After an epic year of wildfires, Canada's air isn't as clean as it used to be

Canada's record-setting wildfire season hiked the country up global pollution rankings - and for the first time made its air quality worse than the U.S., ac‐ cording to a new report by air quality technology com‐ pany IQAir.

"In previous years, Cana‐ da had the cleanest air qual‐ ity in all of North America," said Glory Dolphin Hammes, CEO of IQAir's North Ameri‐ can division.

"This year we saw just the exact opposite. Our top 13 most polluted cities [in North America] are actually in Canada." Fort McMurray and Peace River in Alberta, along with Yellowknife, took the top three regional spots.

As the climate warms, priming conditions for longer and more intense wildfire seasons, experts say protect‐ ing our air quality will be criti‐ cal to our health and devel‐ opment.

The report measured an‐ nual average concentrations of fine particulate matter designated as PM2.5 - linked to numerous health issues from more than 30,000 air quality monitoring stations around the world.

It then compared those amounts to the World Health Organization's air quality guidelines.

Only 10 out of 134 coun‐ tries featured in the report fell into that acceptable range.

Canada ranked 93rd, with an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 10.3 micro‐ grams per cubic metre of air (μg/m³) - considered two to three times beyond the WHO's recommended level.

The more populous U.S., for comparison, had an an‐ nual average concentration of 9.1. Daily and hourly amounts were not included, but it's worth noting some Canadian cities crossed PM2.5 concentrations many times higher on particularly smoky days.

Sarah Henderson, scientif‐ ic director of Environmental Health Services at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control (CDC), says it adds uncertain‐ ty to the gains made on air quality in North America.

"We've reduced what cars can emit, we've reduced what industry can emit and you see these air quality improve‐ ments," Henderson said. "Wildfire smoke is a wild card. We don't get to regulate that."

Small size, big impact PM2.5 refers to particu‐ late matter that's less than 2.5 microns in diameter. For context, the width of a hu‐ man hair is around 75 mi‐ crons.

"These are really, really small particles," explains Sumil Thakrar, environmental scientist at the University of Minnesota. Wildfires spew these particles out and their small size allows them to travel far - and deep.

"When you breathe them in, they can deposit deep into your respiratory system and they can actually pass from your lungs into the blood‐ stream," said Thakrar.

PM2.5 is a well-known health risk, and beyond in‐ flaming and irritating the lungs, experts say it can cause cardiovascular issues like heart attacks and strokes as well as potentially longterm and short-term neuro‐ logical issues.

WATCH | How wildfire smoke affects your health:

"The really important thing to keep in mind is that there's no safe amount of particulate matter to inhale," says Dr. Anne Hicks, pediatric respirologist at Stollery Chil‐ dren's Hospital in Edmonton.

Hicks works with children with severe asthma and aller‐ gies, but they're not the only ones at risk during smoky days from intense wildfires. She notes children tend to be more active, and their physi‐ ology means they have a faster breathing rate.

"A kid sitting still will breathe in more chemical particles than an adult who's sitting still," Hicks said.

'Like an elephant sitting on my chest'

Sitting still indoors is not where Payton Knight wants to be. Her mom, Alyssa, says the 12-year-old loves the out‐ doors and being with the ani‐ mals on their farm southeast of Edmonton. Last year's wildfires made it harder.

"It reeked," described Pay‐ ton, who lives with complex asthma and allergies. "It's like an elephant sitting on my chest. It gets harder and harder for me to breathe every time."

Alyssa said she noticed a problem when Payton would ask for her rescue inhalers more often, just to get a few hours of relief at a time.

"And it came to a point where I had to be like 'OK, no more going outside, we have to stay inside'," Alyssa said. While she and Payton have "backup plans to backup plans" when it comes to her health, they are still nervous about this year - especially an upcoming family wedding in B.C. that's potentially out‐ doors.

"Something that everyone looks forward to like going to their aunty's wedding and being a part of that .... It's now, because of our current climate, turned into some‐ thing nerve-racking."

Plan ahead for smoky days and weeks

Hicks advises patients, parents and schools to devel‐ op action plans for smoky days - including moving re‐ cess indoors, rearranging schedules for outdoor sports and getting kids used to wearing personal protection like masks. The long-term value of kids avoiding partic‐ ulate exposure is high.

"We've shown that when air quality improves and when pollutants go down, kids grow stronger, healthier, bigger lungs," Hicks told CBC News from her office in Ed‐ monton, "And they have bet‐ ter lung function, and that lasts a lifetime."

Henderson at the B.C. CDC says since everyone is exposed, efforts and inter‐ ventions to improve air qual‐ ity can have profound effec‐ ts.

"You can make really big gains by actually making small changes that improve the air everyone is breath‐ ing."

One of the tools Canadi‐ ans can use to know about air quality in their area is the Air Quality Health Index, or AQHI. It measures PM2.5 as well as two other pollutants, nitrogen oxide and ozone, combining the risk into a score out of 10.

But Amy Li, air quality re‐ searcher and assistant pro‐ fessor at the University of Waterloo, says it shouldn't be the only measure you rely on to gauge personal risk.

"You only have one to two air quality stations per city," Li said. "So even if you see the numbers from the near‐ est weather station, it may not be a good representation of the exposure you're get‐ ting."

Both Hicks and Li advise using your senses as well. If it looks hazy and smells like smoke, these are good signs to tell if you're getting ex‐ posed to higher than safe amounts of particulate mat‐ ter. Li also suggests that bet‐ ter air filters for your ventila‐ tion systems can help on smoky days you're forced to be indoors with the windows closed.

"Take actions now," Li told CBC News from Kitchener, Ont. "I think it may be a little bit late if we only start to react during the wildfire smoke. I think now is a good time to make improvements to your existing systems [and] find the right filters."