New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Smoke over state raises risks
Worse for those with chronic health conditions, not much threat to others
The acrid haze that has blanketed Connecticut for weeks this summer is doing more than fouling the skies and forcing children indoors — it’s leading some people to worry about health risks that may linger long after the smoke clears.
While researchers are still hoping to learn more about the long-term risks from wildfire smoke, Dr. Mark Metersky, the chief of Pulmonary Care and Sleep Medicine at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, said that weather patterns of the last few weeks should not concern people without existing, chronic conditions.
“People who have absolutely normal lungs and heart to begin with, they may get a little burning in their eyes, cough, nasal discomfort, [but] they’re not going to come in with something bad enough that they end up in the emergency department,” Metersky said.
For others with respiratory problems, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Metersky said they should be “mildly concerned” about possible flare-ups, which can exacerbate long-term health issues.
“I wouldn’t ignore it, but the sky isn’t falling,” Metersky said, adding those at risk can mostly go about their daily lives while avoiding strenuous activities outside.
The smoke, which is the result of hundreds of wildfires in Canada, settled over the northeastern United States in early June, where it quickly mixed with existing pollution to produce a thick smog that was among the worst air on the planet.
After dissipating for a few weeks, the plume of smoke returned to Connecticut in late June, prompting several more days of dangerous air quality alerts.
In places such as California that regularly experience wildfires and their effects, exposure to smoke has been linked to an increase in emergency room
visits from people experiencing cardiac arrest or respiratory issues, according to the American Heart Association.
“Anybody who has compromised heart and lung function will be at a higher risk of having problems,” said South Windsor pulmonologist Saud Anwar, a Democratic member of the state Senate. “That is why it is important to stay indoors during these times.”
Over the long term, however, less is known about the effects of persistent exposure to wildfire smoke and how it can affect health.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the few epidemiological studies on the long-term health effects of wildfire smoke have mostly focused on the effects to firefighters — whose experiences differ from those of the general public.
One review of the limited data, published in the Journal of Climate Change and Health, found evidence for a higher number of respiratory-related deaths in areas affected by wildfires, and that chemicals commonly found in smoke were linked to a variety of cancers.
Dr. Douglas Brugge, chair of UConn Health Department of Public Health Sciences, said that air pollution is “the single biggest environmental health problem in the world” in terms of mortality, even without smoke from faraway fires.
“We’re already exposed to air pollution, right?” Brugge said. “It’s just usually not that apparent to us because it doesn’t blur the sky … The air pollution we’re exposed to that is not visible, that is not readily apparent, has substantial effects and is chronic.”
Brugge, who has studied the effect of air pollution along major highways, said that chronic exposure to air pollution from everyday sources such as trucks and fossil-fuel-burning power plants has been widely linked to long-term health problems, such as asthma, lung cancer, heart conditions and even neurological issues.
While breathing in wildfire smoke for a few days is less likely to cause long-term health conditions, Brugge said it can exacerbate those issues, especially if the smoke occurs regularly along with climate change.
“The wildfire smoke is adding a big, short-term exposure on top of what already exists,” he said.
While public health officials have recommended people at risk stay indoors on days when the air quality drops below a certain threshold, doctors such as Brugge and Metersky said such precautions are less effective in older houses and buildings that lack proper ventilation and filtration.
In addition to installing or updating air conditioning systems, both doctors said several options exist for cheaper, do-ityourself air filter systems that can be found online and effective at removing harmful particles in smoke and polluted air.