For those with pre-existing conditions, cardiovascular diseases can be exacerbated after inhalation exposure to this smoke. That could mean symptoms such as elevated blood pressure and chest pain.
The post California wildfires will hurt your lungs as toxic burnt building pollution drifts appeared first on Green Prophet.
“The problem is bigger than just the smoke weâre inhaling.â
WVU toxicologist Timothy Nurkiewicz said the January fires burning in the Los Angeles area will create air pollution that can reach hundreds of miles in distance.
As the deadly California fires persisted into a second week, a West Virginia University air quality expert said people within hundreds of miles may experience the effects.
Timothy Nurkiewicz, professor of the physiology, pharmacology and toxicology in the WVU School of Medicine, said he also believes that â beyond any immediate health concerns â a swift, thorough cleanup must occur to prevent lingering effects in the environment.
âThe folks within a 10-mile radius are in the greatest peril. With extremely high air pollution resulting from the fires, even a healthy person may have irritation of the eyes and complications breathing. What weâre seeing in hospitals are people with asthmatic events and bronchitis.
Timothy Nurkiewicz, professor, Department of Physiology, Pharmacology and Toxicology, WVU School of Medicine
“For those with pre-existing conditions, cardiovascular diseases can be exacerbated after inhalation exposure to this smoke. That could mean symptoms such as elevated blood pressure and chest pain.
âWhat weâre seeing in Los Angeles is called a âwildland urban interface fire.â This is different from a typical wildfire. In a wildland urban interface fire, you have housing and urban environments built up against and in the wildlands.
“Now weâre getting two different profiles of toxicants â one from the wildlands and one from the urban environment and its building materials. The frequency and intensity of these fires will continue to increase with ongoing development and building into the wildlands.
Nurkiewicz directs the Center for Inhalation Toxicology, a research hub for investigators to measure, identify and discover how air particles affect human health.
âItâs fair to estimate that the smoke will travel hundreds of miles away. But the smoke will be diluted down by the time it reaches mid-America,” he warns.
How can authorities and people help slow the damage?
âWhile everyoneâs focused on the immediate effects, as they should be, there must be cleanup after the fire, says Nurkiewicz. “A smoke plume is going to cover a tremendous area and that smoke will settle into the environment weâre interacting with. Itâs like cigarette smoke. If someoneâs sitting in a room smoking cigarettes, it will settle onto surfaces. Itâs the same thing with these fires. You canât just leave all these ashes around and not have some sort of exposure.
“The problem is bigger than just the smoke weâre inhaling.â
The post California wildfires will hurt your lungs as toxic burnt building pollution drifts appeared first on Green Prophet.
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