Toxic smoke from Canadian wildfires could impact health of millions in the US | 2023-06-07 21:43:56 (Visits: 392 Times) |  | | Tiny particles from the smoke can be inhaled and damage the lungs, experts said.
ByMary Kekatos
June 5, 2023, 4:37 PM
Wildfires across the United States and Canada -- fueled by record heat and dry conditions -- could severely impact the health of millions of people.Smoke from wildfires in several Canadian provinces, including Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia, led to air quality alerts throughout several states in the Midwest, mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Additionally, fires in Michigan and New Jersey have created dense fog and heavy smoke.Inhaling toxic smoke and ash from wildfires could cause damage to the body -- including the lungs and heart -- and even weaken our immune systems, experts said."Wildfire smoke itself is quite a complex mixture and it's made up of fine particles … and a number of other gases, which are toxic, mainly due to the fact that wildfires burn everything so more toxic than household fires because everything has been burned," Dr. Kimberly Humphrey, a climate change and human health fellow at the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told ABC News. Fine particulate matter known as PM2.5, which is 30 times smaller in diameter than a human hair, is of particular concern.Because these particles are too small to be seen with the naked eye, they can easily enter the nose and throat and can travel to the lungs, with some of the smallest particles even circulating in the bloodstream, according to the Environmental Protection Agency."The top offender here is these fine particles," Dr. Vijay Limaye, a climate and health scientist at the National Resources Defense Council, told ABC News. "That size is really important because can penetrate really deeply and wreak havoc on the body."PM2.5 can cause both short-term health effects, even for healthy people, including irritation of the eyes, nose and throat; coughing, sneezing; and shortness of breath and long-term effects such as worsening of conditions such as asthma and heart disease.This is especially concerning for vulnerable groups including children, pregnant people, older adults and those who are immunocompromised or having pre-existing conditions............ |
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