Smoked days of forest fires in spring and summer unfortunately become the standard in Western Canada, and the hidden impact that this can have on your health is something that should not be ignored, according to health officials.
Poor air quality is linked to poor results for the health and worsening of certain chronic diseases.
“Things like asthma, cough, headache – we know that over time (exposure to smoke) can increase your risk of things such as respiratory infections. It can also increase your risk of long -term disease such as lung cancer if you have high exposure, “said Jamie Happy, the health promotion coordinator with Alberta Lung.
June 4 is the day of air -specific air in Canada and Happy said at the moment that the awareness they are trying to note is particularly important because the fires have infiltrated the west.
“The quality of the air is important because we all breathe every day, every minute of every day,” said Salina Fairbank, coordinator of the engagement with Alberta Capital Aritshed.
“You take more breaths in a day than everything you do. It’s important for everyone.”
The non -profit organization monitors air quality in the EDMONTON region and the data collected at the continuous surveillance stations of Alberta Capital Airshed is used to help calculate the air quality health index, or AQHI.
The AQHI indicates the level of pollution in a community. A score of 1-3 is at low risk, 4-6 is a moderate risk, 7-10 is a high risk and more than 10 are a very high risk.
“Clean air quality becomes a concern for awareness because we know more seasons of forest fire that increases,” said Happy. “They are longer, they start earlier, they get worse. We notice many more air quality alerts.
“This is to stay and it will be in the minds of people, especially when they can feel it and see it.”
But he does not need to wait for the sky to be dark apocalypse orange and the air is thick with smells of campfire on fire to protect their health – damage can start well before that.
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“Check the air quality and if it’s more than five, six, seven, that’s when you have to be careful. This means that air quality could be bad, even if the sky looks clear,” said Happy.
Certain particles of fires, chemicals and pollution are so small that they cannot be seen, but happy has declared that they could still cause damage and inflammation when they are deeply inhaled in pulmonary tissues.
“They can cause damage by making micro-tesins and causing irritation.”
Health experts have said that very thin particles could be absorbed in the bloodstream And also have impacts on a person’s brain.
Happy said that as soon as the AQHI reaches five or more, people should consider limiting their time outside or wear a N95 mask, and once inside, take measures to get rid of contaminants like changing clothes, washing your face and passing air filters via HEPA or HVAC systems.
Many people with asthma or other chronic conditions – as well as infants, young children, pregnant people and the elderly – feel the effects of smoke and other air pollution at levels lower than those of very healthy people.
Children are particularly sensitive because of their biology, said Happy – both in the long term.
“They have a smaller respiratory system. They breathe faster than us. So their concentration of pollution is actually higher than that of an adult and over time, this can affect their development,” said Happy.
“Their pulmonary structure could develop more slowly. They could be struck by more asthma, respiratory infections, which affects their global development. ”
In addition to asthma, research has shown that forest fire smoke is associated with hospital visits to children and adults with other pulmonary conditions, such as viral infections, pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (MPOC), as well as heart attacks and traits.
“This affects young people, the elderly, as well as people with pulmonary diseases, heart disease. Whoever with a lowered immune system tends to be considered a higher risk. It would be those we would like to watch the alert a little earlier,” said Happy.
Some of the first signs that someone can react to smoke particles includes:
- Itchy eyes
- Sore throat
- Cough
- Nasal congestion
- Cluttered nose
- Headache
While forest fires are naturally part of the ecosystem of the boreal forest, an increasing number of studies have documented how climate change, driven by the combustion of fossil fuel, makes them more important and more intense – and contributes more to air pollution.
The fires produce a finer pollution of the particles, known as PM2.5, and it is a particularly harmful component of the forest smoke. It is tiny enough to deeply penetrate into the lungs and in the long term, can have serious health effects. PM 2.5 comes from a wide range of sources, including power plants and vehicles.
Canadians can follow the forest smoke concentration by particulate size using Environment and climate change map of Canada Fire Works.
A 2024 The study estimated that the number of deaths linked to the smoke of forest fires linked to climate change has shown in Since the 1960s.
The study estimates, using mathematical modeling, according to which around 12,566 annual deaths related to smoke smoke in the 2010s were linked to climate change, against around 669 in the 1960s, while carbon dioxide much less was concentrated in the atmosphere.
Translated by a proportion of the mortality of the global forest smoke, the study estimates that around 13% of excessive deaths estimated in the 2010s were linked to climate change, against around 1.2% in the 1960s.
Last year, Environment Canada has changed its air quality health index with color code To improve how health risks linked to air quality are communicated and understood by the public. The change was caused by a “record number” of AQHI 10+ scores during the 2023 forest fire season.
Forest fires reversing buildings and force thousands of people from their home in western western Canada also create smoke risks in the United States.
Natalie Hasell of Environment Canada said Wednesday that the forest smoke from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba traveled to Texas in the United States.
Hassell said that forest fire smoke in Ontario and Quebec may also have derived south to Michigan and the East Coast.
Environment Canada has issued bulletins warning poor air quality in parts of Alberta, northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where forest fires have forced more than 30,000 people from their home.
– with Canadian press files and Emily Mertz
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