parts of the region.

Experts caution that everyone should take precautions against unhealthy air, not justthose with pre-existing conditions.

Your next assignment is to learn about the health impacts of these plumes of unhealthysmoke and how you can care for yourself and others.

What are the health impacts of wildfire smoke?

Wildfire smoke has toxic materials within it such as lead, asbestos and arsenic.

This can be extremely harmful to the lungs of at-risk people, including children whose lungs are still developing, pregnant women, older adults and those with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or diabetes, according to the American Lung Assn.

Exposure to air pollution such as wildfire smoke can also lead to the onset of asthma in otherwise healthy people, Lamb said.

What’s elevating the health risk are the toxic chemicals from plastics, paint from the house and furniture that also pollute the air after fires destroy buildings, homes and cars, said Anthony Wexler, director of the Air Quality Research Center at UC Davis.

Researchers are still working to understand the relative toxicity of these specific chemical pollutants during a fire event.

In the face of uncertainty, he said, “people should protect themselves as much as they can.”

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Originally published by LA Times