By Gordon Williams
You’re familiar with the adage, “Where there’s smoke
there’s fire.” But did you know that by reversing that to “where there’s fire there’s smoke”, you can help safeguard your long-term health? Read on…
The wildfire season is off to a fast and furious start in Washington state, driven by record heat and tenacious drought. The situation is serious enough that much of the state entered the July 4th weekend under a burn ban. So, the risk of wildfires is high, and one constant is that — wildfires generate smoke.
And wildfire smoke, it turns out, is more hazardous to human health than previously thought.
The warning comes from Dr. Mary Prunicki, director of air pollution and health research at Stanford University’s Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research. Prunicki studied blood samples from individuals exposed to wildfires. What these studies show is the buildup in humans exposed to wildfire smoke of something nasty called PM2.5.
“The PM means it is particulate matter,” Prunicki says. “The 2.5 means each particle is no bigger than 2.5 microns.” One micron is equal to one-thousandth of a millimeter. It would take 100 microns to equal the width of a human hair.
Obviously, you don’t want blobs of any kind circulating
through your body even if they are barely visible to the naked eye. It is because they are so tiny that PM2.5 particles are so dangerous. They enter your body when you inhale, are drawn down to the base of your lungs and pass into the bloodstream. “Your blood then carries the particles throughout your system —to your heart and kidneys and elsewhere — doing damage wherever they go,” Prunicki says.
While wildfire smoke isn’t the only hazard in the air we
breathe, it is winning more attention from researchers because wildfires have become more frequent and more destructive — and because wildfire smoke seems to do even more harm than other forms of pollution.
“The more PM2.5 you are exposed to, the greater the danger to your health,” Prunicki says. Since 80 percent of wildfire smoke is PM2.5, you guard your health by inhaling as little wildfire smoke as possible.
Even before wildfires become a serious threat where you live, talk to your health care provider about managing conditions such as asthma, COPD, and heart disease. All of them can put you at special risk from wildfire smoke. Children can be at high risk, because their systems are still developing. Seniors can be at risk because they often have multiple underlying medical conditions.
Learn about the signs that you are in trouble from inhaled smoke. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) warns of shortness of breath, a cough that won’t stop, or difficulty in breathing. If you have heart disease, be alert to shortness of breath, chest pain, palpitations, or feelings of extreme fatigue.
If you have such symptoms, the CDC suggests evacuating to a safer place. If the symptoms get worse, call 9-1-1 or go directly to an emergency room.
Here is what the CDC suggests doing if the air around your home turns smoky:
Finally, be aware of smoky conditions before visiting a locale, and don’t return home from a shelter until the smoke is mostly gone from where you live.
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