Wildfire smoke is like smoking ‘half a pack a day.’ Here’s how to protect yourself

Your Health

Wildfire smoke is like smoking ‘half a pack a day.’ Here’s how to protect yourself

<a href="https://healthylife7.com/diet-session-end-pushed-off-to-july-25/” title=”Diet Session End Pushed Off to July 25″>July 17, 202611:24 AM ET

Alejandra Borunda

, 

Julia Simon

People wear masks in Chicago on Thursday to protect themselves from smoke from Canadian wildfires. City officials are encouraging people to remain inside as data shows Chicago having some of the worst air quality of any large city in the world.
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A version of this story was originally published on Jan. 8, 2025.It has been updated to reflect the wildfires currently bringing smoke to the U.S

Smoke from wildfires in Canada and Minnesota prompted more air quality alerts Friday in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic U.S., as well as in the Upper Midwest

Michigan saw a statewide air quality advisory on Wednesday, and Minnesota’s air qualityreached the hazardous “purple” alert level. The wildfire smoke is setting records in Wisconsin and turning skies orange in Vermont. And after a brief respite Friday morning, New York City will see more smoke

Climate

Farmworkers feed the country, but who protects them from wildfire smoke?

Exposure to wildfire smoke is a growing health problem across the country, as human-caused climate change increases the risk and intensity of wildfires and the smoke that can drift thousands of miles downwind from them

Here’s what you need to know about the health risks — and how to protect yourself

The health risks of breathing wildfire smoke

May-Lin Wilgus, a pulmonologist and professor at UCLA, compares breathing wildfire smoke to smoking cigarettes — a lot of cigarettes

Scientists track air quality with the air quality index, or AQI, which incorporates different pollutionink there’s a “safe” AQI level because the measurement doesn’t capture many harmful pollutants, but under 50 is often considered acceptable. Higher numbers indicate more health-damaging pollution in the air

On Friday morning, the AQI in Detroit was 435 — the worst for any major city in the world. On a smoky day, when AQI levels reach 100 to 200, “the exposure to the fine particulate matter, the air pollution, is similar to smoking a quarter to half a pack a day,” Wilgus says

That exposure takes a toll on a healthy person. But it is particularly harmful for those with preexisting health issues, Wilgus adds. Emergency room visits for respiratory issues like asthma and COPD increase dramatically during wildfire smoke events, as much as doubling in somecases. During the Canadian wildfires in 2023, when smoke wafted across much of the U.S., emergency room visits for asthma increased by nearly 20%

Smoke exposure can also worsen other medical conditions. Emergency departments see more cardiovascular related visits after smoky days. And a growing body of research suggests smoke exposure is linked to long-term impacts such as a higher risk of developing dementia

Overall, air quality has improved in the U.S. over the past 20 years, says Tarik Benmarhnia, a climate and health scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. But wildfire smoke is erasing many of those gains

“Just maybe like 10 years ago, wildfire was an exceptional issue. It was something that happens once in a lifetime for most people,” he says

But climate change has increased the chance of wildfires across many parts of the country and the intensity of many of the burns themselves and the smoke they produce

“This is unfortunately not the first one and not the last one the people in Los Angeles are going to be experiencing,” Benmarhnia says

Wondering what AQI is safe and what activities are safe at different AQIs? Life Kit explains

The dangers of breathing wildfire smoke 

Wildfires burn at extremely high temperatures, which makes their ash more toxic than other pollution, such as car exhaust. But in many cases, including during these ongoing fires,it’s not just trees and organic matter that burn. Homes, cars and other materials go up in flames, too, adding potentially harmful particles to the pollution load

“It’s just a toxic soup,” says Lisa Miller, a wildfire smoke expert at the University of California, Davis. “Think of all the synthetic fibers that are present in your living room — in your couch, in your carpet, in your clothes. All those things can be particularly toxic” if they go up in smoke, she says

Higher risks for some people

Wildfire smoke is hazardous for everyone, but it’s especially dangerous for some people, including children and older adults, pregnant people and anyone with preexisting health problems

First responders and firefighters are exposed to the worst of the smoke. A 2019 study found that heavy, repeated smoke exposure among wildland firefighters is linked with higher risks of lung cancer and cardiovascular disease

Children can be especially vulnerable, doctors say, because they breathe in more air — and therefore more smoke — relative to their body size

Pregnant people should also take care, says Miller. There’s growing evidence that wildfire smoke exposure is linked with higher chancesof preterm birth andlower birth weights, an outcome sometimes linked with health issues later in life

Older people and those with preexisting health problems like heart issues are also at higher risk

The Shots Blog breaks down advice for how to protect people who are more at risk from wildfire smoke

How to protect yourself from wildfire smoke 

“If you can smell smoke, those are times to limit your exposure as much as possible,” says Wilgus. She says the best way to protect yourself is to leave the area and get outside the range of the wildfire smoke, if possible

Life Kit

How to protect yourself from poor air quality

If that’s not an option, she suggests staying indoors with the windows tightly shut. Limit your physical activity. Run an air filter if you have one

If you have to go outside, consider wearing an N95 mask, which effectively blocks most tiny particles from getting into your lungs if worn correctly

No level of exposure to wildfire smoke is completely safe, says Miller. But toxicologists have a saying, she says: “The dose makes the poison. It’s about how much, and how long, you’re exposed.”

That means everything you can do to limit the dose, she says, helps protect you

For more tips, check out Life Kit’s guide