What are the health risks from exposure to wildfire smoke?

Much is still unknown about the health effects of wildfire smoke. But Jeffrey Brooke, associate professor of occupational and environmental health at the University of Toronto, Dalara, said most adults and children without pre-existing conditions recover quickly from the effects of short-term exposure to smoke passing through the eastern United States. said it was likely to. Rana School of Public Health.

The smoke people encountered this week is one of many pollutant exposures our bodies will take in over time, he said. In the days of wildfire smoke, it would be unlikely that in the future we would be able to identify a health problem and definitively pinpoint its cause.

“This short duration of exposure should not have significant long-term effects on the general population,” said Dr. Panagis Galisasatos, a physician in respiratory and critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins University. . But Mary Purnicki, Director of Air Pollution and Health Research at the Sean N. Parker Center for Asthma and Allergy Studies at Stanford University School of Medicine, has data on how to assess the health effects of a “single, large smoke puff.” said to be limited.

“What about people who don’t seem to have any symptoms from this short-term exposure? There is probably a change in blood flow, but it may be temporary.” I don’t understand,” she said. “If there were no acute serious effects from smoke, there would probably be no long-term effects. But studies have not really shown that in either case.”

In general, it is difficult to determine the long-term effects of wildfire smoke. It is difficult to determine what effects smoke exposure will have. cognitive ability “Maybe in a few years or some other impact,” said Laura Colin, an assistant professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. Nor do we know the exact threshold for how much exposure can cause long-term effects, said Raj, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine who studies health effects. Dr. Fadadu said. wildfire smoke.

What we do know is that even a few minutes of exposure to wildfire smoke can cause inflammation in the body, Dr. Brooke said. Inflammation can lead to a range of health effects. The longer the symptoms last, the higher the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Days or weeks of increased inflammation are likely not enough to cause detectable health problems in the future, he said. “But inflammation is inflammation, and that’s bad.”

We also know that wildfire smoke especially dangerous For people with underlying lung or heart disease. Smoking can make symptoms of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease worse. Infants, children, the elderly and pregnant women may be at risk of serious health effects. Smoke also poses significant risks, including: fetus. In healthy people without pre-existing medical conditions, even brief exposure to wildfire smoke can cause stinging eyes, sinus irritation, wheezing, shortness of breath, headacheitchy skin and cough.

Emily Pennington, M.D., a pulmonologist at the Cleveland Clinic, says wear a tight-fitting mask like an N95 if you’re going out and take extra care of yourself for the next hour or so. Watch out for symptoms such as a hard cough or a hard cough. Tightness in the chest. Seek medical attention if you have trouble breathing or chest pain. Please continue to monitor your health over the next few days and make sure you are staying hydrated and getting enough sleep. Doing so may make you feel better, Dr. Colin advised.and take any precautions Minimize your exposure levels. That means staying indoors as much as possible.