Just don’t breathe it … that’s what my doctor’s office told me yesterday. Surf the Internet’s medical sites and you’ll find the smoke from wildfires is accused of dramatically increased asthma attacks, damage to your lungs and heart, strokes, and even heart attacks and death.
Lots of nasty things are in wildfire smoke that you don’t want to run through your body. And, that’s what happens when you breathe it in; it goes you’re your lungs, then into your blood stream, then into your heart and other organs. This “particulate matter” can do this because it is roughly 50 times smaller than a grain of sand. Smoke contains many compounds including carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and more. These are not things you would ever willingly want to expose yourself to.
The answer, other than evacuating to a location where there is no wildfire smoke, is to stay inside, run an air purifier with a HEPA filter, limit physical activity, and wear an N95 mask while outside. When driving, close all the windows and use the air conditioner on the “recirculate” setting. Take extra care that children, whose lungs haven’t finished developing, and the elderly, are not exposed. Others who need to take precautions against exposure include those with any kind of lung or heart problem.
To get up to the hour reports on the air quality where you are, visit: https://www.airnow.gov
Water is our most precious resource next to air, and the lack of water is key to what’s causing our wildfires. Learn more about efforts to create more water through recycling industrial wastewater at: StartEngine.com/ix-water