The Santa Ana winds made it so big fire this month in Ventura County, with stunning visuals of the sky is orange in Oxnard like 2020 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Although in Mountain fire now the only thing that (as the Sandy fire in Monterey County), is on The worst fire to hit Southern California in six years, air pollution through Ventura to Santa Barbara and beyond. With Santa Ana winds and the fire season getting longer, smoke could spread again into November and December in Southern and Northern California, as it did in 2017 and 2018.
And it’s not just a West Coast problem: the Northeast faces its own the worst fire season in more than a decade, prompting evacuation in New York on weekends.
In the affected area, residents should quickly protect themselves from inhaling fire smoke, which is similar in composition. smoke secondhand without nicotine. Harmful smoke particles can cause or exacerbate heart and lung disease miles away.
South Coast Air Quality Management District suggest stay indoors and use an air conditioner or air purifier. This general advice is helpful but doesn’t go far enough. There are five specific steps you can take to safely limit your exposure to toxic particles during these large fires.
First, be informed. Local air quality monitors, PurpleAir’s network of community scientists and other online services can provide a clear picture of particle pollution in your area. Handheld and desktop personal particle monitors are also available for purchase. You can’t rely on the color of the sky, which can be deceiving: In 2020, wildfires turned a dark orange in the San Francisco sky, but the air quality worsened after the sun returned and the sky looked more normal, as the smoke particles fell. closer to the ground, to the air people breathe.
Second, stay indoors and close windows and doors, if possible reduce exposure to outdoor pollution by as much as half.
However, particles still seep through cracks, and closing windows and doors also traps exhaled breath, increasing the risk of spreading respiratory diseases such as COVID-19 or the flu. Which leads to the third important step: Cleaning the air pollution that enters the room, as well as breathing particles that can be harmful.
Central ventilation, even if filtered, should usually be supplemented with an appropriately sized outdoor air cleaner. In 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended at least five online changes per hour for spaces occupied indoors, and this month California Department of Public Health reiterated this recommendation specifically for classroom.
The number of air purifiers needed to meet this target varies based on the size of the room, the model of the air purifier and the acceptable speed and noise level of the purifier. High-efficiency particulate air, or HEPA, air purifiers with 5 to 10 air changes per hour cost $1 to $5 per square foot for typical ceiling heights, and indoor particulate exposure can be reduced by 10 to 50 times relative to the outdoors, depending on the level of particles still seeping into the room after the doors and windows are closed.
If getting cleaners for the whole house is too difficult, you can focus on making at least one room safe, such as the bedroom. An inexpensive infrared motion switch (around $20) attached to the purifier can save power and extend filter life by turning the air purifier on when people enter the room and turning it off with a delay after they leave.
HEPA purifiers often sell out during fire season. A do-it-yourself purifier can be made in 10 minutes with more consistent components available, box fans and MERV 13+ kitchen filters sold online, at a cost usually five to 10 times lower than the HEPA option. Alternatively, even if lower-grade filters are only available in stores or online, some filtration is better than nothing.
Fourth, in addition to indoor safety, if you have to drive in smoky conditions, you can switch the car’s air system to recirculate. As a long-term fix, in many cars you can also upgrade the cabin air filter to a HEPA model.
Finally, whether you are outdoors or indoors without an air purifier, use it N95, N99 or reusable elastomer masks such as P100, all of which are designed to reduce the exposure of particles from wildfire smoke by at least 20 times as long as they are fresh and fit well. If this is difficult to wear, especially when it’s hot, ventilated industrial helmets with battery-powered fans and filters can be used more comfortably (although they tend to be expensive, starting around $450).
As climate change intensifies, wildfires may become more frequent and severe. Take these precautions for wildfire smoke as well protect against air threats such as respiratory diseases and pollution in general. Don’t wait until the sky turns orange to act.
Devabhaktuni Srikrishna is an electrical engineer, founder of the air quality website www.patientknowhow.com and vice versa head of control and mitigation for the American Assn. Aerosol Research annual conference.
