Every summer the forested lands of the western United States, and in other countries as well, burst into flames as humans make errors handling fire or lightning storms ignite trees from the sky. Fed by dry wood and brush and stoked by winds these fires can burn thousands of acres in a few days. As they burn they pour smoke and gasses into the air faster than one can imagine.
Wildfire smoke and the gasses and particulates it contains can be disastrous to your health depending upon how it is concentrated around you.
First to be affected are those with heart and lung issues including congestive heart failure, angina, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (including emphysema), or asthma.
Next are older people who have a tendency to develop health issues that are exacerbated by smoke.
Third are kids whose airways are still developing. They also breathe more air per pound of body weight than adults. On top of that, children often spend more time outdoors in the smoke.
Finally, the rest of us. Besides irritating eyes and lungs, smoke can lead to serious illnesses. I developed pleurisy after fighting a wildfire in the Marble Mountain Wilderness of northern California many years ago. The combination of smoke and the dust of firefighting led to the painful lung infection and a couple of days in the hospital.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offer the following suggestions:
Between 1989 and 1997, the National Wildfire Coordinating Group studied the health hazards of smoke at wildfires in the Western United States. The study included smoke characterization, employee exposure, health effects, risk analysis, and an evaluation of respiratory devices. Firefighters were fitted with systems to collect breathing zone samples, and data were collected on the three primary hazards of wildfire smoke: respirable particulate matter, aldehydes (formaldehyde and acrolein), and carbon monoxide (CO). The study indicated that less than 5 percent of firefighters were exposed to concentrations that exceeded limits established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
A conference was held in 1997 to review the results of the study and provide recommendations. Participants included scientists and researchers, fire management officers from a wide range of Federal and State agencies, and personnel from regulatory agencies such as OSHA and NIOSH. The participants ultimately concluded that toxic emissions were present in smoke, but the incidence of exposures in excess of OSHA exposure limits was relatively low, and the documented health effects were moderate and often reversible. As such, they recommended that respiratory protection not be required and instead recommended changes to tactics and strategies to further minimize firefighter exposures.
An alternative that does work is self contained breathing apparatus – breathing from a tank of air. The problem is that a tank may only last a couple of hours. These are used successfully by urban firefighters, but they are not practical for wild land firefighters or others who are exposed to smoke for lengthy durations.
For more see Respirator Usage by Wildland Firefighters.
Pay attention to the smoke situation around you and take the steps necessary to get away from it and protect your health.
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