![]() Wildfires spread many other harmful emissions, including nitrogen oxides and many hazardous air pollutants. Inhaling CO reduces oxygen delivery to the body's organs and tissues and can lead to headaches, nausea, dizziness and, in high concentrations, premature death. ![]() Studies of children in California found that children who breathed the smoky air during wildfires had more coughing, wheezing, bronchitis, colds, and were more likely to have to go to the doctor or to the hospital for respiratory causes, especially from asthma.Īnother threat from forest fire smoke is carbon monoxide(CO)-a colorless, odorless gas most common during the smoldering stages of a fire and in close proximity to the fire. Particle pollution triggers asthma attacks, heart attacks and strokes-and can kill. These particles are so small that they enter and lodge deep in the lungs. How tiny? Many of the particles in wildfire smoke are no larger than one third the diameter of your hair. One of the many pollutants found in wildfire smoke is particle pollution, which is a mix of very tiny solid and liquid particles suspended in air. Even if you don't live near wooded areas, you can learn more on how to protect yourself from wildfire smoke. ![]() Wildfire smoke can be extremely harmful to the lungs, especially for children, older adults and those with asthma, COPD and bronchitis or a chronic heart disease or diabetes. See this dramatic photo from NASA showing the smoke from that Canadian fire on June 29. In fact, in one fire alone, wildfire pollutants reached people in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa from flames in northern Canada. Not only were people forced to flee their homes, but smoke from fires in the north and west also threaten the lung health of Americans thousands of miles away. In recent years, wildfires have made headlines as they blazed across the west, Alaska and Canada, burning more than 9.8 million acres just last year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
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